The Qatar Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MoCIT) and Saudi Arabia’s Digital Government Authority have signed an agreement to build the digital government field using cutting edge technologies.

The agreement was signed during the LEAP 2024 event being held in Riyadh KSA from March 4-7 2024 under the theme ‘Into New Worlds’.

The agreement aims to strengthen collaboration between the two countries in government digital transformation, capacity building, and competency enhancement in digital governance, as well as research, development, and investment in cutting-edge technologies within the digital government sphere. Additionally, the agreement encompasses various other areas relating to digital government and the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector.

The cooperation agreement was signed by Minister of Communications and Information Technology HE Mohammed bin Ali Al Mannai and Minister of Communications and Information Technology.

Al Mannai said, “Our strong fraternal relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia pave the way for extensive cooperation and development opportunities across various sectors between our countries. Today’s agreement exemplifies our dedication to fostering innovation and technological advancement both locally and internationally. We anticipate a productive partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that fosters the exchange of experiences and best practices in delivering government services, digital transformation, infrastructure development, and innovation promotion.”

The agreement aims to expand strategic partnerships in the digital government and digital economy sectors. It comes aligned with the ongoing efforts of the Qatari-Saudi Coordination Council to strengthen the partnership between the two brotherly countries.

In addition, Amazon Web Services unveiled its plans to launch a new infrastructure region in KSA by 2026, investing more than $5.3 billion. The move aims to support the Kingdom’s digital transformation and meet growing demand for cloud services in the Middle East. The new region will offer services such as analytics, artificial intelligence, compute, and storage, catering to various industries including healthcare, education, gaming and nonprofits.

LEAP forum is exploring topics such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, smart cities, and the digital economy.

Saudi Arabia recently signed an agreement with The Hashgraph Association to launch a deep tech venture for cutting edge technologies including Blockchain.