Arab News, Mon, Jul 22, 2024 | Muharram 15, 1446
Saudi government agencies boost emerging tech adoption by 10% in 2024
Saudi Arabia:
Saudi Arabia’s government agencies have made significant progress in integrating
new technologies, showing a 10 percent improvement from the previous year,
according to an official report.
The Emerging Technology Adoption Readiness Index,
which measures the progress of government entities in implementing new
solutions, increased from 60.35 percent in 2023 to 70.70 percent in 2024. This
improvement is accompanied by a rise in participating agencies, which grew from
13 last year to 35 in 2024, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The annual report published by the Digital
Government Authority underscores the Kingdom’s enhanced capacity for adopting
emerging technologies. This progress is a key element of Saudi Arabia’s broader
transformation strategy, aimed at leveraging advanced systems to improve
services for citizens, residents, and visitors.
This increase in the index highlights the
Kingdom’s ongoing commitment to modernizing its digital infrastructure and
aligns with its Vision 2030 objectives, emphasizing sustainable development and
the advancement of its technological future.
The index helps organizations and policymakers
understand their technological advancement and identify areas for growth and
development — an essential component of Saudi Arabia’s objectives.
The report highlighted progress in adopting
emerging technologies, with research capability reaching 72.04 percent and
communication capability reaching 71.88 percent.
According to the report, the integration field
achieved a score of 67.93 percent, while the proof capability field recorded
70.84 percent, reflecting advanced levels of development.
Drones have improved aerial photography and real
estate imaging, boosting operational efficiency by 80 percent and significantly
reducing time and effort.
Digital twinning has enabled precise asset
inventory for 22 out of 36 industrial cities. Additionally, Ameen, the digital
human assistant, now serves over 36,000 customers monthly.
Augmented and virtual reality technologies have
further improved digital accessibility for individuals with special needs,
expanding their access to digital services.
The Anaam Shain app has streamlined the secure
management of livestock data across the Kingdom, while firefighting robots have
reduced physical losses by up to 50 percent.
In 2023, Saudi Arabia topped the Government
Strategy Index for Artificial Intelligence, as ranked by Tortoise Intelligence,
which evaluates over 60 countries.
The country achieved a perfect score of 100
percent on the index criteria, including having a dedicated national AI
strategy, a specialized government body for cognitive computing, allocated
funding for artificial intelligence, and established and monitored national
intelligence system targets.