Saudi Arabia’s Digital Government Authority issued the first package of interim licenses for digital government business to three companies – Elm, Takamol Business Services and Thiqah to develop and operate 15 existing digital government platforms and products.
The Digital Government Authority issued the interim licenses under the patronage of the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Digital Government Authority, Eng. Abdullah bin Amer Al-Sawaha.
The list of platforms and products include ‘Wasl’, ‘Naql’, ‘Maritime Transport’, ‘Taajeer’, ‘Washaj’ and ‘Drones’ of the Elm company.
‘Ajeer’, ‘Qiwa’, ‘Musaned’ and ‘Donate’ of Takamol company, besides ‘Etimad’, ‘Saber’, ‘Ehkam’, ‘Al-Muwathaq’, and ‘Sedr’ of Thiqah company.
These platforms and products are affiliated with 10 government agencies.
They are The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, the Ministry of Justice, the Food and Drug General Authority, the Public Transport Authority, the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Authority, the State Properties General Authority, The National Center for Government Resource Systems, the National Center for the Development of the Non-Profit Sector, and the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones.
The number of transactions carried out through these platforms and products exceeded 53 million annually as these transactions contributed to improving the access of individual beneficiaries and the business sector to services.
The Governor of the Digital Government Authority, Eng. Ahmed bin Muhammad Al-Suwayan said that granting these licenses achieve the objectives of the authority and carry out its functions, as these interim licenses are one of the outcomes of the “Experimental Regulatory Environment for Digital Government Business” initiative launched by the authority in November 2021.
Through the initiative the authority seeks to raise the efficiency and quality of digital platforms, ensure business continuity, regulate property rights for government digital platforms and products, govern the mechanism of data sharing and prices of services provided in a way that contributes to improving the investment environment to support entrepreneurs.
Through the initiative the authority seeks to strengthen the partnership between the public sector and private sector and accelerate the growth of the digital economy to achieve the strategic directions of the digital government and the objectives of the Saudi Vision 2030.
The Digital Government Authority praised the cooperation of all government agencies to which the licensed products are affiliated, explaining that these efforts come as a result of joint work with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the Communications and Information Technology Commission.
The Digital Government Authority is the competent authority in everything related to the digital government and the national reference, in addition to its competence to issue measurements, indicators, tools, and reports to measure the performance and capabilities of government agencies in the field of digital government and the satisfaction of the beneficiary.
The authority has undertaken several initiatives that contribute to raising the efficiency of government performance and providing highly efficient digital services.