Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia ranked fourth globally in the United Nations E-Government Development Index 2024 (EGDI 2024). The Kingdom jumped 25 places in the EGDI 2024 to be among the group of leading countries worldwide. It also ranked second among the G20 countries and first regionally in the digital services index in addition to achieving seventh place in the e-participation index. The city of Riyadh has achieved third place out of 193 cities around the world.

Minister of Communications and Information Technology and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Digital Government Authority Eng. Abdullah Al-Swaha expressed his thanks and appreciation of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman for the unlimited support that the technical and digital sector receives and the efforts being made to support the digital transformation in the government sector.

Al-Swaha said that this leap and historical position of the Kingdom is the result of the support from the Crown Prince, noting that this support has culminated in Saudi Arabia's digital superiority and leadership, which reflects the plans and programs of Saudi Vision 2030. “At the same time, it enhances the Kingdom's role as an effective and influential leader in the digital economy at the regional and global levels,” he said while stressing the Kingdom's determination to move forward in the journey of leadership, pioneering and transformation towards a national economy based on innovation.

For his part, Governor of the Digital Government Authority Eng. Ahmed Alsuwaiyan explained that the Kingdom's continued advancement in the United Nations E-Government Development Index reflects the support of the wise leadership to provide the best government digital services to all segments of beneficiaries. He appreciated the keenness and follow-up that the digital government has received through the executive programs of Saudi Vision 2030, saying that this had a great impact on advancing its ranking in the index, through reforms and investments that contributed to enhancing the efficiency of joint work by adopting emerging technologies and launching many digital initiatives and products.

“The efforts of the Digital Government Authority, in partnership and integration with all government agencies, have contributed to the Kingdom reaching this advanced position. This is through working to adopt the latest digital solutions to enhance the maturity of digital government services, launching a set of regulations and guidelines, providing advisory programs, and encouraging promising leaders and competencies in the field of digital transformation,” he added.

The UN report praised the Kingdom's great development in the field of digital government, as it achieved the sixth rank globally, and the Kingdom has witnessed qualitative investments over the past years since the launch of Saudi Vision 2030.

The Kingdom jumped in the Telecommunications Infrastructure Index (TII) by 53 ranks, and achieved remarkable progress in the Human Capital Index (HCI) with an advancement of 31 ranks. The report also highlighted the Electronic Services Index (OSI) and the qualitative leap of 67 ranks to occupy the fourth rank globally in 2024, in addition to the maturity of government digital regulations that reached 100 percent. The percentage of availability and sharing of open government data for citizens and business sectors reached 100 percent. Saudi Arabia advanced 60 ranks in electronic participation and consultations directed to individuals and business sectors.

It is noteworthy that the E-Government Development Index is one of the most important international indicators for more than 20 years and is issued every two years. It reflects the impact of structural reforms in increasing productivity, raising efficiency and improving the experience through the development of digital governments of the member states of the United Nations. The reports it issues are a basic reference for measuring government performance among all countries of the world.