Digital Government Authority

The Digital Government Authority (DGA) is the entity responsible for regulating digital government activities in government entities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It aims to keep pace with the transformation currently witnessed by the Kingdom and the rise of modern technologies and business models therein to establish a proactive digital government capable of providing highly efficient digital services and achieving integration between government entities in line with Saudi Vision 2030. The DGS is headquartered in the capital, Riyadh, and has a board of directors meeting at these premises.

In 2023, the Kingdom ranked first on the Government Strategy Index for Artificial Intelligence, one of the global AI classification indicators issued by Tortoise Intelligence. This indicator measures the performance of more than sixty countries worldwide. In terms of this index, Germany ranked second while China ranked third.

In 2021, the Digital Government Authority was established by a Council of Ministers’ decision instructing the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology to cancel the government e-transactions program Yusr and abolish the National Center for Digital Certification, to be replaced by the DGA. The DGA maintains a legal personality with financial and administrative independence and is organizationally linked to the Prime Minister.

The DGA has several functions, including participating in the preparation of the national digital government strategy; developing technical standards for government digital transformation models; supervising governance of the government digital cloud activities and clouds related to digital government; building national capacities specialized in digital government, providing digital government consultations and services to public and private entities; conducting studies and research in the field of digital government; supporting government entities with regard to digital government services to adopt and empower modern technologies; and endorsing policies on DGA activities, plans and projects to implement them.

The Board of Directors oversees and manages the DGA's affairs and is chaired by the Minister of Communications and Information Technology. Board membership includes representatives of many government entities: the Minister of Commerce, Minister of Finance, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, President of the Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence, Governor of the National Cybersecurity Authority, Deputy Minister of Interior, Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Chairman of the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority, and the Governor of the DGA.

The board convenes at the DGA headquarters in Riyadh, although meetings may be held anywhere in the Kingdom if necessary. The meetings are held periodically, at least four times a year. All DGA employees — except the governor— are subject to the provisions of the Labor Law and Social Insurance Law. The Governor of the DGA is appointed upon the nomination of the chairman of the DGA’s board of directors. The governor is responsible for the management and functioning of the DGA, as stipulated by the DGA’s organizational regulations and the decisions of its board.

In 2022, the Digital Government Authority launched the Digital Government Investment and Procurement Center (SADAF). The center aims to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the private sector’s participation in digital government projects, encourage local and foreign investment in digital government, enhance investment and efficiency of government spending in the field of digital government, improve digital budget planning, and avoid duplication of projects. The center also seeks to contribute to achieving an increase in procurement through framework agreements by 70 percent and to the transformation of the technical services model between the government and private sectors from capital expenditure to operational expenditures by 72 percent.

The mandate and tasks of the Digital Government Authority aim to ensure the efficiency and acceleration of digital transformation plans across the Kingdom. Key tasks include elaborating the National Digital Government Strategy and overseeing its implementation.

The strategic orientation for the digital government focuses on devising plans and procedures that enable the Kingdom to advance toward becoming a globally leading digital government, address challenges that were identified during the assessment, in cooperation with the sector-specific government and private entities in order to enhance alignment, consolidate execution efforts, data sharing, and resources contributing to the enhancement of the decision-making process, optimize costs, and provide beneficiaries with simplified digital services and access to data for facilitating their daily tasks.

The strategy applies innovative models in order to ensure that beneficiaries are engaged, policies are periodically updated, and the digital experience of the private sector is referred to for enhancing the digital ecosystem of the Kingdom. For achieving the strategy, components, such as the vision, mission, pillars, strategic objectives, and key performance indicators were finalized. Moreover, workshops were held for various stakeholders to devise alternative versions of the vision and mission and enrich this process through the inputs of specialized experts. Inputs pertaining to each of the countries leading the E-Government Development Index were reviewed upon considering the digital government's aspirations for the Kingdom.

The DGA's strategic orientation toward a leading digital government seeks the establishment of an enabled and thriving society. It also aims to enable the Kingdom's ranking among the top ten digital governments worldwide. This is achieved through enhancing processes, opting for an advanced service offering focusing on achieving the satisfaction of beneficiaries, enabling the government and businesses, ensuring investment efficiency, establishing an adequate regulatory environment, and enhancing the digital infrastructure for accelerating digital transformation.