Saudi Arabia's Digital Workforce Expands with 35% Women's Representation

• Saudi Arabia's digital talent pool has grown to around 389,000 experts, the biggest in the Middle East
• Safa Al-Rashed, Acting Deputy Minister for Future Skills and Capabilities, announced
• It is a component of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 strategy to develop future digital capabilities

Saudi Arabia today possesses the largest digital workforce across the Middle East, with more than 389,000 experts employed in digital jobs, said Safa Al-Rashed, Acting Deputy Minister of Future Skills and Capabilities in the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

In Riyadh, speaking at a panel discussion "Empowering Tomorrow's Workforce: Insights from Vision 2030", Safa emphasized that over 200,000 individuals have undergone digital awareness programs, and courses in artificial intelligence and technology have been introduced at a number of universities.

Women currently make up 35 percent of the employed workforce in the digital economy, significantly above the G20 and global averages and a 7 percent value realized in 2018.

Safa emphasized that empowering citizens with future-capable skills is paramount to making Saudi Arabia an international hub for innovation and human capital development.

She indicated that Vision 2030's digital diversified economy growth depends on the investments made by the Kingdom in its people.

She also reiterated that there is a call for expanding partnerships between the public sector, private sector, and educational institutions to ensure sustainable growth in the field of digital.