Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA)

Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) is an independent governmental entity responsible for all aspects related to the operation, innovation, and research in the data, artificial intelligence (AI), and big data sectors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It was established by a Royal Decree on August 30, 2019, and it is directly linked to the Prime Minister. its headquarters is located in Riyadh City.

SDAIA handles all electronic data assets in the Kingdom, acting as the sole entity responsible for national data. Its functions revolve around providing cloud services, safeguarding national data, developing national strategies for data and artificial intelligence, overseeing their implementation, and raising awareness about them.

SDAIA is organizationally affiliated with three executive entities: the National Center for Artificial Intelligence; the National Data Management Office, which is responsible for data management, policy formulation, and ensuring compliance, both of which were established with the creation of the authority; and the National Information Center, the operator of cloud government services and the sole entity possessing rights to store government data, which was previously affiliated with the Ministry of Interior since its establishment in 1979.

During its official branding launch in March 2020, SDAIA initiated several programs including the National Data Bank, which consolidated and unified more than 150 governmental data sets to provide services based on these data to stakeholders; and the Deem government cloud project, which hosts over 149 government data centers and provides cloud services to forty government entities in infrastructure, protection, and networking domains. It also aids in reducing expenditure on digital infrastructure. SDAIA also launched the Joint Center for Excellence in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, SDAIA introduced the Secure Video Conferencing Service (Boroog), enabling government entities to conduct local and international virtual meetings and conferences, and launched the Tawakkalna and Tabaud apps. SDAIA was also responsible for operating the video communication systems for the first exceptional virtual summit for G20 leaders, presided over by the Kingdom in 2020. It also launched the Unified National Access Services "Nafath".

In September 2020, SDAIA adopted five policies for governing national data. They are: data classification policy into four levels (Top Secret, Secret, Restricted, and Public), Personal Data Protection Policy, Data Sharing Policy to minimize redundancy, overlap, and multiplicity of sources, Freedom of Information Policy to regulate access rights to public information from government entities, and Open Data Policy to make data accessible to stakeholders.

On October 21, 2020, the Kingdom, represented by SDAIA, launched the National Strategy for Data and Artificial Intelligence (NSDAI), which aims by 2030 to be among the top fifteen countries in AI, top ten in open data, top twenty in contributing to scientific publications, develop human resources by establishing a sustainable resource of over twenty thousand specialists and experts in data and AI, attract investments in the field of data and AI of around SAR75 billion, and foster entrepreneurship, contributing to the creation of three hundred startups in the data and AI field.

SDAIA works on leading and implementing the strategy, whose vision is based on six dimensions:

- Establishing the Kingdom's position as a global hub for empowering the best data and AI technologies.

- Developing the workforce in the Kingdom by creating a sustainable resource of local expertise in the field.

- Constructing the most encouraging legislative environment for specialized companies and talents.

- Contribute to attracting effective and stable financing for distinguished investment opportunities.

- Empower the best research institutions specialized in data and AI to lead innovation and maximize the desired impact.

- Stimulate the adoption of data and AI technologies through the most prepared and forward-looking system.