Saudi Arabia’s real estate sector has been data-poor, prompting Ahmed Bukhamseen and Quant to enhance transparency and access to vital data for buyers and investors. Partnering with Huawei, Quant is revolutionizing property investment through advanced analytics, leveraging satellite imagery and local data to provide insights that facilitate informed decisions and stimulate market growth.
Saudi Arabia, despite its wealth and investor preference for real estate over stocks, has historically lacked comprehensive data in its property market. This gap inspired Ahmed Bukhamseen and his company, Quant, to revolutionize property investment by providing transparent pricing information to various stakeholders, including buyers and investors. This effort is aimed at transforming the access to real estate data in Saudi Arabia.
Quant’s operations hinge on data collection, encompassing advertised and actual prices, project details, mapping, geo-spatial data, and imagery. During the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Ahmed elaborated on their data platform. “Our main challenge was to first comply with data protection,” he stated, noting the necessity for local data storage due to new regulations imposed by the Saudi Data and AI Authority, which mirror the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This prompted a transition from cloud services like Azure to local solutions.
The choice of Huawei for cloud services came after reviewing various options last year. As Quant’s business model evolved from utilizing municipal data registries to integrating local data and high-resolution satellite imagery, the need for efficient data processing emerged. The previous system required data transmission from Saudi Arabia to Europe, which incurred significant costs due to the need for data storage both pre- and post-processing.
Quant captures satellite imagery bi-weekly and is advancing to a daily schedule for acquiring up-to-date information on existing and under-construction buildings. Ahmed emphasized the importance of low latency as they tested Huawei’s services to ensure users experience seamless navigation in their application while handling large data volumes.
The Quant application democratizes access to the property market, catering to first-time buyers, portfolio managers, and landlords who seek stability in price variability that previously plagued the sector. By aggregating diverse data sources, including property prices and government planning documents, the app facilitates informed buying and selling decisions.
Future developments for Quant include enhancing data quality and features such as precise detection of building types based on zoning data. “We can build models and see the exact building plan from space,” Ahmed mentioned, underscoring the innovation at play. Collaborating with Huawei will expedite model computation from extensive timelines to mere hours, allowing for rapid deployment of updates.
Quant also envisions a service to assist retailers in identifying optimal store locations based on local demographics. This planning aligns with the swift evolution of the Saudi Arabian market. Ahmed highlighted the transformative potential of real estate investments, stating, “We’re talking about multiplying investments similar to the Bitcoin market.” The accessibility offered by data-driven solutions will empower foreign investors to make informed property purchases with ease.
In conclusion, Quant is poised to reshape the real estate market in Saudi Arabia by providing vital data-driven insights. The collaboration with Huawei enables rapid progress in cloud solutions and computational models, enhancing accessibility for investors and buyers alike. Through its innovative platform, Quant not only aims to democratize property investment but also to foster significant growth in the Saudi real estate sector. The commitment to delivering rich, timely data underlines the transformative potential within this burgeoning market.
Original Source: www.artificialintelligence-news.com
