The goal of the Industrial Innovation Centers Program is to create links between universities and private sector institutions in order to support localization efforts through technological development. The program aims to enhance high quality research in order to solve the problems facing industry by developing research partnerships between industrial institutions, research institutions, and KACST. It also aims to contribute to the development of products and services in order to increase the competitiveness of national companies, and to develop the local content.

• Providing solutions to problems facing industry in the Kingdom.
• Linking researchers to industry in order to intensify research and development efforts and develop the local content.
• Encouraging and facilitating the participation of the industrial sector in research and development partnerships.
• Strengthening the university research related to industry in the Kingdom.

Many industrial companies can benefit from this program. The targeted KPIs by 2020 include: providing 100 technical solutions for companies, establishing 50 technology startup companies, creating 300 jobs, registering 250 patents, and publishing 1000 scientific papers in the program fields, namely: water, energy, oil and gas and minerals, petrochemicals and materials, health and medicine, space and aeronautics, agriculture and foodindustries, building and construction, information and communication technologies, environment, defense and security, and transportation and logistics.