Arab News, Sunday, Sep 26, 2021 | Safar 19, 1443
Digital infrastructure enabled Saudi Arabia to confront pandemic
Saudi Arabia:
Saudi Arabia’s strong digital
infrastructure has enabled the public and private sectors to meet the
devastating challenges of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the
Kingdom’s envoy to the UN has said.
“Guided by the national transformation program,
the Kingdom’s technological progress has contributed to raising the level of
transparency and digital efficiency,” said Abdallah Al-Mouallimi, Saudi Arabia’s
permanent representative to the UN.
Al-Mouallimi made these remarks during a
high-level side event organized by the Digital Cooperation Organization under
the theme “Shaping a Comprehensive Digital Age,” a recently established global
organization working toward achieving “digital prosperity for all.”
The DCO works with governments, the private
sector, international and nongovernmental organizations and civil society to
push for an inclusive digital transformation and the growth of digital
industries.
The DCO’s seven-member body includes Saudi Arabia,
Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Nigeria, Oman, and Pakistan. It accounts for a
population of 480 million, 80 percent of which are under the age of 35. It said
it is open to any new member that shares the same goals of “empowering youth,
women, and entrepreneurs and leapfrogging the digital transformation.”
In his remarks, Al-Mouallimi highlighted the
Kingdom’s digital achievements and the efforts of the DCO during the pandemic.
“They helped to make it possible to work remotely
and adapt to the new conditions imposed by the pandemic,” said the ambassador,
adding that the world is undergoing a shift towards digital transformation at a
faster pace than ever before.
“Digitization creates opportunities and challenges
that go beyond borders, making digital collaboration an essential element in
facilitating digital transformation at the international level, so that our
digital future must be more inclusive and global efforts ensure that technology
is available to all.”
Al-Mouallimi underlined that multilateral
cooperation is necessary to meet digital challenges and opportunities. Countries
must harness their full potential to integrate into the digital age, mainly
dependent on global collaboration.
Al-Mouallimi said it is clear that the DCO
emphasizes promoting digital cooperation to meet the current challenges.
“The core objectives of the DCO are about
accelerating the growth of the digital economy, as well as promoting social
prosperity to include all,” the envoy said, adding: “The organization also seeks
to develop an ambitious model for promoting global digital efforts, making us,
as members of the organization’s coordination office, forced to exert all
efforts to reach our goals and objectives.”
He said that the Kingdom accelerated the growth of
the digital economy in the region and around the world as a member of the DCO,
stressing that the Kingdom will continue its commitment to maximizing digital
capabilities at the national and international levels.
He added: “The Kingdom has put digitization at the
forefront of the technological progress it seeks, and as a result, several
outstanding achievements have enabled Saudi Arabia to make significant progress
in global indicators, ranking first among the G20 countries in digital
competitiveness according to the European Centre for Digital Competitiveness.”