RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Digital Government Authority (DGA) on Sunday said its board of directors approved the first regulatory framework of the digital government.
“The regulatory framework developed by DGA for the digital government will be the basis on which the authority will develop future regulations for the digital government,” DGA Gov. Ahmed Mohammed Al-Soyyan said in a statement. “The framework includes a set of principles, policies, standards, and user guides.”
He added that the DGA is seeking to issue regulations, policies, and standards that contribute to creating a regulatory environment, which enables reaching advanced levels of maturity in the government digital transformation, unify and institutionalize the concept of government policies and standards, provide recommendations to government agencies during implementation, and ensure the adoption of unified tracks for the development of government digital services.
The framework is the first milestone after the approval of the Saudi Cabinet in March to launch the authority. Abdullah Al-Swaha, the Saudi minister of communications and information technology and chairman of the National Digital Transformation Unit, told Arab News’ sister publication Asharq Al-Awsat in an earlier interview that the DGA will help in achieving key objectives, most important of which is augmenting returns on government digital assets and investments. It will also work on developing the digital capabilities and talents of public sector employees.
The framework is based on eight essential principles, including the “Once-Only Principle,” “Digital by Design,” and the “Mobile First.” In addition, it encompasses the Digital Government Policy, which enables and accelerates the sustainable digital transformation of the government sector and enables the successful implementation of the strategic directions of the digital government, DGA said in the statement.
The Digital Government Policy is supported by five sub-policies, including digital governance, it added.
DGA said in the statement that it aims to support the efforts of the government agencies through developing plans, programs, indexes, and measurements related to the works of digital government and integrated digital government services, as well as the government digital market platform. DGA is also responsible for regulating operational, administrational processes, related projects and monitor compliance, it said.
