DAVOS, SWITZERLAND, January 24, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — During the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2026 in Davos, Acumen Media interviewed Abdulrahman Ibrahim, Chief Data and Innovation Officer at the Al Madinah Region Development Authority, as part of The Davos Interviews—a global series capturing the perspectives of business and public-sector leaders on the world’s most pressing challenges. The interview focuses on Al Madinah’s development journey, its approach to innovation-led urban governance, and the role of data, resilience, and SDG localization in shaping sustainable cities.
During the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2026, Acumen Media interviewed Abdulrahman Ibrahim, Chief Data and Innovation Officer at the Al Madinah Region Development Authority, as part of The Davos Interviews, a global thought-leadership series filmed during WEF.
The Davos Interviews brings together business and public-sector leaders from around the world to share their visions and insights through a curated collection of filmed conversations. The series explores industry development, leadership perspectives, and opportunities to address some of the most significant global challenges of our time.
Al Madinah was featured for its distinctive approach to innovation, urban resilience, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) localization. During the interview, Ibrahim discussed the broader landscape shaping the city’s development journey, including rapid growth, rising visitor numbers, and the responsibility of preserving Al Madinah’s cultural and spiritual identity.
“Al Madinah approaches innovation as a means to serve people and place, not as an objective on its own,” said Abdulrahman Ibrahim. “Technology is adopted only when it strengthens quality of life, resilience, and long-term sustainability.”
The conversation highlighted the MANARAH Urban Data Platform, which supports better planning and sustainable development across the city by integrating data from multiple sectors. Ibrahim also underscored Al Madinah’s global leadership in SDG localization, noting that it is the first city worldwide to assess SDG indicators at the neighborhood level through The Atlas of Sustainable Development in Al Madinah Neighborhoods, announced at the United Nations High-Level Political Forum. Full details on the Atlas are available at https://muo.mda.gov.sa/reports-en.html and more on the SDGs can be found at https://sdgs.un.org.
The interview further explored the LEEN City Resilience Platform, which enables city leaders to anticipate, respond to, and recover from uncertainty through advanced decision-support tools, reinforcing resilience as a core pillar of innovation.
“Urban resilience depends on timely, informed decisions,” Ibrahim added. “Innovation in decision-support platforms helps leaders respond effectively, especially during moments of uncertainty.”
More information about the World Economic Forum is available at https://www.weforum.org, and details on the Al Madinah Region Development Authority can be found at https://www.mda.gov.sa.
About Al Madinah:
The Al Madinah Region Development Authority (MDA) is a Saudi Arabian governmental organization responsible for guiding the strategic development of the Al Madinah Region. Established to orchestrate regional growth, MDA works closely with government entities and the private sector to advance sustainable development, institutional excellence, and a high quality of life for residents and visitors. The Authority has received international recognition for its leadership in urban innovation, including the 2025 Global Award for Sustainable Development in Cities (Shanghai Award) and Bentley Systems’ 2025 Going Digital Awards for its MANARAH Urban Data Platform in the Geospatial & Reality Modeling category.
For more information, visit www.mda.gov.sa.
Claudia Gahan
Acumen Media
+44 20 3553 3664
email us here
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