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Saudi Arabia Launches Digital Platform For Seismic Hazards
The new service could prevent potential future risks and will help to support research into improving local infrastructure.
Residents of Saudi Arabia will soon be able to keep a watchful eye on potential natural disasters. The Saudi Geological Survey (SGS) recently launched the first digital scientific platform in the kingdom, known as the Geological Risk Base Platform, aimed at informing and educating citizens on natural seismic hazards.
منصة قاعدة المخاطر الجيولوجية
تعد أول منصة علمية رقمية تثقيفية للمخاطر في المملكة، تتيح للمستخدم استعراض بيانات النشاط الزلزالي والاطلاع على البيانات والخرائط ذات العلاقة وتمكن الباحثين والمختصين من طلب تلك البيانات واستخدامها في الدراسات البحثية العلمية. pic.twitter.com/yZbywdHeH6— هيئة المساحة الجيولوجية السعودية (@SgsOrgSa) April 4, 2023
The new portal will offer data and seismic risk assessments across various locations in Saudi Arabia and will provide technical solutions aimed at potential future risk prevention, as well as acting as a repository for research on improving local infrastructure.
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The Geological Risk Base Platform was introduced by Bandar Alkhorayef, Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources and Chairman of the Board of Directors of SGS. Meanwhile, Tariq Aba Al Khail, SGS spokesman, explained that the new platform would act as a “digital electronic page that includes all the information related to seismic hazards, data, and maps in and around Saudi Arabia”.
News
LUVED Is A New Curated Preloved Marketplace For The UAE
Sellers keep 100 percent of every sale and AI can build a listing in five seconds — though the app’s smartest tools are still coming.
Secondhand shopping has become mainstream in the UAE, but the experience is still scattered across resale sites, social media and informal group chats. LUVED, a mobile-first marketplace that launched in Dubai this month, is betting it can pull that activity into one place — and that the thing buyers and sellers actually want is not more inventory, but trust.
The app trades in what it calls circular luxury: preloved fashion and lifestyle pieces across men’s, women’s and children’s categories, bought, sold or given away peer to peer. Its main pitch is economics, with sellers keeping 100 percent of every sale under a zero-commission, fast payout model, while buyers are promised vetted pieces at lower prices.
Where LUVED is staking its reputation is verification. Sellers pass a KYC check, and items run through a two-layer authentication system powered by Entrupy that pairs instant AI screening with human expert review for high-value pieces. Authenticity certificates travel with each item, payments sit in escrow, and a buyer-protection package the company calls The Safety Net adds a 48-hour return window and dispute resolution. Door-to-door logistics removes the in-person meetups that make most resale deals awkward.
An in-app assistant called Luvbot — offering selling insights and demand-based recommendations — is soon to be introduced to the platform. Other features include autofill and dynamic pricing that lets users build a listing in as little as five seconds from three photos, plus a swipe-based feed, story-style drops and in-app chat in English and Arabic. Finally, a gifting layer, Luved & Gifted, lets users pass items to others inside the app rather than sell them.
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“After moving to Dubai, I saw how difficult it was to sell or even give things away,” says founder and CEO Shaima Sibtain. The friction is real, and so is the competition. In resale, trust is won transaction by transaction — and that is the test LUVED has set itself.
The app is live on the App Store now, with Google Play to follow. The company also plans to expand across the region, which will be the real test for a marketplace staking everything on trust.
