Today, the activities of the 2nd edition of the “Digital Government Forum”, organized by the Digital Government Authority under the slogan “Our Future is Now”, were concluded, with the participation of several government agencies and in the presence of a number of Their Highnesses and Excellencies ministers, and a group of experts, specialists, and decision-makers in the field of digital government at the local and international levels.

Over two days, 19-20 December 2023 AD, the forum witnessed a main and ministerial session that brought together a number of Their Highnesses and Excellencies, and holding of dialogue and specialized sessions and workshops, in which specialized speakers in the field of digital government from various countries of the world participated; to discuss challenges, best practices, and investment opportunities in the field of digital government.

His Excellency the Governor of the Digital Government Authority, Eng. Ahmed Alsuwaiyan expressed his thanks and pride in the empowerment and unlimited support that the Saudi digital government receives from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and the Crown Prince, Prime Minister, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, may Allah protect them. His Excellency stressed that the digital landscape that Saudi Arabia is experiencing is the outcome of continuous guidance by wise leadership to achieve the citizen’s welfare and place the nation on global leadership platforms. Likewise, His Excellency appreciated the participation of their Highnesses and Excellencies, the ministers, government agencies, and countries participating in the forum, and the recommendations made by experts, specialists, and decision-makers in the field of digital government.
 

On its second day, the forum witnessed holding a main session in which His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Minister of Energy, participated, entitled: “The Role of Innovation and Digital Transformation to Improve Efficiency in the Energy Sector Towards a Sustainable Future”, in addition to a ministerial session entitled: “The Road to 2030, The Role of Digital Transformation in Achieving Saudi Vision 2030”, with the participation of Their Excellencies the Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al Rabiah, the Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, Mr. Majed bin Abdullah Al Hogail, and the Minister of Health, Mr. Fahad bin Abdurrahman Al Jalajel.

The forum included announcing the winners of the GCC eGovernment Award across its six categories and honoring them. The Mada Digital Accessibility Portal of the Ministry of Social Development and Family in the State of Qatar won the Best Initiative for Digital Inclusion Award, and the service for tracking visual distortions and the use of drones of Madinah Regional Municipality of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia won the Best Use of Intelligence Award. The Kingdom of Bahrain’s Open Data Portal won the Open Data Initiative Award, the digital case file service “Dubai Courts” in the United Arab Emirates won the Best Government Digital Service Award, the Omani Telecommunications Regulatory Authority won the Best Digital Community Participation Award, and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of Saudi Arabia won the Award of Best Digital Empowerment Initiative for Women.

Furthermore, the forum celebrated honoring (12) government agencies for obtaining the National Enterprise Architecture Accreditation Certificate for implementing the National Enterprise Architecture (NORA) methodology prepared by the Digital Government Authority, namely the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Human Rights Commission, the National Center for Government Resource Systems, the Saline Water Conversion Corporation, the Health Affairs Department at the Ministry of National Guard, the Agricultural Development Fund, the Human Resources Development Fund, the Council of Health Insurance, King Fahad Medical City and Qassim University. 

The forum crowned the winners of the eGovernment Award, which works to motivate government agencies to adopt the highest local and international standards during the digital transformation journey, enhance national presence, and compete regionally and globally. The Tyassarat service on “Ehsan” platform of the Saudi Data and AI Authority won the award in the category of Best Digital Government Service, and the aerial photography and real estate map creation project of the General Real Estate Authority won the award in the category of Best Use of Emerging Technologies, Eng. Sultan bin Daifallah Abu Khasheem, Deputy Governor for Digital Transformation and Data at the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization, won the eGovernment Award for Best Digital Leader category, and Mr. Moayad bin Nizar Khayat from the Saline Water Conversion Corporation won the eGovernment Award for Best Promising Employee category.

On its part, the Digital Government Authority announced the results of Digital Transformation Measurement “Qiyas” 2023, which aims to contribute to the development of digital government in line with global trends in digital transformation and the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 by enabling government agencies to determine the extent of their commitment to the basic standards of digital transformation and to identify the extent of the development of their performance annually to reach an integrated digital government, which showed that 88 government agencies have reached the innovation and integration stages.
Throughout the Digital Saudi Exhibition, the forum also reviewed the most prominent digital services and emerging technologies provided by the private sector.

It is noteworthy that the Digital Government Forum aims to highlight the achievements of the digital government and review its success stories locally and internationally, enable the leaders of the digital community to meet and communicate, exchange experiences, build partnerships, share successful experiences, discuss challenges, discuss modern technical best practices, review future directions of digital governments, and discuss investment opportunities in the digital sector in Saudi Arabia.