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Saudi Emerging Technology Adoption Index Rises to 70.7%

The “LEAP 2024” conference saw $1 billion in funding for emerging technology ventures in Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The “LEAP 2024” conference saw $1 billion in funding for emerging technology ventures in Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Emerging Technology Adoption Index Rises to 70.7%

The “LEAP 2024” conference saw $1 billion in funding for emerging technology ventures in Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The “LEAP 2024” conference saw $1 billion in funding for emerging technology ventures in Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The performance index of Saudi government agencies in “Emerging Technologies Adoption” has improved significantly by 10% compared to last year, rising from 60.3% in 2023 to 70.7% in 2024.
This improvement is driven by an increase in the number of participating government entities, which grew from 13 to 35.
This progress was detailed in the annual report released by the Digital Government Authority (DGA), highlighting the readiness of government entities to embrace emerging technologies in 2024.
The rise in the adoption index reflects a broader participation and growing interest aligned with the Kingdom’s goals to foster innovation and support modern technologies.
It also underscores Saudi Arabia’s commitment to sustainable development and building an advanced digital future under the “Vision 2030” initiative, which positions digital transformation as a cornerstone of its future vision.
The report also highlighted advancements in various capacities for adopting emerging technologies.
This heightened focus on adopting emerging technologies coincides with a transformative period for the Kingdom's digital government, which is leveraging cutting-edge technologies to deliver superior services to citizens, residents, and visitors, playing a crucial role in the journey towards the future.
Saudi Arabia has integrated numerous emerging technologies into government services, enhancing efficiency, automating services, saving time and effort, and promoting transparency.
Globally, the leading emerging technologies in digital governments include artificial intelligence (AI), which is used to improve government services, the Internet of Things (IoT) for data collection and analysis, virtual reality for providing interactive citizen experiences, and 3D printing for manufacturing parts and components.
Notably, Saudi Arabia ranked first globally in the Government AI Readiness Index, a part of the Global AI Index by Tortoise Intelligence, which assesses over 60 countries. Germany and China ranked second and third, respectively.
Saudi Arabia achieved a perfect score in the index’s criteria, which include having a dedicated national AI strategy, a specific government entity for AI, allocated funding and budget for AI, and defined national AI targets.

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Egypt's Central Bank Leaves Key Interest Rates Unchanged

A general view of Dahab Island or Gold Island (Gezirit el-Dahab) in the middle of the Nile River in Cairo, Egypt, July 2, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
A general view of Dahab Island or Gold Island (Gezirit el-Dahab) in the middle of the Nile River in Cairo, Egypt, July 2, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
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Egypt's Central Bank Leaves Key Interest Rates Unchanged

A general view of Dahab Island or Gold Island (Gezirit el-Dahab) in the middle of the Nile River in Cairo, Egypt, July 2, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
A general view of Dahab Island or Gold Island (Gezirit el-Dahab) in the middle of the Nile River in Cairo, Egypt, July 2, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Egypt's central bank left its overnight interest rates unchanged on Thursday, as expected, saying economic growth remained slow but that inflation has been decreasing.
The bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) left the deposit rate at 27.25% and the lending rate at 28.25%.
All but one of 18 analysts in a Reuters poll had expected rates to remain unchanged, with the sole analyst forecasting a cut of 100 basis points (bps).
The decision keeps the overnight deposit rate below that of headline inflation, which was 27.5% in June. Real interest rates have been negative since January 2022. Inflation declined in June for a fourth straight month after soaring to a record 38% in September.
The MPC expects inflation to come down sharply in the first half of 2025.
"The gradual unwinding of food inflation along with the improvement of inflation expectations suggest that inflation is on a sustained downward trajectory," the MPC said.
Gross domestic product inched down to an annualized 2.2% in the first quarter from 2.3% in the final quarter of 2023, the MPC added.
"Leading indicators for Q2 2024 suggest that economic activity remains subdued. Consequently, real GDP growth is expected to slow down in FY 2023/24 compared to the previous fiscal year, before recovering in FY 2024/25," it said.
Egypt reported GDP of 3.8% in 2022/23.
The central bank raised interest rates by 600 bps on March 6 as part of an agreement with the IMF, bringing total increases since the beginning of the year to 800 bps. Egypt also sharply devalued its currency against the dollar under its IMF accord.