Technologies Integration

Infrastructure for technology and networking is the ultimate base for any progress toward electronic governance and digital transformation. The transformation continuously demands more efficient and reliable communication channels, secure and the proper platform needed to manage and run it, in addition to platforms of data management, be they data centers, big data, or any other. Data clouds are essential as well, within the infrastructure that forms the foundation of government, private sector and consumer use of digital services, the Kingdom is also increasingly successful in attracting the ‘hyper-scale’ global cloud service providers.

A major pillar of this infrastructure is the Government Service Bus (GSB). It is essential in securing well-integrated national infrastructure projects, which are implemented and managed initially by Yesser Program and now by SDAIA. It aims to activate secure data exchange between the government agencies that are authorized to use the data in providing their services effectively and accurately. The Kingdom now offers over 6,000 e-government services and records 3 billion digital transactions a year. All of this progress is creating a huge demand for data centers as the critical infrastructure of the digital economy. Digital transformation has blended efforts across the government for a national backbone and infrastructure that provides this growth in digital transformation.

Partnership models will be critical to ensure that the modern, high-tech, and highly sustainable facilities needed can be built fast enough. Data center design, build and operation is a complex business requiring specialist expertise. Even finding suitable sites close to where services are needed but secure and with resilient connections to both power and the fiber-optic cables that link them to the global internet requires detailed planning and experience. To deliver the clouds that form the foundation of government, private sector and consumer use of digital services, the Kingdom is also increasingly successful in attracting the ‘hyper-scale’ global cloud service providers. Alibaba Cloud partnered with STC group, eWTP Arabia Capital, the Saudi Company for Artificial Intelligence (SCAI) and the Saudi Information Technology Company (SITE). This partnership is a reliable and strong infrastructure support for national digital transformation.

KSA Cloud First Policy of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology was launched in 2020. In general, the government has been fostering the use of cloud computing formally. This policy for cloud computing leverages several elements, including scale, virtualization, resilience, cost, efficiency, service orientation, agility, etc. These elements are combined into five key characteristics:

• On-demand self-service: Unilateral provisioning of computing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, provisioned by the end-user without requiring human interaction with each service provider.
• Broad network access: Availability of capabilities over the network with accessibility through standard mechanisms that promotes usage by the consumer through different platforms (e.g., phones, laptops, and PCs).
• Resource pooling: Pooled computing resources to serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physical and virtual resources assigned and re-assigned based on demand. There is a degree of location independence; the customer may be able to specify location at a higher level of abstraction (e.g. country, state, or data center) but not the exact location of the provided resources. Examples of resources include storage, processing, memory, network bandwidth and virtual machines.
• Rapid elasticity: Rapid and elastic provision of capabilities to quickly scale resources up and down – this is done in some cases automatically. To the consumer, capabilities available for provisioning are often (almost) unlimited and can be purchased in any quantity at any time.
• Measured service: Automatic controlled and optimized resources are used by leveraging a metering capability at some level of abstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage, processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can be monitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both the provider and consumer of the utilized service.

This policy is a clearly focused and visible effort to provide an efficient way of applying cloud technology, both as operational and agile.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is set to become the global leader of the digital economy through the full deployment of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain, Big Data, Robotics, Machine Learning, 5G across public and private sectors. Blockchain Saudi Arabia is among the first countries globally whose institutions started to experiment with the use of the blockchain and allowed international firms wishing to test new digital solutions in a 'live' environment to deploy them in the KSA in the future.

• Blockchain for the Financial Sector: The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) is among the first Saudi government authorities and central banks in the world that announce the deployment of blockchain technology for money transfer. In June 2020, SAMA piloted blockchain technology for money transfer to deposit part of the SR50 billion ($13.3 bn) of the liquidity that it had previously announced to inject into the banking sector. While still in a test phase, this pilot enabled SAMA to speed up its efforts in exploring and assessing the impacts of emerging technologies on the financial sector.
• Fintech Saudi: Fintech Saudi was launched by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) in partnership with the Capital Market Authority in April 2018 to act as a catalyst for the development of the financial services technology (fintech) industry in Saudi Arabia. The objective is to transform Saudi Arabia into an innovative fintech hub with a thriving and responsible fintech ecosystem by supporting the development of the infrastructure required for the growth of the fintech industry, building capabilities and talent required by fintech companies and supporting fintech entrepreneurs at every stage of their development.
• Blockchain for cross-border trade: A key player in the Saudi trade and logistics landscape, Saudi Customs Authority is testing the use of blockchain to create a real solution for a fragmented peer-to-peer business ecosystem in solving complex problems such as platform challenges, business challenges, data interoperability, and solution construction.
• The Saudi Customs Authority, in cooperation with the IT partner Tabadul, oversaw the integration of FASAH with TradeLens in December 2018, a blockchain-enabled global shipping solution jointly developed by Maersk and IBM. FASAH is Saudi Arabia's national platform which connects all Government and private entities involved in cross-border trade.‬ The pilot aimed to link FASAH with TradeLens for selected services to ensure immutability, traceability, reduced reconciliation, audibility, and compliance. Through its adoption of blockchain, Saudi Customs aims to be the first in the region that is able to provide remarkable customs services that will see the Kingdom become a global logistics hub. The first shipment that was launched using blockchain technology was from the King Abdul Aziz Port in Dammam to the port of Rotterdam on May 13, 2019.
• Crypto Escrow Infrastructure: A protocol that acts as an arbitrator for transactions between all types of ledgers, such as distributed, traditional, and centralized. It allows one entity to transact value with another without relying on a third party to stand between them while ensuring that each party honors the agreement. It is an infrastructure that acts as an arbitrator for transactions between all types of ledgers, distributed and traditional centralized alternatives. It provides a top-layer cryptographic escrow system that allows funds to move between ledgers with the help of intermediaries, also called "connectors". Connectors would facilitate transfers between ledgers, performing the same function that companies today might achieve with market makers when they exchange currencies for business purposes. This allows one entity to confidently transact value directly with another without relying on a third party to stand between them while ensuring that each party honors the agreement.