The information industry...a national strategy

The information industry is one of the most important vital indicators of information awareness in any country, as the progress of nations is measured by the extent of their ability to collect information, organize it, process it, and produce it in a form that serves the target groups at all levels.

The importance of this industry is emphasized in this era called (the information age), where the need for optimal use of information increases through its production, processing, and marketing in a way that meets the needs of beneficiaries.

It is noted that libraries and information centers in the Kingdom of Saudi

Arabia have recently begun to focus on the information industry, including establishing various information systems and databases, developing and adapting technical programs, employing technology in providing various information services, adopting research and development programs, consulting, education and training programs, and supporting authorship, translation, printing, publishing, and other aspects of activities that fall under the umbrella of the information industry in its broad sense, and constitute the basic structure and equipment for this vital industry..

Which suggests that these institutions have gone beyond the stage of organization and processing to the stage of information industry, and during the journey they have taken they have been able to achieve great achievements in this regard, and the city of Jeddah is considered a pioneer in this field. The importance of education is an issue that today is no longer a matter of debate in any region of the world.

Contemporary international experiences have proven beyond doubt that the real - and indeed the only - beginning of progress is education, and that all countries that have made great strides in progress have advanced through the education portal. In fact, developed countries place education as a priority in their programs and policies.

Education remained a major goal that King Abdul Aziz and his sons after him sought to achieve for the people of the Kingdom, and to try to spread it free of charge to the people of this country.

The leaders of the Kingdom, from the time of the founder, King Abdul Aziz, until the present, have realized that educating the sons and daughters of the Kingdom is the real wealth, and the basic pillar for building a strong, modern Muslim state. This stage was characterized by the multiplicity of horizontal and vertical expansion in the opening of specialized schools, institutes, colleges, and governmental and private universities in all branches.

This naturally coincided with the international trend of globalization and the information revolution, which called for a reconsideration of the method of dealing with the student’s acquisition of knowledge, the way he benefits from it, and the means of enabling him to harmonize the outcomes of the education and training system in the Kingdom, and the development requirements for specialized trained workers in the Saudi labor market.

Jeddah includes hundreds of government schools.

And eligibility from kindergarten to high school, and hundreds of institutes, colleges and universities specialized in all branches of science and knowledge.

King Khalid University, which is headquartered in the city of Abha and whose colleges cover all the governorates of the Asir Region, is the eighth university among the 28 public universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The university was launched during the visit of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, when he was Crown Prince, on Tuesday 1/9/1419 AH, which included approval to merge the two branches of Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University and King Saud University in Asir Region under the name of King Khalid University, where the Custodian of the Two Holy

Mosques decided to change the name of the university, which was scheduled to be under the name of King Abdullah University, to King Khalid University.

Since its inception, the university has witnessed amazing and tangible development until it was recently considered one of the largest universities in Saudi Arabia in terms of the number of colleges and students. The university began with four colleges, namely the College of Sharia and Fundamentals of Religion, the College of Arabic Language and Social and Administrative Sciences, the College of Medicine, and the College of Education.

Then the existing colleges were restructured, a number of new colleges were created, and the girls’ colleges, teachers’ colleges, and health sciences colleges were included in the university, bringing the total to 29 colleges for male and female students. The university is ranked among the top 10 Arab universities, while within Saudi Arabia, King Khalid University ranks fourth among the universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

King Khalid University includes 50 “scientific - theoretical - medical” colleges spread across the cities and governorates of the Asir Region. More than 72,000 male and female students study there, 70 percent of whom are female students, and there are approximately 3,500 teaching assistants, lecturers, and professors.

These colleges are: The College of Sharia and Fundamentals of Religion for Boys in Al-Qurayqar includes several departments: Department of the Qur’an and its Sciences Department of Sunnah and its Sciences Department of Doctrine and Contemporary Doctrines Department of Jurisprudence Department of Principles of Jurisprudence The College of Computer Science for boys in Al-Qurayr and girls in Al-Samer includes several departments: Department of Computer

Science for boys and girls Department of Information Systems for boys and girls Department of Computer

Engineering for Boys Department of Network and Communications Engineering for Boys College of Education for Boys in Al-Qurayqar Department of Curriculum and Teaching Methods Department of Education Department of Educational Psychology Department of Special Education Department of Educational Technologies College of Human Sciences for Boys in Qurayqir Department of Arabic Language and Abha Department of History Department of Geography Department of Media and

Communication College of Engineering for Boys in Qurayqir Department of Mechanical Engineering

Department of Civil Engineering Department of Electrical Engineering Department of Industrial Engineering Department of Chemical Engineering College of Business for Boys in Al-Qurayqar Accounting Department Department of Business Administration Department of Management Information Systems Marketing and E-Commerce Department the law College of Science for Boys in Qurayqar and Girls in Abha Department of Physics for boys and girls Chemistry

Department for boys and girls Biology Department for boys and girls Mathematics Department for boys and girls College

of Languages ​​and Translation for Boys in Al-Qurayqir Department of English Language College of Medicine for boys in Al-Qurayqar and girls in Al-Samer Department of Anatomy for Boys and Girls Department of Physiology for boys and girls Department of Clinical Chemistry for boys and girls Department of Microorganisms and Parasitology for boys and girls Department of Pathology for boys and girls Department of Internal Medicine for boys and girls Department of

Surgery for Boys and Girls Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology for boys and girls Child health

department for boys and girls Department of Family and Community Medicine for boys and girls Department of Medical Education for Boys and Girls College of Dentistry for boys in Al-Qurayqar and girls in Al-Samer Department of Maxillofacial Surgery and Diagnostic Sciences for Boys and Girls Department of Prosthodontics for boys and girls Department of Dentistry for boys and girls Dental protection department for boys and girls Department of Dental Medical

Education for Boys and Girls College of Pharmacy for boys in Al-Qurayqar and girls in Al-Samer

Department of Pharmaceutics for boys and girls Department of Clinical Pharmacy for boys and girls Department of Pharmacology for boys and girls Department of Drugs for Boys and Girls Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry for boys and girls College of Applied Medical Sciences for boys in Al-Qurayr and Khamis Mushait and for girls in Al-Samer and Muhayil Asir Department of Radiology in Qurayqar Department of Medical Rehabilitation for Boys in Qurayqir - Muhayil Asir

Girls Department of Clinical Laboratories in Al-Qurayqir Department of Basic Medical

Sciences, Khamis Mushayat Emergency Medical Services Department, Khamis Mushayat Department of Dental Technology at Khamis Mushait for boys and Muhayil Asir for girls Public Health Department, Khamis Mushait for boys - Muhayil Asir for girls Department of Anesthesia Technology at Khamis Mushait for boys and Muhayil Asir for girls Muhayil Asir General Nursing Department for Girls Respiratory Therapy Department at Muhayil Asir Girls' Hospital Community

College for boys in Mahalla and Muhayil Asir and girls in Abha, Khamis Mushait and Rijal Almaa Department

of Information Systems in Mahalla - Muhayil Asir - Rijal Almaa for girls Department of Business Administration in Mahalla - Muhayil Asir Accounting Department in Mahalla for boys - Rijal Almaa for girls Department of the Intensive English Program in Mahalla for boys - Abha for girls Department of Administrative Sciences at Abha for Girls - Khamis Mushait for Girls Department of Computer Science at Abha for Girls - Khamis Mushait for Girls College of Joint

Programs for Boys in Mahalla Department of Arabic Language Department of Physics Computer Department

Mathematics Department Department of Chemistry Department of Biology College of Science and Arts for boys in Muhayil Asir, and for girls in Muhayil Asir, Tanomah, Rijal Almaa, Khamis Mushait, Al Majardah, Sarat Abidah, Dahran Al Janub, and Ahad Rafidah.

English Department at Muhayil Asir for boys - Khamis Mushait for girls - Tanomah for boys - Khamis Mushait for girls - Muhayil Asir for girls - Rijal Almaa for girls - Al Majardah for girls - Dhahran Al Janub for girls - Ahad Rafidah for girls Mathematics Department at Muhayil Asir for boys - Tanomah for boys - Al Majardah for girls - Sarat Abidah for girls - Ahad Rafidah for girls Department of Physics at Muhayil Asir for boys - Tanomah for boys - Muhayil

Asir for girls - Dhahran Al Janub for girls Biology Department at Dhahran Al Janub for Girls

Department of Chemistry at Muhayil Asir for Girls - Sarat Abidah for Girls Information Systems Department at Muhayil Asir for boys - Khamis Mushait for girls - Muhayil Asir for girls - Rijal Almaa for girls Computer Science Department at Tanomah for boys - Rijal Almaa for girls - Al Majardah for girls - Sarat Abidah for girls - Ahad Rafidah for girls Department of Public Health, Khamis Mushait for Girls Arabic Language Department at Khamis Mushait for Girls -

Muhayil Asir for Girls - Sarat Abidah for Girls - Dhahran Al Janub for Girls Department of

Islamic Studies at Khamis Mushait for Girls - Muhayil Asir for Girls - Sarat Abidah for Girls - Dhahran Al Janub for Girls Department of Home Economics at Muhayil Asir for Girls College of Education and Arts for Girls in Abha Department of History and Civilization Department of Geography Department of Islamic Studies Department of English Language Department of Arabic Language Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy Kindergarten Department Department of Psychology

College of Home Economics for Girls in Abha Department of Home Economics Department of

Business Administration College of Nursing for Girls in Samer Department of Nursing Fundamentals Department of Nursing Administration Department of Maternal and Child Nursing Department of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing Department of Community Health Department of Internal, Surgical and Case Nursing Al Harajah Electronic services

The university is keen to provide services that facilitate the student’s study procedures and keep pace with modern-day developments, such as e-learning services and development and follow-up systems that make it easy for

him to obtain educational services from anywhere, at any time.

Among these services are: Office 365: It is a cloud service that allows students and faculty members to access and edit their office files across all platforms, whether computer, tablet, or mobile phone. myApps: A service that allows students to download office and academic programs related to their course on personal devices for free, and allows employees and faculty to collect office and general programs for a nominal price.

KKUx: A platform that contributes to providing the most important skills for future jobs with high-quality, international electronic content that benefits future job seekers or anyone who wants to develop their skills. My Website: A service that enables all university employees to create a personal website and publish it on the web under the university’s official domain.

myKKU: A service provided by the university that enables the beneficiary to obtain alerts and clarify attendance, absence, warnings, and results.

Financial and administrative transactions are also clarified for all beneficiaries at the university. Field Education: This portal is concerned with male and female university students who have reached the final stage of their university studies, which is field practice and application. Student Excuses: This service allows the student to submit excuses to the college and wait for a response to accept or reject the excuse.

Release: This is a service provided to all university employees, male and female, and aims to facilitate the process of following up on the release request. It has been activated to save significant effort and time in obtaining the release paper. Updating student data: A service through which male and female students are allowed to update their data.

Shortening links: A service available to all university employees (students - faculty members - employees) that enables them to shorten long links. University Radio: The service is an audio podcast.

A person can listen to the content through 3 channels or methods. A podcast is defined as a radio program that is recorded in the form of audio or video episodes and published over the Internet. Its materials can be listened to and watched over the Internet or via the iTunes or Stitcher program for Android.

Research Repository: A system that enables university employees to upload and make available their research and scientific production on the university’s website and international scientific search engines such as Google Scholar and others under the name of the college, department, and researcher. Job Search Engine: A service that enables you to search for a job opportunity from more than 100,000 job opportunities.

Electronic forms: A service that helps in conducting questionnaires, studies, and collecting information in an easy way that replaces paper forms. E-mail: A service provided by the university in partnership with Google that enables its employees to access their e-mail and send and receive messages with an area of ​​30 GB.

Academic Calendar: A service that enables all university employees to view the academic calendar during the semester as well as the events that take place within the university.

Libraries: An electronic portal provided by the Deanship of Library Affairs that provides you with the most important information about the Deanship and what you are looking for with ease. Nutrition system: A service that helps students receive their meals completely electronically, starting with requesting the meal and quantity and ending with receiving it.

Blackboard: An environment for presenting courses and electronic content that helps communicate between the faculty member and students through interactive communication tools.

Academically: A services page provided by the Deanship of Admission and Registration. The student can register directly and access a group of services such as (academic record - modifying a schedule - absence rate) Remote Support: A service provided by information technology for support by accessing and controlling your device remotely.

Student Guide: A booklet that explains to both male and female students the academic system in effect at the university, and from it the male and female students can know their rights and duties and what they have and what they owe. Afaq Newspaper: It is a service provided to all university employees (students - faculty members - employees) to view the weekly Afaq newspaper. Alias: An alias is an additional email address through which emails can be received.

However, access to the mail must be through the primary user name Contact Guide: A service that enables you to obtain all the contact information for university employees by simply writing the name, number, college or department with complete ease. Open Courses: An educational channel that contains a number of complete courses prepared by the university. Change Password: A service that enables you to control your password so that you can change it or recover it.

You can also update your data through the service.

Tamkeen: One of the channels of the Deanship of E-Learning through which it seeks to spread the culture of e-learning to everyone by producing educational lessons to enable faculty members and students to use e-learning systems in addition to e-learning and teaching skills.

Comprehensive for students: It provides a group of student services under one portal that includes all services provided to this category, such as (requesting aid, medical reports, registering for competitions, updating scholarship student data).

Excellence Awards: An electronic portal through which nomination forms for the university’s excellence awards are displayed, as well as their winners. Operation and Maintenance Reports: It is a system that helps filers of reports in the authorities submit reports of malfunctions at university sites and buildings and have them followed up by supervisors and coordinators at the sites. Freshers: A group of information and services of interest to new students.

Mufid: A service that helps create a virtual community that contributes to enriching the academic achievement of students by allowing the sharing of scientific tools and textbooks in addition to enabling them to conduct private lessons among themselves.

Electronic services for students Electronic services for faculty members Electronic services for employees Supporting deanships The university includes a number of supporting deanships, which are: Deanship of Admission and Registration. Deanship of Student Affairs. Deanship of Faculty and Staff.

Deanship of Library Affairs. Deanship of Graduate Studies. Deanship of Community Service and Continuing Education. Deanship of Scientific Research. Deanship of e-learning. Deanship of Academic Development and Quality.

Departments General Administration of University Relations General Administration of Administrative and Financial Affairs General Administration of Information Technology Studies and information management Management of scholarships and recruitment Centers King Khaled's chair Al Jazeera newspaper chair Media Center Administrative Leaders Preparation Center Center for Social Research and Studies Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Center for Environmental and Tourism

Research and Studies Center for Talent and Creativity Linguistic Research Center Center for

Corporate Governance Knowledge Entrepreneurship Center National Plan Projects Office (Transformation) Documents and Archives Center Advanced Materials Science Research Center Associations Saudi Society for Statistical Sciences.

Saudi Society for Medical Education. Saudi Scientific Society for Teachers.

Awards The University President’s Award for Digital Transformation in its first edition, which is an award that aims to increase efficiency in the work process so that errors are reduced and productivity increases, and to ensure access to a digital society that depends on effective community participation, which contributes to improving the digital economy and raising the global ranking in digital transformation indicators, the university established the His

Excellency the Director of King Khalid University Award for Digital Transformation; In support

and encouragement of the university’s entities and employees towards digital and cognitive transformation, and highlighting the specific initiatives in this aspect for individuals and entities, 120 entities are competing for it.

The new university city of King Khalid University in Al Qaraa is located at the top of the Sarawat Mountains in the Asir Region, with an average elevation of 2,185 metres. The site enjoys a moderate climate and is also rich in natural trees, dominated by acacia trees.

The project site is distinguished by the distinctive topography of the Asir region, as it has a continuous group of mountainous highlands and plateaus that are surrounded by a group of valleys and wells, which distinguishes the university’s location from other universities, which indicates the importance of exploiting the natural aesthetic elements of the site in designing a distinctive community that enriches the academic climate.

The project location and its connection to the Abha Urban Regional Plan: As a result of the university's location being located between the urban cities of

Abha and the fact that it can accommodate more than 55,000 people who enter and leave the site at close times, the future urban structural planning of some regional roads that pass or approach the site was taken into account when choosing the project site, in addition to preparing designs for some other highways that connect to the region's ring roads, which will serve the project site by preparing the surrounding road network.

Interaction of the university city with the surrounding community: The distribution of the project elements took into account that it should serve the surrounding community and that the university city be close to residential areas in order to raise the economic level of the site and contribute to providing new job opportunities.

Green areas: The emphasis was placed on making the fertile areas, valley sites and green sites within the project open to be used as parks and gathering areas in which informal education takes place, sports activities are held, and they provide distinctive views of the academic and residential buildings. They will constitute a distinct educational and developmental shift in the Asir Region.

These areas can be listed as follows: Wadi Dalgan area, located between the academic city and student housing, and linked to the honorary area.

The Wadi Al Yashra area and the mouths of its subsidiary valleys, which are limited to residential areas for families and the central-western recreational area. Areas with sub-valleys located between the academic buildings and the female students’ housing, as well as those located in the area of ​​the male medical colleges. Wadi Atoud area, which is surrounded by the university hospital building.

Components of the university city: Honorary area: It consists of the university administration building, the grand celebration hall, the university museum, the VIP hall, the exhibition hall, the TOEFL center, and the VIP restaurant, with a total area of ​​about (65,000 m2).

The academic area for students: It includes buildings for the following colleges: the College of Sharia and Fundamentals of Religion, the College of Arts, the College of Education, the College of Languages ​​and Translation, the College of Administrative Sciences, the College of Sciences, the College of Computer Sciences and the College of Engineering, the classroom building, common laboratories and commercial services, the English Language

Center, the central library, supporting deanships, and cultural and recreational facilities, with a total area of ​​550,000 square meters.

Student Medical Complex Center: Its total area is about 360,000 square meters and includes the College of Medicine, the College of Applied Medical Sciences, the College of Dentistry, the College of Pharmacy, common classrooms and halls, a restaurant, a celebration hall, and the central medical library.

University Hospital: The hospital consists of 800 beds, including all medical specialties such as internal medicine, surgery, children, women, obstetrics, intensive care, surgical, children’s, burns and cardiology units.

It also includes two advanced surgical suites with a total capacity of 16 operating rooms with different equipment.... The hospital also includes more than 240 outpatient clinic rooms capable of receiving more than 3,500 patients daily in all medical specialties. The hospital contains advanced units for dialysis, diagnosis and treatment of heart diseases, and units for the treatment of chest and respiratory diseases...

The hospital also includes a highly advanced central laboratory for medical analyses, blood diseases, and tissues that can provide about three million medical analyzes annually, as well as diagnostic and therapeutic departments for neurological diseases, cardiac catheterization, children's diseases, obstetrics and gynecology, and nuclear medicine.

The hospital also contains an advanced oncology unit, which includes chemotherapy departments (60 units) and advanced radiation therapy, serving about 2,000 oncology patients annually.

The hospital contains an integrated accident reception unit that contains rapid operating rooms and observation and recovery suites that can receive more than twenty cases every three hours, as well as an integrated emergency department that contains more than 40 examination rooms for all medical specialties and is equipped with an advanced radiology unit.

The hospital's Radiology Department represents the latest technology in the field of medical diagnosis, as it contains advanced CT and MRI machines, as well as chest X-ray, fluoroscopic, and other machines. The Medical Endoscopy Department also provides its services to more than 25,000 patients annually with the latest medical equipment known in this field, especially for respiratory endoscopy, bladder views, and traditional endoscopy.

The hospital is equipped with the latest means of medical education, telecommunication systems, smart classrooms, and electronic systems for communication and transfer of visual and digital information, video display of surgical operations, etc. The hospital contains all traditional engineering services and warehouses of various types and sizes, as well as a special section for medical files and the hospital’s medical administration.

The general administration wing of the hospital represents the most important component, with its advanced monitoring, observation, evaluation and follow-up technologies, and includes more than 300 administrative employees. The central kitchen also provides more than 1,800 meals a day for patients and workers.

The hospital also contains an advanced central sterilization department to serve all operating rooms, cardiac catheterization, maternity, and others with high efficiency, taking into account all internationally recognized standards and infection transmission protocols.

Central Sports Area: Its area is approximately 27,500 square meters and contains a sports stadium with a capacity of 20,000 spectators and a number of supporting sports fields, in addition to the support services area and printing presses.

Faculty housing: It contains more than 1,700 housing units, including eight different models, in addition to a number of parks, buildings, and supporting commercial services. The total area of ​​housing is about 350,000 square meters.

Student housing: The student housing area is about 300,000 square meters Research and educational centers: Its total area is about 26,000 square meters and contains the computer and data processing center, the audio-visual media center, the electronic education and training center, the education and academic development center, the Prince Sultan Center for Environmental and Tourism Research and Studies, and the Social Research and Studies Center.

Abha University of Applied Sciences: The foundation stone has been laid for the establishment of a College of Applied Engineering and Technology as a first phase with a capital of approximately 600 million riyals. It includes departments of Communications Engineering, Computer Engineering, Network Engineering, Medical Bioengineering, and Applied Engineering.

These colleges will grant a bachelor’s degree in engineering as a first phase and then develop to grant master’s and doctoral degrees.

It is planned that this university will have a group of Saudi investors from inside or outside the Asir Region. King Khalid University is currently managed by Professor Dr. Abdul Rahman bin Hamad Al-Daoud. Al-Faisal University. Ibn Rushd College of Administrative Sciences (formerly Prince Sultan University) is a (private) university that specializes in the field of hotel, tourism, and management.