The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman are fortifying their bilateral relations with technology as the two nations signed two executive programmes pertaining to digital transformation.

This comes in line with the memorandum of understanding signed by the two friendly nations in November 2021. The new executive programmes signed today are in the following fields: one, digital transformation; and two, training of personnel in the field of digital transformation

The programmes aim to make optimum use of digital technologies, notably in business areas, besides initiatives related to the technologies of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) and training the personnel concerned in the fields of leadership, development, and management.

The first executive programme was signed by Eng. Ahmed Mohammed Al Suwaiyan, the Governor of the Digital Government Authority in KSA, and Dr Ali Amer Al Shidhani, the Communications and Information Technology Undersecretary at the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology.

The programme covers cooperation in e-government practices, feasibility studies on new digital solutions serving e-government strategies, and research in the respective areas.

The second executive programme was signed by Dr Amer Al Shidhani and Eng Faris Saleh Al-Saqabi, the Deputy Minister for Future Jobs & Capabilities at the KSA Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

The programme reflects the two sides’ keenness in training nationals and integrating efforts towards the preparation of human resources to keep pace with updates in the field of modern technologies and their applications.

Omani-Saudi relations are making progress in the fields of e-economy and e-government.

To this effect, the two sides signed a number of agreements and memoranda of understanding, among which is the Omani-Saudi e-Skills Initiative that seeks to exchange the best practices in developing skills to meet labour market requirements in the sector of communications and information technology.

As many as 120 Omanis received training as part of the first phase of a programme in the field of cybersecurity, the internet of things (IoT) and programming. Following an agreement, the programme seeks to augment competitiveness for contesting advanced jobs in digital labour market.

The second phase of the programme, scheduled to begin later this month, will provide training for 240 Omanis in areas of self-learning, e-games, cybersecurity, network protection and IoT.

The two sides signed three agreements in the field of enhancing partnership and expertise among Omani and Saudi technology firms. Seven more agreements will be signed shortly by companies from the two countries.