Jul 2026· Technium· Vol 31, pp. 523-536· 0 citations
TL;DR
The framework commits explicitly to a Standalone Non-Public Network (SNPN) model with on-site User Plane Function for data sovereignty, specifies hard slice isolation through dedicated physical resource block (PRB) allocation enforced by a Near-RT RIC xApp, and supports the isolation claim with a reserved-resource queueing model demonstrating that the URLLC control latency target is preserved under a one-million-device-per-square-kilometre telemetry surge.
Abstract
— The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's ambition under Vision 2030 to rank among the world's top-ten logistics economies places its maritime gateways — principally Jeddah Islamic Port on the Red Sea and the adjacent King Abdullah Port — at the centre of a transformation toward autonomous, data-driven cargo handling. Legacy connectivity built on industrial Wi-Fi and best-effort 4G cannot guarantee the deterministic latency, mobility robustness, and device density that automated guided vehicles (AGVs), remotely operated ship-to-shore cranes, and real-time container tracking demand. This paper proposes the Hybrid Multi-Vendor Private 5G Blueprint (HMP-5G), an engineering and orchestration framework purpose-built for the topology, electromagnetic conditions, and procurement realities of Saudi industrial ports. The framework is organised across three coupled layers — a Radio Access layer mapped to port micro-zones, a Slicing layer that isolates safety-critical, automation, and enterprise traffic, and an Interoperability layer that allows heterogeneous Tier-1 vendor equipment (Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia) to coexist through standardised O-RAN O1/E2 and 3GPP service-based interfaces. The framework commits explicitly to a Standalone Non-Public Network (SNPN) model with on-site User Plane Function for data sovereignty, specifies hard slice isolation through dedicated physical resource block (PRB) allocation enforced by a Near-RT RIC xApp, and supports the isolation claim with a reserved-resource queueing model demonstrating that the URLLC control latency target is preserved under a one-million-device-per-square-kilometre telemetry surge. Performance targets are expressed against 3GPP TS 22.104 baselines rather than proprietary data, and every design choice is mapped to the National Transport and Logistics Strategy, the giga-project logistics layer, and the Saudi Green Initiative.
The current paper is devoted to the application of 5G Standalone Core Networks for deployment of IoT solutions, machine-to-machine interactions, and intelligent infrastructure in connection with Vision 2030 programs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. On the basis of the literature published between 2020 and 2025 and the standards and other technical materials of a more regulatory character, it is shown that 5G SA Core is not only a communication network but also an infrastructure with several programmable features. Network slicing, user plane isolation, edge computing, policies management, service exposure, and cloud infrastructure orchestration are the key functions which allow working on performance, security, and compliance levels for each vertical separately. It is discussed how each function mentioned above can be helpful for the implementation of Saudi vision via smart cities, oil and gas sector, mining activities, transportation chains, manufacturing companies, and utilities. At the same time, certain issues related to the implementation process are outlined.
Maritime routes ensure connectivity between nations, carrying a vast flow of goods across borders, while ports serve as the critical junctions within this network, managing a wide spectrum of commodities from raw materials to finished goods. Ports also generate employment across numerous sectors and underpin a broad range of allied industries. A seaport is a maritime facility equipped with docks, cranes, and storage infrastructure for international trade, where ships load and unload cargo, containers, and passengers. Key functions of seaports include customs processing, warehousing, and vessel services, with major global hubs such as Shanghai, PSA Singapore, DP World, and Rotterdam handling immense volumes of cargo each year. In contrast, Bangladesh’s ports, Chittagong, Mongla, and Payra, play a vital role in sustaining regional commerce. Today, ports are widely recognized as essential capital infrastructure and prime movers of economic activity. Smart ports are automated facilities that leverage advanced digital technologies, including sensors, big data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), augmented reality (AR), digital twins, the Internet of Things (IoT), and various automation systems, to optimize overall operational efficiency. These tools streamline cargo movement while embedding sustainable practices to protect the environment. Beyond operational gains, smart ports deliver faster, more advanced services to all stakeholders involved in port operations, including shipping companies, customs agencies, local communities, and other relevant parties. Renewable energy sources, electric vehicle charging stations, onshore power supply, and smart logistics infrastructure are among the defining sustainability features of smart ports in the present-day context. This study examines the current status and future development trajectory of Bangladesh’s sea ports in relation to the broader global imperative toward smart port transformation.
Saudi Arabia’s expanding programme of international sporting, cultural, religious, and technology events is creating a new class of telecommunications operational challenge. Annual events such as Hajj and Riyadh Season already generate highly concentrated digital demand, while upcoming national milestones—including the AFC Asian Cup 2027, Expo 2030 Riyadh, and the FIFA World Cup 2034—will require uninterrupted connectivity across stadiums, exhibition districts, transportation systems, fan zones, airports, hotels, government platforms, and emergency-service networks.
The telecommunications challenge associated with these events extends beyond radio-access congestion. Modern mobile services increasingly depend on distributed telecom-cloud environments comprising virtualized network functions, cloud-native network functions, Kubernetes clusters, edge-computing nodes, service-mesh components, storage platforms, transport connectivity, orchestration systems, and multi-vendor infrastructure. A failure in any of these layers can affect large numbers of subscribers even when sufficient radio capacity remains available. Telecom operators must therefore move from infrastructure-centred monitoring toward predictive, service-aware, and autonomously recoverable cloud operations.
This study proposes the ResilienceCloud-KSA Framework, an AI-native telecom-cloud resilience model designed for high-demand Saudi mega-events. The framework introduces two original components. The first, EventCloud-Predict, is a multimodal service-risk forecasting engine that combines infrastructure telemetry, application-performance indicators, historical incidents, event schedules, crowd-movement forecasts, service dependencies, change records, and environmental information to estimate service-degradation risks from fifteen minutes to several hours in advance. The second, AutoRecover-KSA, is a five-layer operational architecture that coordinates anomaly detection, service-impact assessment, AI-assisted root-cause analysis, policy-governed remediation, and post-recovery learning across multi-vendor telecom-cloud platforms.
Unlike conventional capacity-planning models, the proposed framework concentrates on service continuity and cloud reliability. It addresses failures such as container exhaustion, Kubernetes-node degradation, storage latency, network-function instability, database saturation, service-mesh errors, unsuccessful software changes, virtual-machine failures, edge-cloud disconnection, certificate expiration, and cross-domain dependency breakdowns. ResilienceCloud-KSA continuously evaluates how these technical conditions may affect customer-facing services, including mobile broadband, digital ticketing, public-safety communications, transportation applications, payment platforms, media services, and event-management systems.
The research applies a mixed-method conceptual methodology combining a structured review of telecom-cloud assurance, artificial intelligence for IT operations, cloud-native orchestration, predictive maintenance, digital twins, and autonomous networks. The framework is further informed by Saudi mega-event operational requirements, international event-connectivity experience, telecom-cloud reference architectures, and established standards from 3GPP, ETSI, TM Forum, the Cloud Native Computing Foundation, and the O-RAN Alliance. An analytical scenario-based evaluation is used to assess the framework under representative Expo 2030 and FIFA World Cup 2034 operating conditions.
The findings suggest four principal outcomes. First, service degradation during mega-events cannot be managed effectively through isolated fault alarms because individual services depend on interconnected radio, transport, core, cloud, edge, application, and data layers. A service-topology model is therefore required to convert infrastructure alarms into customer-impact predictions. Second, predictive risk scoring can improve operational readiness by identifying probable resource exhaustion, network-function instability, and cascading dependency failures before customer experience is affected. Third, policy-controlled autonomous recovery—including workload scaling, container restart, traffic rerouting, service relocation, resource reallocation, rollback, and failover—can reduce recovery time when combined with human approval for high-impact actions. Fourth, a continuously updated digital operational twin can support pre-event testing, real-time decision-making, and post-event learning across geographically distributed venues.
ResilienceCloud-KSA includes an explicit human-governance mechanism called the Event Operations Authority Gate. Low-risk, reversible actions may be executed automatically within approved policies, while actions affecting public-safety services, broadcast systems, core-network functions, regulatory controls, or large subscriber populations require authorized human approval. The framework also maintains an explainable audit trail recording the detected condition, predicted impact, recommended response, approval decision, executed action, and measured recovery outcome.
The study concludes that successful telecommunications delivery for Saudi mega-events will depend not only on installing additional network capacity, but also on ensuring that the underlying telecom cloud can anticipate failures, preserve service continuity, and recover safely at machine speed. The proposed framework provides Saudi operators with a structured, multi-vendor, AI-native approach to predictive service assurance and autonomous cloud resilience. It supports phased implementation through recurring national events, Expo 2030, and FIFA World Cup 2034 while aligning with Saudi Vision 2030 priorities concerning digital leadership, operational excellence, artificial-intelligence adoption, and resilient national infrastructure.
This article argues that 6G should reverse that trajectory by reordering five priorities: control first; customer outcomes before peak rates; business guarantees before megabytes; software-driven operations with governed agentic artificial intelligence; and technology in service of those priorities.
David Soldani, P. Nahi, Awn Muhammad et al.· 0 citations
The competitiveness of modern gateway ports increasingly depends on external factors beyond the port domain, such as the performance of hinterland connections. However, despite extensive research on port competitiveness, a theoretical gap persists regarding the role of road transport networks, whose efficiency and resilience remain a largely underexplored exogenous driver. This study contributes to addressing this gap by conceptualizing road-network performance through three analytical dimensions: traffic management, maintenance and infrastructure development. The study introduces a data-driven Decision Support System (DSS) architecture developed using Power Query and Power BI, thereby contributing to the existing methodological debate by illustrating how these analytical dimensions can be translated into a structured and data-driven assessment framework. The functioning of the DSS is illustrated through a structured simulation-based application using a synthetic dataset designed to reproduce realistic traffic dynamics.
The efficiency, resilience and overall quality of services provided by international supply chains focused on sea-land logistics increasingly depend on the ability to implement IT-based applications. In this perspective, several emerging digital technologies enable the development of IT-based DSS that operate through real-time data integration, offering timely and accurate information to a wide range of stakeholders.
Key findings reveal that even moderate reductions in infrastructure capacity due to roadwork sites can significantly deteriorate Levels of Service (LOS), especially during peak hours, impacting freight movements and port accessibility. The proposed DSS enables real-time monitoring, scenario comparison and predictive planning, offering concrete benefits across three strategic domains that emerge from the theoretical framing.
Despite the original contribution provided, the present study is subject to some limitations that open up relevant avenues for future research. In particular, the current application relies on a synthetic dataset designed to illustrate the operational logic of the proposed DSS rather than to provide a full empirical validation of its performance. Future studies are called to perform simulations and analysis by applying real data concerning motorway infrastructural endowment and capacity, demand patterns and associated LOS. In addition, it could be worth testing the impact of critical events, including force majeure, that might provoke sudden limitations to capacity and/or heavy traffic perturbation across the port logistics chain, in order to assess the effectiveness of potential recovery mechanisms to be implemented by business operators. In this perspective, future empirical research grounded on real-world case studies could explicitly adopt structured design-oriented methodological approaches, such as Design Science Research Methodology, to iteratively test, refine and assess DSS artefacts under operational conditions, moving beyond the illustrative and exploratory scope of the present study.
Overall, the proposed framework suggests that the adoption of IT-based DSS solutions can generate several benefits for a wide range of stakeholders involved in the management and utilization of highway infrastructures. For highway concessionaires (and public awarding authorities), the DSS serves as a powerful tool to enhance decision-making processes at multiple levels. Port authorities and logistics operators can benefit from the availability of such decision-support too. Reliable and efficient hinterland connectivity is essential for maintaining port competitiveness and expanding hinterland boundaries, and by reducing the risks of congestion-related delays, the DSS helps ensure that cargo flows can move seamlessly between ports and inland destinations. For public decision-makers and regulators, the availability of accurate data-driven information provides a solid foundation for informed policy and investment decisions. The DSS offers clear visibility into current infrastructure performance, helping to identify where new investments are most needed (such as the expansion of highway sections or the development of new connections). The benefits of the DSS extend to road users themselves, encompassing both B2B users, such as freight transport operators, and B2C users, including private vehicle drivers. For these users, improved travel conditions, reduced congestion and more predictable journey times translate into lower costs, greater reliability and an overall better travel experience. Finally, local communities and urban authorities play a key role in the broader ecosystem. The DSS contributes to mitigating the negative externalities associated with heavy port-related traffic, such as pollution, noise and urban congestion.
Hence, the study provides policy and managerial implications about the benefits of implementing IT-based DSS conceived to manage highway capacity efficiently, while offering insights to Port Authorities, regulators and road users for improving travel choices and mobility behaviors.
Roberto Viviani, F. Parola, Antonella Ferri et al.· The TQM Journal· 0 citations
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 infrastructure portfolio requires buildings that can be designed, commissioned and operated as high-performing digital assets rather than static civil works. Mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems are central to this requirement because they determine energy demand, indoor environmental quality, water security, fire safety, maintainability and operational cost. This review develops a smart building management systems framework for enhancing MEP performance in Saudi infrastructure projects by synthesising literature published between 2020 and 2025 on building management systems, BIM, IoT, digital twins, energy management, facility management, interoperability and Saudi sustainability policy. The study follows a structured narrative review methodology supported by thematic coding and framework synthesis. The proposed model links BIM-based asset information, sensor networks, building automation, analytics dashboards, commissioning feedback and facility management workflows into a lifecycle performance loop. Findings indicate that the main value of smart building management is not isolated automation, but the integration of design intent, real-time data and operational governance. The review identifies six performance domains: energy and carbon reduction, HVAC stability, electrical load optimisation, water and pumping control, fire and life-safety readiness, and maintainable handover data. It concludes that Vision 2030 projects can improve long-term MEP outcomes when smart building systems are specified early, connected to open information standards, governed through measurable KPIs and embedded into owner-led facility management routines. The paper contributes a Saudi-oriented review framework, two visual models and practical KPI tables for researchers, consultants and infrastructure owners.
Ibad Ullah· Veredas do Direito· 0 citations
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