Riyadh, January 2, 2025 – The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) has dedicated its efforts to strengthening the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's leadership in data and AI, with the Kingdom continuing to excel on global indicators in this field in 2024, driven by advancements in several areas.
These advancements include the adoption of policies and regulations ensuring the ethical use of AI technologies, providing capabilities related to data and foresight, supporting continuous innovation, and developing national expertise. These efforts aim to position the Kingdom as a global leader among data- and AI-driven economies.
SDAIA has elevated the Kingdom's ranking in global indicators related to data and AI, supported by the ongoing patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, Prime Minister, and Chairman of SDAIA's Board of Directors. This has led SDAIA to continue its efforts to establish the Kingdom as a global technological hub for advanced and AI-related technologies.
The Kingdom, represented by SDAIA, has achieved first place globally in several areas, including the Government Strategy for AI Pillar, the Open Government Data Index (OGDI), the number of medals won at the World Artificial Intelligence Competition for Youth (WAICY), and the ISO/IEC 42001 certification for AI management systems. Regionally, it ranked first in the E-Government Development Index (EGDI), while globally, it secured third place in the OECD AI Policy Observatory, fourth in the Online Services Index (OSI), and seventh in the E-Participation Index (EPI). Additionally, the Kingdom ranked first in the Middle East and 14th globally in the Global AI Index.
Regarding awards and certifications, SDAIA achieved first place in the Innovation category last year, outperforming 15 government entities in the Technology, Transport, and Media Group within the 2024 Digital Transformation Measurement Index. It received several accolades, including six ISO certifications in AI management systems, information security, excellence in cloud services, and two ISO certifications for excellence in information security management and privacy information management systems.
Additionally, SDAIA was honoured with the King Salman bin Abdulaziz Global Academy for the Arabic Language Award for its outstanding contributions to serving the Arabic language.
SDAIA stood out in several pioneering digital projects, most notably the "ALLaM" model, which was featured on IBM's Watsonx platform as one of the world's best generative models in the Arabic language. The total Arabic words collected to train the model exceeded 385 billion, including 55 billion words gathered last year alone. "ALLaM" has contributed to enhancing national security by localizing significant language model technologies, building the enablers required to operate technical infrastructure, supporting Arabic content, and refining national capabilities.
SDAIA's digital projects have had a significant humanitarian impact across various sectors, including healthcare. In collaboration with its partners, SDAIA developed "EYENAI," a pioneering medical project that utilizes AI solutions to provide advanced analytics and smart algorithms for the early detection and diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy. Over the past 12 months, this project has helped diagnose more than 846 patients, showcasing the transformative power of AI in driving positive social change.
Through the unified national access system (Nafath), SDAIA provided a unified access solution for government entities, saving over SAR 2 billion. This included savings of SAR 220 million by reducing reliance on self-service devices, SAR 640 million by minimizing dependence on human resources and offering electronic services, and SAR 800 million for individuals through a biometric verification system.
SDAIA has impacted the social sphere in Saudi Arabia through the Nafath application, which saved over 5 billion minutes for users by enabling biometric verification. It also eliminated the need for individuals to remember more than 530 passwords by providing a single access point, replacing the need for separate passwords for each application or platform.
Moreover, it reduced the need for 260,000 daily vehicle trips in the environmental domain by allowing users to access services remotely without travelling to service locations.
As part of regulating the use of data and AI, SDAIA has made significant efforts to build a regulatory environment that ensures the optimal use of data and AI. It has worked on organizing the data and AI sectors by establishing policies, standards, and regulations for their handling, which have been disseminated to relevant government and non-government entities.
On the regulatory front, SDAIA has raised public awareness about the Personal Data Protection Law, which aims to protect personal data, maintain privacy, establish rules for processing personal data, enhance trust in electronic transactions, and reduce negative practices related to personal data processing.
SDAIA has also developed a set of regulatory tools, rules, and guidelines to clarify the handling of advanced technologies. These include seven regulatory tools, such as: AI Ethics Framework, Generative AI Guidelines for Government Public, Generative AI Guidelines for Government Entities, Deepfake Guidelines, AI Adoption Framework, the Saudi Academic Framework for AI Qualifications, and the National Occupational Standard Framework.
SDAIA has issued the executive regulations for the Personal Data Protection Law, the regulations for transferring personal data outside the Kingdom, the rules for appointing personal data protection officers, the guideline for determining the minimum personal data required, the regulations for the National Register of Data Controllers within the Kingdom. It has also issued the guide for preparing mandatory common rules for transferring personal data, the standard contractual clauses for data transfer, the guideline for data destruction, anonymization, and encryption, the guideline for data processing activity records, and the regulations and specifications for national data management, governance, and personal data protection.
SDAIA has also issued a series of policies to establish the regulatory framework and general rules for data management and the use of AI tools in the Kingdom. These include the Data Classification Policy, Open Data Policy, Data Sharing Policy, Freedom of Information Policy, and the guidelines for preparing and developing privacy policies. These policies define the standards and procedures to be followed for optimal data and AI usage, ensuring compliance with laws and ethics and regulating data as a national asset.
As part of its commitment to building national capabilities, SDAIA continued its efforts last year through the SDAIA Academy by organizing numerous boot camps and training programs in partnership with academic institutions and global tech companies specialized in the field.
These initiatives raised awareness and enhanced the understanding of AI applications, reaching a broad audience and contributing to increased public interest in the use of data and AI across the Kingdom.
SDAIA continued its innovative initiatives, supporting awareness programs in various fields, including essential, public, specialized, and collaborative awareness, in partnership with major tech companies worldwide.
It remains committed to spreading knowledge about generative AI through partnerships with Saudi universities and organizing knowledge forums that bring together university professors and students to enhance their understanding of these technologies.
To build a generation skilled in AI, SDAIA launched the Generative AI Academy in collaboration with NVIDIA. This initiative continues last year's efforts to develop nationally qualified capabilities that are globally competitive, aligning with ambitious goals and aspirations. It is part of the SDAIA Academy, which is dedicated to preparing a generation capable of harnessing generative AI in partnership with leading tech organizations to develop AI technologies.
SDAIA has also dedicated its efforts to supporting digital transformation in government entities as a smart investment in data and AI.
This is achieved through numerous smart platforms it oversees, adopting a methodology of continuous development and support with the latest technologies. It has enhanced spending efficiency, improved the security of digital transactions, and built trust among digital service users in the Kingdom.
In addition, SDAIA has established several AI excellence centres in various developmental fields, including energy, health, media, environment, industry, and education, to leverage these resources for further development in these sectors.
Through the comprehensive national application "Tawakkalna," SDAIA has provided a complete digital experience that has improved the quality of life for citizens, residents, and visitors to the Kingdom.
The application offers over 350 electronic services from 253 beneficiary entities, enabling users to access them easily. Tawakkalna has achieved one billion transactions for viewing cards and documents, with over 336 million transactions occurring in 2024 alone. This reflects the application's significant capabilities and the convenience it offers, simplifying daily life for users and saving them time and effort.
SDAIA has continued its efforts to support digital transformation through the ongoing development and tangible positive impact of the National Data Bank (NDB). The NDB has contributed to unifying efforts and reducing capital and operational expenses for data exchange between entities.
SDAIA also provided technical support for the "Ehsan" platform, which has enhanced the reliability and transparency of charitable and developmental work, fostering national belonging and instilling humanitarian values within the community.
The "Deem" government cloud has achieved financial savings exceeding SAR 5.3 billion, offering highly reliable, flexible, and efficient technological assets.
SDAIA, in collaboration with relevant authorities, contributed to managing Hajj operations last year. SDAIA's efforts were integrated into enhancing services during the Hajj season, including supporting the Makkah Route Initiative in several Islamic countries. This was alongside its year-round efforts to facilitate the entry of pilgrims into the Kingdom through the digitization of airport and border services, which helps improve performance and provide an organized, easy, and practical experience.
SDAIA has enabled government entities to govern data and enhance its value as a valuable asset. Last year, a total of 63 new data management offices were established, bringing the total number of such offices in government entities to 274.
Moreover, SDAIA launched expansive projects for technical infrastructure and data centres in Riyadh, the first of their kind in the Kingdom. These projects are distinguished by their high operational efficiency in electrical and mechanical systems.
In 2024, SDAIA captured global attention by organizing the third edition of the Global AI Summit in Riyadh, with over 465 speakers and global figures from 100 countries.
During the summit, a trilateral agreement was signed between Saudi Arabia, UNESCO, and the ICAIRE Center, officially accrediting the centre under the C2C category in Riyadh under UNESCO's patronage. This agreement highlights the Kingdom's prominent role in leading the international AI ethics project.
The summit also saw the launch of the Riyadh Charter on Artificial Intelligence for the Islamic World and the inauguration of the "THAK.AI" platform, which aims to form a global community of experts and enthusiasts who can share their scientific results and benefit people worldwide.
Last year, the Kingdom hosted mayors from global cities, data and AI experts, digital solutions specialists, smart city engineers, investors, and economic policymakers from over 40 countries in Riyadh for the Global Smart City Forum, organized by SDAIA under the theme "A Better Life." This was the first-ever global smart cities forum held in the Kingdom. The forum resulted in several recommendations on innovative digital solutions to achieve the highest levels of urban development, including addressing visual pollution.
