RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s cloud computing registrations saw a 40 percent year-on-year increase in the fourth quarter of 2023, official data showed.   

Cloud computing refers to the on-demand availability of system resources, specifically data storage, without direct active management by the user.  

Issued by the Ministry of Commerce, the commercial registration certificate serves as a legal confirmation of a business’s official status in Saudi Arabia.  

The government bulletin reported the issuance of as many as 1,759 cloud computing permits between October and December 2023.        

This surge underscores the Kingdom’s aim to make the region a hub for the technology by 2030.   

It also aligns well with the Saudi government’s proactiveness in its approach to the implementation of digital technologies, driving economic diversification, and boosting innovation.

As per the ministry report, Riyadh took the lead in registrations with 1,062, followed by Makkah at 346 and the Eastern Province at 216. Meanwhile, Madinah allocated 46 permits, and Asir issued 24. 

With the amount of data increasing exponentially and doubling every two years, information processing, analysis tools, and storage technologies have become critical requirements for digital advancements.  

In recent years, many governments and organizations worldwide have turned to cloud computing as a competitive driver of operational efficiency, mainly to find a balance between security and agility.

In October 2020, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology published the Kingdom’s Cloud First Policy to accelerate the pace at which government authorities were migrating from traditional IT infrastructure to cloud platforms and encourage the adoption of these services in the country.  

At the time, the ministry said the policy covered all government authorities with some exclusions. 

These parties would consider cloud-computing options when making new IT investment decisions in line with a clearly defined strategy that caters to various technical, security, and commercial requirements, the body said at the time. 

The Saudi Ministry of Commerce’s vision is to achieve a pioneering position for ​the commerce sector in the Kingdom within a fair and stimulating environment.   

To do so, the ministry aims to develop and implement effective and efficient policies and mechanisms that will contribute to achieving sustainable economic development.