Saudi Arabia: A World Leading Digital Nation
Jim Hamill (Dr)
Director at Future Ready Toolkits - supporting organisations become future ready for an increasingly volatile and digital world.
Later this week, I will be delivering the first 10 sessions of a ‘Leading Digital’ programme on the Executive MBA at MBSC based in the King Abdullah Economic City, Makkah Region, Saudi Arabia.?
While others ‘talk the talk’ in being a world-leading digital nation, Saudi Arabia is very much ‘walking the walk’. Indeed, the Kingdom is not walking, it is sprinting its digital transformation journey in support of the Vision 2030 objectives of becoming one of the world's most prosperous, sustainable, and competitive nations.
As background preparation for the programme, I have compiled a short annotated summary of recent articles summarising the critical role of digital in achieving Vision 2030 objectives, the progress being made, and plans for the future.
The articles also raise important issues for other countries too. Given the rapid pace of transformational change taking place in Saudi Arabia, and the Middle East generally, who will become the 'leading digital' and most competitive nations of the next decade as we enter a Web 3.0 era?
"Digital technologies are playing an increasingly major role in enabling the Vision Realization Programs (VRPs) that are making Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 a reality. From national-level data management platforms to human capital development portals, digital transformation is continuously disrupting industries across the Kingdom's public and private sectors – with strategies being implemented to deploy emerging technologies to address key business challenges, fully aligned with the main goals and objectives of the national digital transformation programme."
A November 2021 report from IDC tracking the digital progress being made covering the following:
Please Note: registration (free) may be required to download the full report.
The recent announcement of a US$6.4bn investment in future digital technologies and digital entrepreneurship to secure the Kingdom’s position as?a world-leading digital nation; including the launch of Aramco Venture's Prosperity7 fund with US$1bn, and US$1bn investment from NEOM Tech & Digital Company with a focus on future technologies – including the launch of the world's first cognitive metaverse, XVRS that will serve residents and visitors of the smart giga-project, and M3LD, a personal data management platform that gives back control of data to the user. Note the comment that female participation in the ICT workforce has jumped to 28% in recent years, comparable to other developed nations.
O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us, to see oursels as ithers see us!
A glowing report on the Saudi ICT market from the International Trade Association published in June, 2022 - a 'best prospect' industry for the Kingdom.
Leading sub-sectors include:
Valued at over $32.1 billion, Saudi Arabia’s ICT market is the largest in the MENA region, well-positioned to become a technology service and cloud hub with access to international connectivity through the Red Sea and the Gulf, and with the potential to serve the European, Asian, and African markets.
Other countries take note: The gift to see ourselves as others see us “wad frae mony a blunder free us, An' foolish notion.” Leaving the spin aside, is your own country really 'leading digital'?
Saudi Arabia has been ranked second globally among the G20 countries in the Digital Competitiveness Report for the year 2021 issued by the European Center for Digital Competitiveness, basing its findings on data provided by the Global Competitiveness Index issued by the World Economic Forum, and the supporting data provided by the World Bank and the International Telecommunication Union.
The Kingdom advanced 20 ranks in the general index compared to the previous year and 86 ranks in the digital ecosystem axis, topping the G20 countries, and achieving third place in the digital capabilities axis among G20 countries. This progress consolidates the Kingdom's continuous digital leadership and its permanent preservation of progress in various indicators.
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A good overview of the key technologies that will have a game-changing impact on Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation. Will be very useful for the Digital Landscape Analysis part of the programme.
Supporting the above, the top ten digital transformation trends in Saudi Arabia according to Alareeb.
According to PwC, pre-pandemic progress toward a digital, sustainable future has helped Saudi Arabia to remain resilient and attractive to investors, through a year of social and economic upheaval.
A good overview of the work being done by DGA (Saudi’s Digital Government Authority) in driving the vision of becoming a leading exemplar of digital services centred on the citizen, residents, visitors, government agencies, and the private sector.
Not specifically?about Saudi Arabia but a good reference source covering the OECD’s work on a broad range of digital issues.
A good overview of Aramco’s digital-supported transformation strategy supporting the vision of becoming the world’s leading digitalized energy company. Provides a useful background covering the relevance of the course to energy and industrial companies. Also, background information like this is very relevant to the industry specific, group based, mini-projects.
“Technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) are reshaping the global economy, including energy. By employing a variety of cutting-edge technologies - from artificial intelligence (AI), Big Data and analytics, to unmanned vehicles (UVs), blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT) - businesses can benefit from data-led insights, respond in real-time to new challenges, and boost efficiency and productivity. Together, these 4IR technologies are transforming the world of work.”
Complementing the above, and an additional source of very useful background information for the programme is Shell’s view on the digital transformation of energy. Relevant to other industries too.
“Digital technologies are transforming our lives in ways that were unimaginable even a decade ago. This digital transformation of the energy industry is improving efficiency and safety, and it is facilitating the increased use of renewable energy. We are at a tipping point of exponential technological advancement. In the coming years, the internet of things will consist of a trillion sensors, all generating and sharing data. Machine learning and artificial intelligence are no longer science fiction; they are already automating and optimising operations. Digital technologies are driving cost efficiency, providing new revenue opportunities and changing business models. They have the potential to redefine the oil and gas industry. But the digital transformation is about more than technology. It is also a cultural change, about people and agile ways of working.”
Please note the part in bold above as this is very relevant to the programme. Digital on its own solves nothing. Successful transformation requires the integration and coordination of strategy, people, organisation, people, leadership, as well as technology. The failure to address non-technology barriers to change is the main reason for the high failure rate of most ‘big bang’ transformation programmes. That is why, in this course, we cover a wide range of non-technology as well as technology issues. Technology on its own is not enough!
Details of the 14th Digital Transformation Summit taking place in Riyadh on 10th August 2022. An interesting list of speakers attending.
I look forward to meeting everyone on the programme, discussing the wide range of leadership issues involved in building future-ready organisations fit-for-purpose in a volatile, digital world.
A big thank you to MBSC for inviting me.
Jim H