Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia will be enhancing partnerships in the digital sector with Estonia and Denmark, according to the kingdom’s Digital Government Authority (DGA) which held several meetings with officials during a visit to these countries.
Governor of DGA Ahmed Mohammed Al-Suwayan held meetings with Luukas Ilves, Estonia’s Government Chief Information Officer, and Undersecretary for Digital Development at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and Nele Leosk, the Ambassador-at-Large for Digital Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, among other officials.
Al-Suwayan also paid a visit to the Estonian Parliament, Tallinn University, and the International Research and Development Center.
Moreover, he held a number of meetings with CEOs of technology companies in Estonia to discuss strategic partnerships in the digital government field.
During his visit to Denmark, Al-Suwayan toured the Ministry of Digital Government and Gender Equality, the Digital Government Agency, the Danish Digital Center, and the Ministry of Finance. Al-Suwayan held meetings with a number of representatives of Danish companies.
Small digital powerhouse
Despite its small size, the 21-year-old digital transformation in Estonia has made it a model for other nations looking to digitalize their economies and governmental institutions. Like Estonia’s, nearly all government services in Saudi Arabia are digitalized.
Only marriages, divorces, and the sale of real estate necessitate Estonian citizens appearing in person at a government office, according to the former president of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves. Oman’s first-ever digital census was conducted by the Estonian business Nortal in 2020