Saudi Arabia’s government spending on technology is the highest globally, valued at SAR 93 billion ($24.8bn) by 2025 and accounting for 21.7 percent of national spending, shared Ahmed Mohammed Al-Suwaiyan, governor of Digital Government Authority, in a Saudi Press Agency (SPA) statement.
Al-Suwaiyan stated that government initiatives are working to promote localisation in the digitisation sector with investments amounting to 73 percent of the total venture capital financing. He also expects information technology (IT) services to capture 74 percent of the total demand in the coming years in cloud computing solutions, software and big data.
DGA has launched the Digital Government Investment and Procurement Program (SADAF) to improve financial planning and accelerate digital procurement in government agencies, increase the participation of the private sector in digital government projects, as well as stimulate investment and enhance local content.
Al-Suwaiyan’s comments came during his participation at the Global Entrepreneurship Conference (GEC) on Tuesday, which has been taking place in the kingdom’s capital city of Riyadh.
