360The 21st century so far: smartphones, Vision 2030 and AI
In the 21st century, smartphones and social media put the internet in billions of pockets, and artificial intelligence began to change everyday work. Saudi Arabia launched Vision 2030 in 2016, opening to tourism and investment and winning Expo 2030 and the 2034 FIFA World Cup. The world also faced a global pandemic.
The century began with the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003, opening a new era in medicine.
Technology moved into everyone's hands. Social networks appeared in the mid-2000s, and the iPhone, launched in 2007, made the smartphone the main way people use the internet. By the 2020s, artificial intelligence tools could write, translate and create images.
Saudi Arabia entered a period of rapid transformation. In 2016, under King Salman, the Kingdom launched Vision 2030, a plan to diversify the economy, develop tourism, culture and sport, and improve quality of life. Women began driving in 2018, tourist visas were introduced in 2019, and giga-projects such as NEOM and the Red Sea Project began. Riyadh won the right to host Expo 2030, and the Kingdom was confirmed as host of the 2034 FIFA World Cup.
The world faced shared challenges. The financial crisis of 2008 led to a global recession, and from 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted daily life everywhere, before vaccines were developed in record time.
Space exploration revived, with reusable rockets and the James Webb Space Telescope, launched in 2021, showing the early universe.
- 2003
- Human genome sequenced
- 2007
- iPhone launched
- 2016
- Saudi Vision 2030 launched
- 2020
- COVID-19 pandemic
- 2023
- Riyadh wins Expo 2030
Sources: Britannica · Vision 2030 · World Health Organization · NASA.