Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs Abdul Latif bin Abdulaziz Al Sheikh announced the inauguration of the first smart mosque in the country located in Mecca. He explained, "This is the first experimental mosque in the Kingdom and will be the nucleus for more to come," noting that "the smart mosque project has been implemented at Hayya Al-Asaf Mosque in Al-Awali neighborhood."
According to a statement from the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs, the project includes "monitoring and reading water and electricity consumption in real-time and controlling the operation and shutdown of these components to reduce energy consumption and achieve optimal usage for the mosque."
The project contributes to "saving more than 50 percent of consumption and allows for easy control of all components of the floors from one location through a touchscreen with simple and user-friendly graphical interfaces." It also enables the monitoring of any violations or malfunctions in the mosque, which are reported automatically by issuing alerts, and provides the ability to obtain statistical reports on operation and consumption rates. Additionally, it allows for the monitoring and connection of the status of mosques via a mobile application that wirelessly connects to the mosque's network, according to a statement from the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.
