RIYADH: The Digital Cooperation Organization, an international organization dedicated to accelerating inclusive and sustainable digital economy growth, announced that its council has approved the candidacy of eight countries to join as member states. This would potentially expand DCO membership from 16 to 24 countries, representing about 980 million people.
The DCO said that Albania, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lebanon, Palestine, the Syrian Arab Republic and Zambia will join as member states after completing formal accession procedures, including signing, adopting and ratifying the DCO Charter in accordance with each country’s procedures.
In addition, the DCO is set to welcome Tajikistan as an associate member, creating new opportunities to strengthen digital cooperation, access public-private partnerships and collaborate on initiatives promoting digital innovation, skills and inclusion, in line with its National Development Strategy through 2030.
“When the DCO was launched by five countries in 2020 as a standalone organization built around the digital economy outside traditional blocs, it was an untested proposition. Today, this model has proven successful, with membership set to reach 24 countries once the candidate countries complete their accession procedures,” DCO Secretary-General Deemah Al-Yahya said.
“Countries are joining for a practical reason: The rules of the digital economy on data, artificial intelligence and cross-border trade are being written now, and rules written without you are rules you inherit rather than shape.
“These prospective accessions are how that changes: not by asking for better terms, but by building the capacity to set them together. That is what digital sovereignty looks like in practice — a membership large enough to negotiate its people’s future.
“The next stage is scale. Five years of policy, platforms and partnerships could soon have 24 countries behind them. That is what turns alignment into infrastructure, investment and rules that shape and sustain our collective future,” Al-Yahya added.
The growth reflects increasing international confidence in the DCO’s vision and reinforces its role as a leading platform for international digital cooperation. The accessions would expand the DCO’s represented population, meaning about 12 percent of the global population would take part in shaping the rules of the digital economy through the organization.
The announcement also marks a significant geographic expansion of the organization’s footprint. For the first time, the DCO will extend into Central Asia, opening a new regional axis for digital cooperation across one of the world’s most strategically important corridors. The organization will also reach into the Caucasus and Western Balkans, regions not previously represented in the DCO but home to some of the fastest-evolving digital economies in Eurasia.
As the DCO implements its four-year strategic agenda for 2025-2028 through flagship initiatives and programs covering digital policy development, digital public infrastructure, artificial intelligence governance, digital skills, startup ecosystems, cross-border data flows and digital economy measurement, it remains committed to helping countries turn digital ambition into measurable outcomes by fostering stronger partnerships among governments, the private sector, international organizations, academia and civil society.
