Riyadh is set to become the Arab world’s first ever digital capital city.
The announcement was revealed at the 23rd session of the Council of Arab Ministers of Communications and Information Technology (ICT) on December 18, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
The decision to name Riyadh the Arab Digital Capital follows the city’s prominent role in adopting and promoting the use of digital technologies to enhance socio-economic development, advance healthcare, improve education, and to ultimately increase community welfare, which helped to elevate ICT sector's contribution to GDP to 4%.
The Kingdom also climbed 16 places in World Economic Forum’s Global Competitive Index 2019 in terms of ICT adoption, and topped in the ease of doing business ranking according to the World Bank’s 2020 report.
The ‘Arab Digital Capital’ initiative seeks to encourage the creation of a stimulating ecosystem for investment in ICT and to adopt new initiatives that facilitate and enhance tech entrepreneurship in the Arab region.