The Digital Government Authority works to enhance digital performance within government entities, raising the quality of services provided and improving beneficiaries’ experience with government entities, in line with the Saudi Arabia’s ambitious vision 2030 and achieving digital strategic directions. 

The Digital Government Authority paves the way for government entities to support them in providing efficient and high-quality digital government services, which contributes to raising the return on investments and raising the value of the national economy, as well as measuring the performance and capabilities of government entities in the field of digital government.

Since the Authority is mandated to "Set the standards and  controls for the Digital Transformation for the Government Sector and measure the compliance against it, in coordination with the relevant Government entities". From this perspective, Authority has prepared the Controls for the Whole of Government Platforms to contribute effectively to creating a regulatory environment that supports sustainable government digital transformation.

The purpose of the Controls is to improve the use of technology solutions and shared infrastructure by government entities through its digital platforms. This will significantly increase the level of integration and interdependence between government entities' platforms, making it easier to share information. These Controls are included the requirements that assigned to the government entities who are responsible for the government-shared systems and services, by regulating all aspects related to connecting government entities to these digital platforms and organizing and managing the relationships with beneficiary government entities to obtain the maximum benefit from the government shared systems and services.

In order to implement the "Whole of Government" concept on the government entities' platforms, the Authority has developed the “Controls of Whole of Government Platforms” which aims to increase the use rates of the Government Shared Systems and Services and transform these platforms, from working in silos to provide the beneficiaries with government digital services to a Whole of Government Platform that integrates with the Government Shared Systems and Services to provide government digital services that are beneficiary-centric, to avoid duplication.

This document, “Controls for Whole of the Government Platforms”, is one of the controls included in the Digital Government Framework which will improve integration and interdependence between government entities and support efforts to provide a consistent and smooth user experience when delivering services, across digital platforms. It also increases the level of data sharing between government entities and avoids duplication. 

These Controls aim to implement the "Whole of Government" concept by organizing critical aspects related to the Government Shared Systems and Services and the government platforms that benefit from them. To achieve this through:

•  Optimal use of government technical resources and investments, which contributes to reducing government expenditure.
•  Develop mechanisms to provide digital government services and enhance the interoperability between government entities’ platforms.
•  Avoid duplication of efforts and increase the level of data sharing between government entities.

The DGA has developed these controls to identify the Whole of government platforms requirements to be applied and adhered by  government entities responsible for systems and shared government services and those who benefit from them, as follows:

Controls for connecting the Beneficiary government entities with the Government Shared Systems and Services for example: Using digital identity to verify the beneficiaries' identity, using the government integration channel (GSB) to obtain information from another entity, or using payment gateways and applications to receive payments from beneficiaries.

Controls for the Management and operation of the Government Shared Systems and Services to ensure provisioning the Government Shared Systems and Services , which includes:

• Development and operation of the Government Shared Systems and Services.
• Government Shared Systems and Services Platform performance monitoring.
• Managing the relationship with the Beneficiary government entities  from  the Government Shared Systems and Services.

Government Shared Systems and Services examples*:

• Payment Gateway
• Identity Authentication Management
• The Government Service Bus (GSB)
• Government Cloud (G-Cloud)
• Unified National Platform
• National Open Data Portal
• Government Secure Network (GSN)

* Subject to updating according to the regulations issued by the Authority in this regard

The Whole of Government Platforms Controls applies to:

• The government entities responsible for the  Government Shared Systems and Services enable all government entities to utilize it.
• The Beneficiary government entities from Government Shared Systems and Services that connect to one or more solutions of these Government Shared Systems and Services to carry out their operational work.
• The Private sector develops or operates digital government-related activities.

In implementation of what was stated in the ninth paragraph of Article 4 of the Digital Government Authority Mandate, which stated "set technical standards for digital transformation models in government sectors and follow up on their commitment to them, in coordination with the government entities.", Accordingly, DGA assesses and measures the extent of government agencies' commitment to applying these regulatory controls in accordance with the mechanism approved by DGA.

for more information; Check the digital version.

The following terms and expressions - wherever they appear in this document - shall have the meanings indicated on the opposite side of each of them, unless the context requires otherwise.