The Research Innovation Program is a new strategic program in the national research and development support ecosystem. It aims to support researchers and research centers in the Kingdom to develop technological innovations by transferring research to the prototype development stage, and then to the production and marketing stages. The program also aims to create and develop technology startup companies, and to create thousands of job opportunities which will contribute to the economic development of the Kingdom.

• Bridging the gap between research and industry, and helping researchers reach the production and marketing stages.
• Finding solutions to the main research and development challenges in the Kingdom.
• Improving Saudi competencies to work in high technology fields.
• Motivating technological innovation in research institutions.

All researchers in the national research centers and universities can benefit from this program. The targeted KPIs by 2020 include: establishing 600 technology startup companies, creating 3000 jobs, publishing 500 scientific papers, and registering 1000 patents in the fields of the program, namely: water, energy, oil and gas and minerals, petrochemicals and materials, health and medicine, space and aeronautics, agriculture and food-industries, building and construction, information and communication technologies, environment, defense and security, and transportation and logistics.