"This Is How Saudi Arabia Went Fully Digital" -H.E. Deemah AlYahya

About this episode

The episode discusses Saudi Arabia's digital transformation and the role of H.E. Deemah AlYahya in shaping the global digital economy through the Digital Cooperation Organization.

Her Excellency is a Saudi tech-diplomat shaping the future of the global digital economy. As the founding Secretary-General of the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO), she leads international efforts to bring governments, innovators, and institutions together to ensure technology becomes a force for inclusive and sustainable growth. In doing so, she also made history as the first Saudi woman to lead the secretariat of an international organization. On this episode, we discuss what it took to build the DCO from the ground up during the uncertainty of COVID, often with limited resources but a clear global vision. The conversation explores Saudi Arabia’s rapid digital transformation and how it has become a real-world case study for modern government services, digital payments, and improving quality of life. We unpacked the idea of “tech diplomacy”, why digital governance, standards, and cross-border cooperation are now critical as technology reshapes economies, politics, and the global flow of information.   0:00 Intro  4:43 What Is the Digital Cooperation Organization  7:49 Building DCO from Scratch 9:02 DCO’s Global Momentum  11:34 Why Technology?&nbsp…

People in this episode

Host: Mo Islam

Guest: H.E. Deemah AlYahya

Topics covered

• digital transformation
• tech diplomacy
• women in tech
• digital governance
• global cooperation

Keywords

• digital economy
• COVID-19
• e-commerce
• government services
• cross-border cooperation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Digital Cooperation Organization, Microsoft

Places: Saudi Arabia

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