Growth of e-governance and IT in Saudi Arabia: An Overview |

Growth of e-governance and IT in Saudi Arabia: An Overview

The IT trends in Saudi Arabia have been evolving over the past decade and the increasing demand for e-governance is one of the key trends being witnessed in the Kingdom’s IT market. Under its Vision 2030 program, the Government of KSA has introduced numerous online schemes increasing the use of online applications by the Government sector agencies. Online payment services, e-learning services, online employment programs, job searches, traffic updates and control, passports and civil affairs and online issuance of commercial registers etc. are a few of such initiatives. Vision 2030 also promotes the increased use of online applications such as data sharing platforms, cloud applications and HR management systems in Government agencies.

What ‘Vision 2030’ is all about?

First of all, we need to know what Vision 2030 is all about. It is the KSA Government’s plan to diversify its economy, reduce dependence on oil and develop sectors like education, health, infrastructure, tourism and recreation. The primary objective of Vision 2030 is to provide quality government services to the citizens by streamlining processes and diversifying communication channels. Apart from this, the Saudi Arabian government is also looking to reinforce online services by 2030.

Overview of the growth of the Saudi Arabian IT market

The major factor expected to trigger rapid growth in the Saudi Arabian IT market is the government’s National Transformation Program (NTP). The NTP aims to bring economic and infrastructure growth with the help of IT. The increasing use of IT will also help the government in its mission of bringing digital transformation in all the sectors. To fund the NTP initiatives, the government has also sanctioned USD 11.2 billion. As per latest reports, the IT market size in the kingdom will grow by USD 5.85 billion during 2019 to 2023.

What is ‘NTP’?

NTP, launched in 2016 is an economic action plan organized by the government under the Vision 2030. The NTP is meant to diversify the country’s income from the oil industry and reduce its dependence on oil. It is a five-year plan and includes three major goals – to reform the finance and public sector, diversify the country’s economy and enhance business environments. The implementation of NTP will augment digital transformation in all sectors of KSA. So far, the program has implemented more than 543 initiatives across 24 ministries and government bodies.

Conclusion

Propelled by the Vision 2030 and the National Transformation program, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is expected to experience a massive transformation in the IT sector. The initiatives under these two programmes will streamline the kingdom’s IT market and enhance its productivity.