The MENA region in general, and GCC in particular is vulnerable on the global ICT competitiveness scale," said Milind Singh, Principal at Booz & Company. The accelerated progress seems to have subsided in the last edition of the index where the Kingdom is now ranked 34th globally. Saudi Arabia has multiple foundational elements to continue on the previous evolution path including high venture capital availability (rank 7), high level of importance of ICT to the government vision (rank 5), and more importantly a large user base of mobile phones (rank 2). Coalescing these foundational elements, and others, into a new sector policy and coordinated implementation can result in the largest regional ICT market catalyzing national and even regional economic growth. In particular, enabling innovation and entrepreneurship along the services, application, content, and usage ecosystem, facilitating public private partnerships, and stimulating large scale national digitization programs in sectors such as health and education are essential for accelerating the Kingdom advancement on the regional and global ICT competitiveness scale. Still, decline in the overall ranking stresses the need for accelerated and more effective action in translating government vision into national ICT policies, putting in place required enablers, and driving effective execution and impact monitoring, the report said. Booz & Company recommends five priorities for policymakers to accelerate digitization and maximize its socio-economic impact: - Elevate digitization on the national agenda: Ensure that national policy and senior government stewardship provide the platform for progress; create a plan for digitization that is tracked and monitored, with accountability residing at senior levels of government - Evolve sector governance: Segregate regulatory and policy roles; clarify both ownership and accountability for ICT and digitization - Adopt an ecosystem philosophy: Address the convergence of telecommunications, media, and information technology; develop a strategy that addresses all stages of the value chain in a holistic way; and consider the local ecosystem as well as export opportunities - Enable sustainable competition: Develop a competitive ICT model that stimulates both innovation and adoption, while ensuring sector sustainability and investments. The end game is to create a capabilities system in-country that will allow each nation to advance against its own agenda and in a competitive manner - and do so sustainably. - Stimulate demand: Invest in boosting digitization usage and service adoption; ensure that public services are available through e
