«صُنع في السعودية».. كيف تُدير حجاج 164 دولة في مساحة صغيرة ؟

The art of crowd management is a Saudi hallmark that is being studied. This management is no longer just an organizational field; it has become a science based on study, academic research, and scientific inquiry. The Kingdom has practically excelled in this area by achieving numerous successive accomplishments and implementing growing projects that are globally pioneering in crowd management for those performing the rituals of Hajj and Umrah every year.

Such management is a pivotal element in ensuring the safety of pilgrims as they perform their rituals in a limited area within a short time frame, as nearly two million pilgrims from various parts of the world converge on Mecca and the holy sites. Relevant authorities work to prevent stampedes and suffocation, avoid accidents, and organize crowds between the holy sites, while quickly addressing any health or security crises, utilizing technology to improve the accuracy of predictions and decisions on the ground.

Over the past years, Saudi Arabia has succeeded in developing crowd management technologies and has accumulated experience in dealing with human masses, managing pilgrims representing 164 nationalities worldwide, within a short time frame and in specific locations within the holy sites.

The pioneering experience in crowd management during the Hajj and Umrah seasons has become a global model for advanced human organization, serving as a beacon to be emulated. The Kingdom's approach is clear, placing humans first; affirming the objectives of Islamic law in preserving human life, which was realized in an exceptional Hajj due to the accumulation of experiences and expertise in crowd management and organizing Hajj seasons.

Crowd management represents one of the strong pillars of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, which aims to host 100 million visits and more than 30 million pilgrims and Umrah performers by 2030. It is considered one of the most precise and challenging fields of management, requiring the ability to deal with different cultures, multiple languages, and diverse behaviors and moods, which has prompted many countries around the world to benefit from the Saudi experience in this field.

The Kingdom's superiority in managing human crowds has made the world witness its ability to manage millions of people during the Umrah and Hajj seasons, during which the Kingdom mobilizes its human and material resources to welcome millions of Umrah performers and pilgrims from around the globe, providing those serving the pilgrims with quantitative, cumulative, and knowledge-based experience.

In light of the diverse cultures and languages of the pilgrims, the security authorities in these holy lands have demonstrated significant excellence in managing these human crowds, ensuring the safety of pilgrims, Umrah performers, and visitors in a remarkably short time, over a limited area, with plans executed by Saudi hands, leveraging unique expertise in crowd management and protecting pilgrims with high humanitarian standards evident in many scenes and situations. You can see security personnel under the scorching sun and high temperatures conveying their spontaneous message to all corners of the earth that they are at the service of the guests of the Merciful, dedicated to ensuring their safety and comfort.

Saudi Arabia uniquely organizes millions of pilgrims during the Hajj and Umrah seasons, a task that has become routine and poses no obstacles, regardless of the number of visitors or the season; the General Authority for the Care of the Two Holy Mosques has prepared all the necessary resources to serve the guests of the Merciful, deploying human and technical competencies for this purpose.

Remote Sensing Technology

The Ministry of Interior and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) have launched a smart platform powered by artificial intelligence.

This platform represents a qualitative leap in the integration of modern surveillance and reconnaissance technologies to support decision-makers in crowd management and ensuring the safety of the guests of the Merciful. It relies on advanced technologies that combine remote sensing and geographic information systems to analyze satellite images with high precision, providing a comprehensive view of the Two Holy Mosques and the holy sites.

The smart platform is an ambitious model for digital transformation within the targets of Vision 2030, embodying the Kingdom's commitment to employing the latest global technologies to serve the guests of the Merciful in the field of artificial intelligence to secure the holy sites, ensuring that pilgrims and Umrah performers can perform their rituals in a safe environment, and developing the knowledge infrastructure and enhancing the level of services provided in the Two Holy Mosques to achieve the highest standards of security and safety.

The platform provides a comprehensive view of the overall scene in managing large crowds during the Hajj and Umrah seasons, contributing to enhancing the efficiency of surveillance and security reconnaissance technologies and improving field response by providing relevant authorities with integrated statistics and data, and offering mechanisms to monitor changes in surface temperatures, particularly for heat islands, in addition to tracking irregular patterns.

The platform works on statistics and comparisons between data from the current season and previous seasons, contributing to future planning and the development of services provided to pilgrims and Umrah performers. Many security sectors affiliated with the General Directorate of Public Security benefit from the platform's services in various vital sectors during the Hajj season, enhancing coordination among different government entities and supporting a comprehensive response to potential challenges.

Monitoring and Analyzing Human Masses

The Royal Commission for the City of Mecca and the Holy Sites, in cooperation with King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, utilizes high-resolution satellite imagery and geospatial artificial intelligence technologies known as "GeoAI," which are used to monitor and analyze human and vehicular movement during the Hajj season; this aims to enhance the efficiency of crowd management. The scope of analysis includes the entrances to Mecca to monitor vehicle flows and peak times, the central area to track crowd density around the Sacred Mosque, and the routes of the holy sites through movement analysis, in addition to predicting congestion locations.

The technology aims to support immediate decision-making by providing accurate data, improving crowd distribution, ensuring safe movement, and enhancing coordination among operational entities in the field.

This collaboration represents an advanced model in employing geospatial technologies to serve the Hajj season, enhancing safety and increasing the efficiency of field performance.

Segment Analysis Technologies

The King Abdulaziz Research Institute for Hajj and Umrah at Umm Al-Qura University has played a key role in crowd management, developing several machine learning models that assist in analyzing crowd density in various locations during the Hajj rituals. Researchers have worked on developing models and using machine learning techniques to analyze video footage from the Hajj season, classifying crowd density into different levels; this helps identify high-density areas and alert relevant authorities to take necessary actions and assist in immediate decision-making.

The Communications, Space, and Technology Authority has participated in its system of technical and digital services in crowd management through advanced infrastructure, through which the authority facilitates crowd management, employing technologies such as drones and the Internet of Things to monitor crowd movement and direct vehicles, enhancing transportation efficiency, and conducting a comprehensive survey of frequencies used by government entities in Mecca and the holy sites to ensure there are no interferences affecting service quality, providing specialized technical teams that work around the clock to monitor network performance and address any issues that may arise during Hajj.

AI-Powered Management

The Ministry of Interior, represented by the General Directorate of Public Security in collaboration with the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), uses artificial intelligence algorithms through the "Sawareh" and "Basir" platforms to enhance the accuracy of monitoring security phenomena in the Sacred Mosque and the holy sites, developing proactive security plans for managing and organizing crowd movement, and passing that data to decision-makers at the operations and control center for decision-making.

Peak times throughout the year require doubled readiness for crowd management, and the General Directorate of Crowds and Pilgrimage of the General Authority for the Care of the Two Holy Mosques provides organized efforts around the clock, characterized by flexibility, working in integration with specialized entities to facilitate the process of crowd management.

The morning of Friday prayers is one of the busiest times during the week, while on a monthly level, the month of Ramadan represents the most densely populated month, alongside the Hajj season, which includes millions moving from one place to another at specific times and according to studied plans. Participating entities in crowd management raise their readiness during peak times and coordinate among themselves to manage crowds, training human resources to handle crowds professionally to facilitate the arrival of those heading to the Sacred Mosque to the squares and prayer areas and their movement between levels.

The spokesperson for the Hajj Security Forces, Major Khalid Al-Kuraidis, stated that the process of managing pilgrims for the stoning of the Jamarat was carried out with the participation of all relevant entities, as pre-planned strategies for crowd management and organization were prepared.

SMART MOC Center

The Smart Operations Center (SMART MOC) in Mecca is one of the most important advanced operational technological pillars that enhance the capabilities of the Hajj system from the government entities working to serve the guests of the Merciful. It aims to manage and monitor the advanced systems and platforms overseen by SDAIA, to elevate the level of digital services provided to the pilgrims of the Sacred House of Allah.

The center enhances crowd management tasks and security capabilities in the holy sites through an integrated system that includes the "Basir" platform, which processes data in real-time using advanced technologies and algorithms to accurately and efficiently monitor and distribute crowds within the environment of the Two Holy Mosques.

SDAIA and Permit Review

SDAIA has contributed to the development of the unified digital platform for Hajj permits (Permit Platform), launched by the Ministry of Interior to issue licenses and permits that allow holders, both domestic and international pilgrims, to enter the city of Mecca and the holy sites through technical integration with the Ministry of Hajj via the "Nusk" platform, which allows workers and volunteers in all Hajj activities, as well as the vehicles transporting them, to enter the city of Mecca and the holy sites, with the ability to review permits through the comprehensive national application (Tawakkalna).

This year's Hajj witnessed the service of reviewing Hajj permits through the "Tawakkalna" application, linked to the unified digital platform for Hajj permits. This service facilitates the review of all types of Hajj permits from all government entities, including the pilgrim permit card.

Prohibition of Carrying Luggage

The Ministry of Hajj, in partnership with all entities involved in the Hajj season, has successfully monitored and followed up on the movement of crowd management using modern technologies, including field surveillance cameras, smartphone applications, performance measurement boards, and the smart Hajj platform; aiming to facilitate pilgrims in performing their rituals with comfort, reassurance, and ease.

The crowd management plans include monitoring the performance of the executive plans and the movement of crowds in the holy sites through surveillance cameras in the holy sites. The Ministry of Hajj's plan for managing the pilgrims of the Sacred House of Allah for the stoning of the Jamarat on the first days of Tashreeq was successful, amidst integrated services from various government and private entities involved in Hajj.

The smooth movement of pilgrims during their stoning of the three Jamarat, starting from the small Jamarah to the middle one and then to the Jamarah Al-Aqabah, is achieved by adhering to the time schedule designated for their movement from the camps or through pedestrian bridges with the train of the holy sites that pass through routes from which they are distributed to the multiple levels of the Jamarat, and designated pathways for those going to ensure they do not conflict with those returning from the Jamarat. The pilgrimage companies and the Coordinating Council for Domestic Pilgrims have mandated that pilgrims are not allowed to carry personal belongings while stoning the Jamarat, and that a group leader must be present for every 90 pilgrims.