Saudi Arabia: New Infrastructure Projects
May 10, 2008
Growing oil revenues spur investments in Saudi infrastructure:
- $3 billion aluminum project at Jazan Economic City developed by MMC Corp., Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. and Saudi Binladin Group
- DHL Express will invest more than $27 mln in infrastructure developments to facilitate its regional expansion plans
- A dockyard will be built at the Islamic Port in Jeddah. Estimated project cost is about $430 mln
- Another port construction is considered at Ras Al Zour in the Eastern province at a cost of $600 mln
- A new petrochemical plant will be built in Al-Jubail Industrial City by South Korean company Daelim Industrial at a cost of about $900 mln
- Used as a planning tool for emergency scenarios
- Provides the common operating picture for different governmental agencies
- Rich visual and analytical tool
- Training tool
- JIEDDO received data from multiple sources in theater and from DOD and other US government agencies.
- Much of the data was not integrated or coordinated with data developed by other units or agencies, and much of it remained unstructured or lacked a common format or vocabulary.
- Also, data quality was problematic because of the amount that is manually keyed or handwritten, the lack of standard formats and templates, and the variety of sources.
For more information see Saudi Arabia Homeland Security Market Outlook - 2009-2018
Saudi Oil Industry Security Market
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The Japanese Market for U.S. Oranges
April 14, 2008A recent report from the Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture analyzes trends in the Japanese market for U.S. oranges. The largest export markets for U.S. oranges are Canada, China, Japan and South Korea. Japan is the third largest market for U.S. oranges. Japan’s domestic production represents the tiny share of the U.S. imports. The U.S. imports of oranges to Japan reached about $70 mln in 2006, or almost 100,000 tons.
Japan was the largest foreign importer of U.S. oranges in the late eighties. U.S. exports of oranges to Japan reached peak in the middle of nineties. Since nineties the demand for the U.S. oranges has been mostly flat. Aggregate U.S. orange exports to all foreign markets are
between 500,000 and 700,000 metric tons per year. Demand for U.S. oranges from Canada, China and South Korea shifted the Japanese market to the third/fourth place.
This report investigates Japan’s orange market, especially consumption, and factors that affect Japan’s imports from the United States.
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Saudi Arabia: The Sharp Rise in Inflation
April 6, 2008Inflation in Saudi Arabia is forecast to reach a record annual average of 6.5 per cent in 2008 because of an expected new wave of interest rate cuts and a surge in rents and food prices.
Historically the Saudi inflation rate has been quite low in the period 2000 - 2006, within a range of 1% - 2%. The central Saudi bank is pegging the Saudi Riyal to dollar. When the Federal Reserve is cutting rates and US currency is tumbling to record lows, the Saudi Bank is forced to lower interest rates fueling inflation.
Credits to the Saudi private sector, encouraged by low interest rates, are soaring. The Saudi Government pours billions in new economic cities. The Saudi budget surplus stands at all times high - 13% in 2008, a result of high energy prices. All signs of overheated economy are in place.
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For more information see Saudi Arabia Homeland Security Market Outlook - 2009-2018)
Saudi Oil Industry Security Market
Categories: Economy, Saudi Arabia | No Comments »
GIS Market Driven by Homeland Security
April 4, 2008Daratech, Inc., Cambridge, Ma, based market research company, estimated the worldwide GIS market revenues in 2006 as US$3.63 billion (up from US$2.82 billion in 2005, a 17% increase). However, increasing interest of DHS (Department of Homeland Security in remote sensing and geointelligence may have a profound effect on the GIS market. DHS has already established a new body, The National Applications Office, governing access of the Homeland Security agencies to satellite imagery, a move that will likely boost the remote sensing market. GIS tools allow to get a maximum information out of remote sensing data. It would be logical to suggest that Homeland Security budgets (ever increasing since 9/11) will positively reflect on the GIS market.
Why GIS capabilities are important for Homeland Security?
In 2006 the software accounted for 50% of the market, data for 25% of the market and services for 20% of the market.
Categories: Homeland Security | No Comments »
Advanced Data Analysis Fights IED
March 9, 2008Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) in its mission to defeat Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) as weapons of strategic influence needed powerful analytics to gain critical, data driven insight into the structure, character, interactions and methods associated with the operational networks involved in the deployment of IEDs. This task involved various data challenges:
SAS, the leader in business intelligence and analytical software and services, provided an analytical solution that addresses the challenges of data access, integration, quality and management and enabled the JIEDDO to integrate existing data from all relevant sources.
The SAS solution uses several tools, including data and text analysis, predictive modeling and optimization. Analysts and other end users receive detailed intelligence developed using data driven investigative techniques and link analysis based on social network theory.
According to Homeland Security Research Corp. (HSRC)’s research, 2008-2012 Global Counter-IED Markets and Technologies Forecast, about seventy advanced technologies have evolved to detect and dispose IED’s. SAS has just added analytical solution to the problem priorly resolved mostly by hardware means.
The Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) will spend up to $300 million this year on training to help soldiers learn how to deal with roadside bombs, the No. 1 killer of troops in Iraq
Categories: Defense, Homeland Security | No Comments »
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