Saudi Arabia govt spending $24.7bln on tech, highest globally by 21 pct: DGA Governor

Saudi Arabia’s government spending on technology has been valued at around $24.7 billion (SR 93 billion) by 2025, the highest in the world, accounting for 21.7 percent of national spending, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Wednesday, citing the Digital Government Authority (DGA) Governor Eng. Ahmed Mohammed al-Suwaiyan.

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He reportedly added that the government has been working to promote localization in the technology sector, with investments amounting to 73 percent of the total venture capital financing.

He expects that IT services would capture 74 percent of the total demand in the next few years, namely in cloud computing solutions, software and big data.

“…DGA has launched the Digital Government Investment and Procurement Program (SADAF) Initiative to improve financial planning and accelerate digital procurement in government agencies, increase the participation of the private sector in digital government projects, raise the quality of work of digital government service providers and operators, stimulate foreign and local investment and enhance local content,” the SPA report stated.

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.

GEC 2022, held under the patronage of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, began on Sunday and is set to run until Wednesday, bringing together investors, policy makers, and community leaders from around the world to help rebuild the pandemic-stricken global economy.

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