Arab News, Thursday, Feb 10, 2022 | Rajab 9, 1443
No plan to integrate Absher, Tawakkalna apps, Saudi assistant interior minister says
Saudi Arabia: A senior Saudi
official has dismissed reports that the government is planning to integrate its
Absher and Tawakkalna apps.
Speaking at the Innovation and Future of
Government Work Conference, Prince Bandar bin Abdullah Al-Mishari, assistant
minister of interior for technology affairs, said that the suggestion that the
two platforms were to be rolled into one was inaccurate.
Speaking on the role of innovation in achieving
Saudi Vision 2030, the prince said that comments about such a move might have
“come out spontaneously from one of the colleagues during the LEAP Conference.”
He added: “It was perhaps that colleague’s own
point of view, and a media representative made a story out of it.”
Prince Bandar, who directed the Interior
Ministry’s National Information Center from 2008 to 2013, continued: “There is
nothing true about that, as Absher has its own field of services that the MoI
provides, while Tawakkalna has another field in regard to national services.”
The two apps complemented one another, and the
country needed both of them, he said.
“There are a number of Absher services that can be
accessed through the Tawakkalna app, as well as other government services,”
Prince Bandar said. “Absher still has a lot to do with the many digital
transformation gaps within the MoI.”
He added that Tawakkalna had played an important
role during the COVID-19 pandemic in helping the Kingdom to deal with the health
crisis.
Arab News reported on Sunday that despite media
articles suggesting the government was planning to merge the two apps, there had
been no official confirmation of such a move.