Launching the Digital Excellence Program to enhance the efficiency of government agencies
The Saudi Digital Government Authority announced the launch of the “Digital Excellence Program,” a pivotal strategic milestone aimed at culminating the maturation of the national digital experience and moving government entities from the stage of establishing regulatory frameworks to the stage of institutionalizing excellence as a sustainable approach. This step comes to ensure increased efficiency in institutional performance and improved quality of digital services, directly aligned with the ambitious goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
The context of the transformation and the Kingdom's global standing
This launch cannot be viewed in isolation from the significant strides the Kingdom has made in international indicators. Saudi Arabia ranked first regionally and second globally among G20 countries in the E-Government and Mobile Services Maturity Index issued by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). The Digital Excellence Program aims to further enhance these achievements, as the Kingdom seeks to solidify its position as a global technology hub and ensure continued progress in the UN's E-Government Development Index (EGDI), in which the Kingdom has witnessed historic advancements in recent years.
A cumulative path towards institutional maturity
This launch culminates a systematic and cumulative process that began in 2021, focusing on governing the institutional structure to unify concepts and reduce overlaps between entities, thus contributing to building a solid foundation for managing digital business. The experience matured further in 2023 through enhanced integration of measurement processes, as the government's efforts shifted from simply regulating practices to unifying monitoring mechanisms and linking digital performance to frameworks that support highly accurate decision-making.
The year 2024 marked a pivotal turning point with the launch of the second version of the National Enterprise Architecture, "NORA 2," which expanded its scope to include highly flexible digital business management, paving the way for a smooth transition to the new program. The current program represents a qualitative shift from a focus on theoretical methodologies to the adoption of a comprehensive, applied national framework that prioritizes continuous development, measurement, and improvement according to precise and practical standards.
Development pillars and expected economic impact
This movement is based on four main pillars: strategy, technology, operations, and resources. These pillars operate within an interconnected framework that links planning with implementation and supports the sustainability of digital transformation. The application of these standards is expected to positively impact the national economy by increasing the efficiency of government spending on technology, reducing financial waste resulting from duplication of projects, and improving the experience of beneficiaries (citizens and residents) through proactive and integrated digital services, thus contributing to the "Quality of Life" program.
Certificates of excellence and a competitive environment
The program does not merely act as a "monitor," but provides a comprehensive enabling system that includes technical evaluation models and guidelines, empowering government entities to identify strengths and opportunities for improvement in order to develop a roadmap for development. In a move to incentivize these entities, the authority has introduced a system for awarding "digital excellence certificates" at accredited and renewable levels, creating a competitive environment that encourages entities to continuously improve their digital performance and not settle for merely meeting minimum requirements.
The program operates within an integrated lifecycle that begins with updating methodologies, goes through self-assessment and verification, and ends with announcing results and presenting improvement plans, which ensures high transparency in presentation and follow-up, and contributes to building national cadres capable of leading the digital landscape with high professionalism.
