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Saudi Arabia Ranks First in ITU's 2025 ICT Development Index

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
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Saudi Arabia Ranks First in ITU's 2025 ICT Development Index

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat

Saudi Arabia secured the top global position in the UN International Telecommunication Union’s information and communications technology (ICT) Development Index for 2025, which evaluates the digital progress of 164 economies across two key dimensions: universal connectivity and effective connectivity.

The Saudi Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST) stated that this achievement reflects the Kingdom’s ongoing sustainable development in the ICT sector and sustained national efforts to enhance competitiveness.

The CST also emphasized that the Kingdom’s advanced digital infrastructure plays a pivotal role in enabling the growth of its digital economy, which achieved SAR459 billion in 2024, contributing 15% to the gross domestic product (GDP).

The Kingdom’s ICT market, valued at SAR180 billion in 2024, is the largest and fastest growing in the Middle East and North Africa. Mobile subscription penetration reached 212% of the population, and the average monthly data consumption per user was three times the global average.

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SDAIA Receives Recognition for Innovative Projects at WSIS Summit in Geneva

SDAIA’s nominated projects represented a distinguished set of technological initiatives that demonstrated innovation, relevance, and impact in their respective fields - SPA
SDAIA’s nominated projects represented a distinguished set of technological initiatives that demonstrated innovation, relevance, and impact in their respective fields - SPA
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SDAIA Receives Recognition for Innovative Projects at WSIS Summit in Geneva

SDAIA’s nominated projects represented a distinguished set of technological initiatives that demonstrated innovation, relevance, and impact in their respective fields - SPA
SDAIA’s nominated projects represented a distinguished set of technological initiatives that demonstrated innovation, relevance, and impact in their respective fields - SPA

The Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA) received certificates for its nominated projects, which were recognized among the best entries at the 2025 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prizes held in Geneva, Switzerland, highlighting SDAIA’s innovative contributions to the fields of data and artificial intelligence (AI).

SDAIA’s nominated projects represented a distinguished set of technological initiatives that demonstrated innovation, relevance, and impact in their respective fields.

Out of 973 submissions from various countries, they were chosen after an expert evaluation conducted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), SPA reported.

The nominated projects included the government cloud-computing platform “Deem,” which provides integrated and flexible cloud services for government entities; the “Nafath” application for biometric identity verification; the “Serti” service within the “Tawakkalna” app that enables users to display their certified academic qualifications; the “Tahseen” project, which uses AI to restore and enhance historical media; and the “Allam” and “Sawtak” projects, both of which represent a significant leap in supporting and processing Arabic using large language models and speech recognition technologies.

These achievements reflect the Kingdom’s commitment, through SDAIA, to reinforcing its global standing as a trusted authority in data and AI, advancing the national digital transformation agenda, and supporting the goals of Saudi Vision 2030. They also contribute to enhancing the Kingdom’s regional and international competitiveness in technology and innovation.