Al Widyan Saudi Real Estate Company (Al Widyan Co), part of one of the largest publicly listed property developers in KSA, has awarded a Smart City consulting contract to Orange Business Services for a new seven million square metre real estate development (Al Widyan) in Riyadh’s northern growth corridor.
Under the contract, Orange consultants will define the Smart City services, ICT infrastructure engineering guidelines, the operating model for the development, and the business strategy and options for the open access network.
Read more: Smart City expertise to be provided to KSA development by Orange Business Services
Justice Minister Waleed Al-Samaani on Sunday launched e-notarization, starting a new phase in the ministry’s digitization efforts. Starting Nov. 18, e-notarization will provide several services that dispense paperwork and spare clients the need to visit notarial offices for low-risk powers of attorney (POAs).
“The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is continuing its efforts to achieve the objectives of the National Transformation Program 2020 and Vision 2030, which focus on enhancing the user-friendliness and cost-effectiveness of government services,” the minister said during the inauguration event in Riyadh.
Read more: SA: MOJ enters new digitization phase with e-notarization
Interview: Abdullah Alswaha
Q: How will the planned digitisation policies impact the Kingdom’s citizens and businesses?
ABDULLAH ALSWAHA: Saudi Arabia’s ICT sector has come a long way over the past 15 years. However, neither the industry’s potential, nor its role as an enabler have been fully realised as of yet. This represents a major opportunity. Both citizens and business now largely depend on digital applications for their welfare and competitiveness. Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Programme 2020 (NTP) have set the bar high for the role of digitisation. Digitisation will enhance consumer welfare through more efficient, transparent and user-friendly government services. In addition, it will enable policymaking participation, timely feedback on state services and reduce the time spent on administrative procedures.
The Riyadh municipality is working with the US technology giant IBM to implement blockchain technology in government and payment services, the ITP.net reported on Wednesday.
For future projects involving blockchain, IBM will work with Elm, the company that acts as a technology partner in Riyadh municipality. Together with local authorities, the two companies will work to expand digital applications, thus improving the quality of municipal services.
Read more: SA: Riyadh and IBM Implement Blockchain Solutions for the Municipality
Saudi Arabia ICT Minister Abdullah bin Amer Al-Sawaha has directed all mobile service providers to ensure the availability of local roaming services and network sharing in remote areas, Arab News reported. Al-Sawaha issued the directive based on public feedback after his inspection visit to communities in the Hejer region and various governorates in the country.
The minister is also the chairman of the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), which said that mobile service providers in remote areas must provide local roaming service within a maximum period of 60 days, to enable users to get reception in villages, irrespective of the service provider. They are also required to provide quality service to these areas, in addition to continuity of service and easy access to all basic telecommunications and Internet services.