ABJ, in cooperation with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, discussed the digital identity and electronic signature topic during an introductory workshop held at the Association’s headquarters in the presence of a number of bank representatives including legal and technical experts.

Participants reviewed the digital services provided by the Ministry related to the digital identity and electronic signature in light of the importance of the banking sector being aware of them.

Participants addressed the importance of completing work on digital government services and accelerating the transition towards them, especially the intensive review of the legislative system, including the electronic transactions law to keep abreast of developments in this field. They also appreciated ABJ’s role in holding such workshops due to their significance in informing banks of developments in the field of government digital services and ways to benefit from them.

Participants exchanged ideas and opinions on these services and ways to enhance cooperation between banks as executives and beneficiaries of some of these services and the role of the ministry in developing the electronic services provided.

Dr. Maher Al-Mahrouq, stressed the importance of cooperation between banks and the ministry in the digital field thanking the ministry for its initiative to request the holding of this workshop.

He pointed out the importance of moving towards the digital economy especially banks’ role in developing and preparing the necessary infrastructure for such transition. He also praised banks’ response with regard to providing support stations in cooperation with the Ministry to activate the digital identity.

The Ministry’s representatives, Messrs. Ahmed Elyan and Abdullah Al-Faraya, reviewed the digital identity and electronic signature advantages from a technical point of view and their benefits to the banking sector in facilitating and issuing digital authentication tools and digital certificates.

The speakers technically reviewed the readiness of the necessary infrastructure to provide digital services and the Ministry’s development of the PKI system that manages digital certificates for individuals in various fields through electronic verification, encryption, electronic signature, identity verification and other services.

The speakers also referred to the mechanism of the identity management system associated with the civil status for the purposes of creating and activating the digital identity for individuals. They emphasized that citizens’ benefit from the services through the Sanad application requires activating the digital identity by visiting Sanad stations located throughout the Kingdom.

On a related level, the Ministry’s representatives reviewed a set of services that the Ministry has finished preparing the required infrastructure for, including: identification and digital verification of identity for individuals, timestamp services and the creation of authenticated electronic signatures according to the provisions and legislation in force in the Kingdom. They also appreciated the partnership with the banking sector in providing places to establish Sanad stations indicating that about 300 thousand people have activated the digital identity during the last period.