Digital government’s global rise signals Vision 2030 success

In late December 2025, Saudi Arabia ranked second out of 197 countries in the World Bank’s Digital Government Maturity Index. Prior to that, in 2024, it ranked sixth out of 193 countries in the UN Digital Government Development Index. One of the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 was to be among the top five countries in the field of digital government.

In my opinion, it has almost achieved this, based on the most important and long-established indicators in the world, in addition to ranking first in the ESCWA index, which includes 18 countries in West Asia and North Africa, specifically Arab countries. Saudi Arabia has consistently been among the leaders in the World Bank index.

Perhaps the most significant leap was made in the UN index, where the Kingdom achieved its best results after the launch of Vision 2030, jumping 46 places — from 52nd to 6th — between 2018 and 2024.

What is striking, from the perspective of Saudi experts, is that the two international indices measure services that are not available to 31 percent of the world’s population, or about 2.5 billion people.

According to a study presented by the Kingdom’s Communications, Space and Technology Commission in 2025 during the World Telecommunication Regulatory Conference in Riyadh, bridging this digital divide would require investments estimated at about $2.8 trillion. This calls for international action based on a Saudi-led plan, as Saudi Arabia identified the issue early and has clear solutions. 

Riyadh estimates $2.8 trillion is needed to bridge the digital divide affecting 31 percent of the world’s population

The governance of Saudi digital platforms is an important national issue and part of the comprehensive digital government program. The number of platforms required to complete a single service reached 816 in 2022; this was reduced to 630 in 2023 and then to 590 in 2024. All of these platforms provide 4,600 government services.

By 2028, there will be 20 sectoral platforms covering all ministries and offering all related services, such as Najiz for justice, Absher for the interior, and Etimad for finance, in addition to the “Life Experiences” program. This program focuses on unifying the beneficiary’s journey in obtaining services, especially those that previously required visits to more than one ministry. Examples include the housing journey, the birth journey, and the journey of honoring the dead, which begins with the issuance of a death certificate and ends with inheritance procedures and division.

The Saudi Data and AI Authority also operates a foresight platform, a national data bank that contains government data related to Saudi ministries, helping to support informed decision-making on public matters.

In addition, digital government applications have eliminated the need for 18 million annual visits to Ministry of Justice courts and reduced the average duration of litigation from 219 days to 30 days in most cases. They have also reduced visits to Ministry of Interior sectors by 160 million, saving SR17 billion ($4.5 billion).

The virtual hospital at the Ministry of Health connects 250 hospitals across Saudi Arabia and provides more than 200 services. It has helped convert 25 percent of medical appointments to a virtual model, and complex procedures such as open-heart surgery are now performed remotely through it. Saudi Arabia now offers digital government services that are not available in Denmark, Britain, the US, France, or even South Korea.

The Kingdom’s digital government experiment became more effective after the establishment of a dedicated authority in 2021. It is considered part of the digital economy, which contributes 14 percent to gross domestic product. According to 2023 figures, the state spends about SR20 billion annually on the communications and information technology sector, with the largest share allocated to digital services such as hardware. The main challenge is that 68 percent of these services are imported, making it necessary to further localize them. 

There are four local indicators of digital government. The first measures the digital transformation of government agencies. The second links government products to the maturity of the digital experience and focuses on the product and the beneficiary’s experience. The third relates to future technologies and the readiness of government agencies to adopt them, such as drones, the metaverse, and 3D technology, along with blockchain, generative artificial intelligence, and others. The fourth indicator concerns digital transformation and search engine efficiency and aims to increase the presence of government content on platforms and websites.

I noticed that statements highlight the best-performing government agencies under these indicators, while remaining silent — or lacking disclosure — about the weakest ones, even though revealing them could help to improve performance and remove resistance to change. 

• Dr. Bader bin Saud is a columnist for Al-Riyadh newspaper, a media and knowledge management researcher, an expert and university professor in crowd management and strategic planning, and the former deputy commander of the Special Forces for Hajj and Umrah in Saudi Arabia. X: @BaderbinSaud