RISE OF DIGITAL ECONOMY IN SAUDI ARABIA

Digital Economy, Digital Transformation, and the Future of Business

Digital economy, digital transformation, and digitization are some of the words we hear daily. Whether it’s SaaS and digital product companies marketing their solutions to businesses, aiming to add value either intrinsically to their operations or extrinsically to their products, or managers considering if they should upgrade their old legacy systems to modern ones, the conversation is unavoidable.

Taking that step toward buying a digital product or service, or upgrading to modern systems, involves several considerations. These include assessing costs and potential ROI, ensuring compatibility with existing systems, and evaluating features and capabilities, to name a few.

These are internal factors to consider in this digital environment, but what external factors are shaping this environment in the first place? This article explores these factors, highlights pioneers in the digital field, and offers a few questions to help you decide if a step in the digital direction is worth taking.

Digital Vision

Companies in Saudi Arabia are living in a rapidly changing ecosystem, moving toward a digital-savvy economy. The ambitious Vision 2030 is unfolding, and one of its three themes, ‘A Thriving Economy,’ commits to developing the digital infrastructure necessary for advanced industrial activities in the country.

Vision 2030’s realization programs are progressing at an impressive pace. The National Transformation Program, currently in its second phase (2021-2025), vows to support digital transformation programs throughout the country and aims to achieve a 19.20% contribution to the GDP through the digital economy by the end of 2025.

Last month, Saudi Arabia ranked second among G20 members and fourth globally in the preparedness of digital systems in its quest to empower the digital economy. It’s essential to recognize and appreciate the pioneers and enablers of this wave of digitization in the country.

The Obstacle is the Way

COVID-19 presented the world with numerous challenges, but we overcame them. A notable success story is the Tawakkalna application, developed by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) to aid government efforts against the virus. The app received the United Nations Public Service Award 2022 for its institutional resilience and innovative responses to the pandemic.

The key feature of Tawakkalna during curfew periods was automating the process of authorization and issuing movement permits to individuals. SDAIA has built on this successful e-service platform to include health passports, educational services, digital ID, public violations, passport appointments, and Umrah permits, among others.

Elm, owned by the Public Investment Fund, is another pioneer offering e-products that have automated and digitized a significant portion of government services. Muqeem, an e-product launched by Elm in 2007, has successfully increased the efficiency of processing official documentation related to passports, visas, and national IDs.

Efficiency is Contagious

Vision 2030 has already led to world-renowned products that have made our lives safer, easier, and much more efficient. The value added by products like Muqeem and Tawakkalna to the government, organizations, and businesses in Saudi Arabia is undeniable.

Managers can check the expiry date of an employee’s national ID, renew it, and send it for printing with just a few clicks through Muqeem. Parents can check their child’s grades, upcoming holidays, and get an Umrah permit—all through Tawakkalna in minutes.

The investment in and development of this digital infrastructure in our lives is one of the major factors contributing to the environment where digital transformation flourishes. Using efficient modern systems around us leads us to question the legacy systems still in use in many organizations.

Advancing Industry with Technology

If there’s a clear obstacle or problem that can be solved with digital transformation, the decision is easy. But what about industries operating legacy systems comfortably, unaware of the benefits they’re missing or the risks they’re facing? Here are some key questions to consider:

• Is the data secure and accessible from all devices?
• Are there no time-intensive and repetitive tasks in the current system?
• Are insights being provided from the processed data to help in making data-driven decisions?
• Are the maintenance costs of our current system low?

If any of these questions have a “no” answer, then it’s certainly time to consider migrating or transforming your legacy system into a modern system. Modern systems offer cloud-based data storage, automation of repetitive tasks, data insights for better decision-making, accessibility, and zero to low maintenance costs.

Saudi Arabia is on the rise with a booming digital economy, and your industry is becoming more efficient by the day. It’s time to ask yourself: What steps can you take to automate your processes, make them more secure, make better data-driven decisions, and grow with the economy?

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