Digital Government Regulatory Framework

The Digital Government Regulatory Framework is a framework aimed at fostering the efforts of the Digital Government Authority in regulating the work of the digital government and enhancing and developing digital governmental services pursuant to advanced international standards and practices.

The Board of Directors of the Digital Government Authority in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia approved the Digital Government Regulatory Framework on August 1, 2022. The framework seeks to identify the key strategic design and implementation elements, consolidate the digital government policies, standards, and instructions, and guide government entities throughout their implementation.

The Digital Government Regulatory Framework applies to all government entities, the non-profit sector, and the private sector acting as an operator and developer for digital government works, as well as to all beneficiaries of national and joint government platforms.

The Digital Government Regulatory Framework aims to ensure the adoption of unified paths for developing digital governmental services, consolidate their method of offering, and adopt cutting-edge technologies to be used by government entities within the scope of their operations. It also seeks to establish an inclusive ecosystem providing beneficiaries in the Kingdom with efficient and responsive digital services. It is focused on meeting the requirements of government digitization, ultimately enabling, accelerating, and formalizing sustainable digitization for the government sector.

The Digital Government Regulatory Framework consists of eight key principles underpinning digital government policies and standards, developed following the United Nations Member States' survey on the e-Government Development Index and the principles of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Digital Government Policy Framework:

- The mobile-first principle to design websites compatible with modern devices.

- The one-time user data request to add citizens' data to an integrated channel and a unified data file, thus fostering protection and privacy for beneficiaries.

- The ease of policy formulation principle, applied upon elaborating standards and guidelines that facilitate their management and application for government entities.

- The digital government principle, offering an inclusive platform providing seamless and integrated services across all government sectors.

- The accessibility by default principle, enabling accessibility via public opinion polling platforms, within the limits of legislation and upon consideration of the national interests.

- The digital by design principle, aimed to establish clear regulatory pathways, coupled with effective implementation mechanisms and considered a mandatory element of digitization.

- The digital-first principle, aimed to enhance service quality upon resorting to clear and inclusive digital communication channels.

- The digital by default principle, applied upon upgrading digital governmental services to enable access to digital services of the same quality for all beneficiaries, including those unable to access such services.

The Digital Government Regulatory Framework consists of the principles for elaborating digital government policies and standards, and policies derived from the Digital Government Policy. It seeks to determine clear regulatory paths and encompasses five policies derived from the Digital Government Policy, hence reflecting the main axes of the framework, namely the Governance and Compliance Policy aimed to define the responsibilities of all entities, the Inclusive Government Platforms Policy aimed to meet the requirements of beneficiaries and provide clear sources, data, and software, the Digital Services Management and Skills Management Policy covering service design, digital content, unified digital channel services, manpower, and keeping pace with UN evaluation indicators.

The digital government policies include the Beneficiary Centricity Policy aimed to enhance beneficiary participation and foster the relationship between government entities and beneficiaries, ultimately ensuring the integrated and seamless development of the digital government. They also encompass the Technology Policy that adopts cutting-edge technologies and related methodologies applied by government entities to develop and deliver their services. This policy seeks to contribute to elaborating special policies for innovation and emerging technologies.