It follows the earlier establishment of an all-women Business Process Services (BPS) centre in Saudi Arabia

A new innovation lab has been launched in Saudi Arabia at Tata Consultancy Services’ award-winning all-women’s centre, which aims to promote female career development opportunities.

The new all-women innovation lab in Saudi Arabia aims to promote digital skills development by collaborating with startups and universities to provide a platform for students to explore new technologies. It follows the earlier establishment of an all-women Business Process Services (BPS) centre in the Kingdom, which recently won an international award.

TCS is a preferred partner to companies in Saudi Arabia in their growth and transformation journeys and has a long history of fostering innovation and collaboration in the region, said Sumanta Roy, head of TCS in the Middle East and Africa.

The opening of the Innovation Lab marks the continuance of TCS’s commitment to supporting nation-building initiatives, and empowering women workers and young people in Saudi Arabia, Roy said.

Ahmed Altheneyan, the Deputy Minister for Future Jobs and Digital Entrepreneurship within the Saudi Ministry of Communication and IT, was on hand for the lab’s inauguration ceremony, along with a number of other dignitaries and executives.

India’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Ausaf Sayed, was also in attendance, describing the launch as a prime example of the growing economic partnership between the two countries.

Originally established in 2014 in partnership with GE, but with TCS taking full control last year, the Riyadh-based women’s BPS and IT centre provides training and career development opportunities for Saudi women in areas such as finance and accounting, human resources, supply chain, data management, and IT and digital services. Since its founding, the centre has scaled to more than 1,000 women, serving clients across the globe.