The Saudi Ministry of Interior announced the completion of preparations for its participation at Gitex Technology Week 2016 that will run from October 16 to 20 in Dubai.
Dr Tariq bin Abdullah Al-Shaddi, Director General of the National Information Centre, said that government online services and smart solutions are the backbone of the future governments and the foundations to achieve economic growth and social development.
“Saudi Arabia and the UAE have moved quickly to adopt and implement state of the art smart solutions in several government activities and transactions. Both countries have already witnessed significant achievements and positive results in the field of online services and advanced solutions and future plans further indicate that they are already among the most forward looking governments in the region and globally,” he added.
“Gitex Technology Week represents the best platform to exchange expertise and knowledge between Saudi’s emerging technology sector and government entities with its GCC, especially UAE peers.” Al-Shaddi highlighted the event as “the opportunity to enhance cooperation and coordination between the two governments in this field and the positive effects of this on the business environments, citizens and residents of both countries.”
The Saudi Interior Ministry provides online services and smart solutions to millions of users which include citizens, residents and entrepreneurs.”Online services related traffic reached more than 88 million transactions, including renewal of licenses and transfer of ownership and verification of vehicle information and the owner of the vehicle. Additionally, the Directorate General of passports completed more than 1.3 million transactions including the issuance of new passports as well as renewing existing ones,” Al-Shaddi explained.
The size of the country’s participation reflects Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation plans that are crucial parts of Saudi Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Programme 2020 which aim at diversifying the economy and improving its global competitiveness.