His Excellency the Minister of Education, Dr. Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sheikh asserted the importance of analyzing and assessing the impact of the rapid digital transformation and technologies on education and society as a whole. He pointed out that, " The Corona pandemic continues to affect the world profoundly and directly at both social and economic levels." He added, " It has accelerated the digital transformation of societies, tested the resilience of our education systems and subsequently forced new and innovative educational approaches". He added, " We must continue with the perspective that global pandemic is a rare opportunity to seize, and not just a crisis.
In his speech during the G20 research ministers' meeting which was held in Trieste, Italy today, His Excellency said: " With the new opportunities, we must recognize the need to be resilient to the new challenges". " The crisis has transformed our ways of working, collaborating and problem-solving, and we must continue to embrace this shift creatively ". He noted, " The pandemic has reminded us of the need to include every member of society and we must gain their trust and encourage them to embrace digital transformation, adopt innovative technologies, and become part of this transformation in education and work practices".
His Excellency the Minister of Education clarified that " We must ensure the data we choose, collect and build our new societies on at this stage, and ensure that data protection and cybersecurity systems are world-class to protect our citizens – protecting their dignity, privacy human rights, and aspirations.
In his speech, Dr. Al-Sheikh addressed the Kingdom’s investment in the development of digital transformation, and its link to Vision 2030, reviewing the Kingdom’s investment in academic programs and degrees in advanced digital skills, ICT cybersecurity, data science and artificial intelligence, and investment in innovation, entrepreneurship, and research. He explained, " The Kingdom is now ranked second in the world, among countries committed to cybersecurity at the global strategic level, according to the Global Cybersecurity Index 2020, and ranks first in the Arab world, and 14th globally, for the largest number of published research papers related to Covid-19. He continued, " These are major achievements that demonstrate our commitment to evidence-based progress. In addition to the fact that 84% of the research conducted in the Kingdom is undertaken within our public universities".
The Minister of Education indicated that, " The Kingdom's development is relevant , sustainable by focusing on the areas of research and innovation too ensure that the new digital economy developments in the Kingdom carry everyone to the future ". He also clarified that , " The ethos can be found in the Kingdom's Vision 2030 priorities , which are focused on: Digital learning, Digital health, Smart cities, E-government, E-health, Cybersecurity, and Research.
Dr. Al Sheikh pointed out. Al-Sheikh continued , " The Ministry of Education has benefited from the great progress in digital transformation in the past few years. The ministry has worked and entrusted all Saudi universities to deliver programs and courses in Digital Education , Digital Business Education , Digital Health, Digital government, Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Digital Creativity, and STEM Education.
At the conclusion of his speech, Minister Al Sheikh called to work together , to sustain dialogue, exchange experiences, and create innovative solutions to achieve more digitalized, inclusive and sustainable university education. As well as working for our societies to place human capital, human rights, respect and dignity at the heart of all its operations and services. He extended his thanks and appreciation to the Italian G20 Presidency for establishing the Academics Informal Gathering as a new working group, and placing university education, research and innovation at the core of its agenda, praising the efforts of Prof. Dr. Maria Cristina Mesa, the Italian Minister of Universities and Research for her insightful remarks.
The G20 ministerial meeting has dealt with mechanisms to advance digital skills, raise awareness about them in university education, and promote shared values in the management of digital technologies, in addition to ensuring the quality of communication and infrastructure within the opportunities for international cooperation provided by digital technologies.
