 | |
 Abdullah Alswaha, the current agency minister since 2017 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1926 |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Saudi Arabia |
| Headquarters | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
| Minister responsible |
|
| Website | Official English Website |
The Ministry of Communications and Information (MCIT; Arabic: وزارة الاتصالات وتقنية المعلومات) is a Saudi government ministry that was established in 1926 and is responsible for the communications and information technology sector in the kingdom.[1][2] The current minister of Communications and Information is Abdullah Alswaha appointed on 23 April 2017.[3]
The earliest governmental entity to govern the communications and technology sectors was the Directorate of Post, Telephone and Telegraph (PTT) which was established in Makkah in 1926.[2] in 1931, the telegraph services were provided by the first mobile wireless station imported by the Kingdom, followed by the introduction of telephone service In 1934.[1] In 1953, the telegraph, post, and telephone facilities were reported Ministry of Transport which was established in that year.[1]
The rapid growth of telecommunications technology led to the establishment of the Ministry of Post, Telegraph, and Telephone in 1975 to be responsible for the telecommunications and posts sectors.[1] In 2003, the name of the Ministry of Post, Telegraph, and Telephone was amended to be the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.[1]
The Ministry is mainly responsible for the communications and information technology in the Kingdom where many tasks have been assigned to, including:[4]
The Ministry launched and supervised three national programs:
National Digitization Unit: aims at ensuring the development of platforms for a digital society, digital economy and digital homeland.[5]
Yesser: An E-Government Program aims at increasing the productivity and efficiency of the governmental sector by providing the required services and information.[6]
The National Center for Digital Certification (NCDC): This program provides systems for the infrastructure management of the public keys which an essential security technique for e-business, e-trade, and e-government over the internet.[7] this program is currently providing services such as issuing digital certificates, search for digital certificates, checking certificates and validity.[8]
