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IBM And AWS Plan Riyadh Hub To Drive Regional Cloud Growth

The partnership will target Middle East digital agendas with AI and advanced hybrid cloud solutions.

Published

11 months ago

September 30, 2025

Joanna Melki

ibm and aws plan riyadh hub to drive regional cloud growth

IBM

IBM and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are deepening their partnership to accelerate cloud adoption and digital transformation across the Middle East, with plans for a joint Innovation Hub in Riyadh.

The expansion builds on an existing Strategic Collaboration Agreement, combining IBM Consulting’s expertise in AI, hybrid cloud and cybersecurity with AWS’s global infrastructure. The goal is to help regional clients modernize operations, adopt generative AI and meet government transformation targets.

Cloud demand in the Middle East is surging. Sectors such as healthcare and banking are leading adoption, followed by retail and manufacturing. National strategies like Saudi Vision 2030 and the UAE’s Digital Economy Strategy are pushing enterprises to invest in AI, IoT and cloud platforms to boost productivity and diversify economies.

The proposed Riyadh hub will give clients access to proofs of concept and hands-on trials of joint solutions, building on similar models in India and Romania. It will showcase offerings such as IBM’s watsonx platform, oil and gas analytics, and AI-powered citizen services.

IBM plans to expand its AWS Practice in the region, certifying local practitioners and training talent in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. AWS will support by localizing offerings — ranging from contact center intelligence to autonomous security compliance — tailored to priorities around diversification and sustainability.

Security is a central focus. IBM and AWS will offer assessments and managed services, including IBM’s Autonomous Security for Cloud. The service uses AI-driven automation to enforce uniform policies under the AWS shared responsibility model. The partners aim to help clients meet standards such as Saudi Arabia’s Essential Cybersecurity Controls and Abu Dhabi’s healthcare security rules.

Also Read: Abu Dhabi And NVIDIA Launch First Joint AI And Robotics Lab

The collaboration also emphasizes sustainability, aligning with the Saudi Green Initiative and the UAE’s climate goals. IBM Consulting will bring global tools such as its Sustainability Disclosure Assist to support ESG reporting and net-zero targets.

“This partnership underscores IBM’s commitment to helping organizations in Saudi Arabia and the UAE realize their digital transformation ambitions,” said Lula Mohanty, managing partner for the Middle East and Africa at IBM Consulting.

AWS’s Tanuja Randery added that the tie-up will enable governments and businesses “to adopt breakthrough technologies at scale, while reinventing core processes with AI”.

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Instagram Redraws Its Wordmark And The Internet Reads “Instagzam”

Instagram’s first wordmark refresh in a decade arrives with new fonts, a restrained gradient — and a Reddit verdict of sidegrade.

Published

4 days ago

August 14, 2026

Nour Nasir

Instagram

Although Instagram’s famous camera icon hasn’t changed, the company has refreshed the handwritten wordmark at the top of its app. This is the first redesign we’ve seen in ten years, and one the internet promptly set about renaming.

“The wordmark at the top of the app hasn’t changed in 10 years, so it was time for a refresh,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri wrote in a post on August 13, describing the new version as “cleaner and more modern” while keeping references to the original design.

Instagram says its team explored hundreds of options — all-caps lettering, camera-inspired concepts, even literal handwriting — before returning to script. “Script reflects individuality, so referencing that felt right,” Instagram director of product design Jasmine Probst said in Meta’s announcement. “The new wordmark is bolder and simpler, with touches of unexpectedness. It cues individual expression, a personal voice, both of which have always been core to Instagram”.

The wordmark is part of a broader brand overhaul: an updated Instagram Sans typeface, two new fonts — the hand-drawn Instagram Pen and Instagram Mono — plus refreshed motion and layouts, and more restrained use of the signature gradient. The wordmark is rolling out globally now, with the rest arriving throughout 2026 and beyond.

Also Read: Spotify Will Now Tell You If Your Favorite Artist Isn’t Real

The design mixes cursive and print lettering, some characters connected and others floating free. That hybrid approach, combined with unusually shaped “s” and “r” characters, led some users to conclude the logo actually reads “Instagzam”. On the r/logodesign subreddit, one user said the wordmark looked “fan-made,” like something built in Canva; another called it “an unsettling mix of manuscript and cursive”; a third summarized it as a “sidegrade” — or, inevitably, a “zidegrade”.

Not everyone was hostile to the new look. Some found the half-cursive design stylish and surprisingly readable, while others called it an improvement on its predecessor, and one commenter argued Instagram was simply adopting minimalist branding later than everyone else. Either way, the platform now has a refreshed identity, three updated fonts, and an unofficial new pronunciation.