SIDFs digital transformation: A journey toward empowerment

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, supported with an ambitious plan and the genuine support of its citizens, plays a vital role in the development of the Kingdom, aiming toward a prosperous future for our country. This has facilitated the adoption of all means and solutions to pave the way to successfully achieve the targets of Vision 2030.

Digitalization is at the forefront of technological advancement and a priority solution that is being introduced to transform how organizations do business and increase the efficiency of their roles and the services their clients aspire to.

Therefore, we at the Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) have gone through a major transformational journey with the digitalization of our processes and services in line with the evolvement of its bylaws in 2019.

This transformation empowered and elevated SIDF’s role to become the main financial enabler of the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program.

As the Saudi industrial sector grew, SIDF needed to migrate 40 years’ worth of data to one unified digital platform to deliver the optimal financing needed for the Kingdom’s industries.

With this expansion, a great responsibility lies on our shoulders to further enhance the role of digitalization and upgrade the services and products provided to our clients in the industrial, mining, energy and logistic services sectors.

These efforts aim to accelerate the development and expansion of clients’ projects in line with the objectives of Vision 2030.

Almost three years ago, an action plan on the digitalization journey was developed with the support of SIDF CEO Dr. Ibrahim Almojel. This transformational plan aims to redesign, reengineer and fully automate all SIDF operations.

As ambitious and improbable as the plan was, we were able to implement it in less than two years, exceeding estimates that it would take three to five years. We are very proud of this achievement, accomplished in record time, which motivates our determination toward further development.

In just 17 months, SIDF’s digital transformation journey has facilitated and enhanced cooperation and governance between technology and business sectors in order to meet our clients’ needs and demands.

In addition, it has increased communication and integration between SIDF and relevant government and private entities. This facilitation has resulted in the automation of 300 procedures, the completion of more than 100 integrated processes, and the reduction of the loan-approval process from 11 months to only five.

This transformation has also seen SIDF win wide recognition and awards from many prestigious entities, such as the SAP MENA Golden Quality Award, which recognizes the region’s top digital transformation initiatives.

Furthermore, SIDF has won two Golden Stevie awards under the “Business Information and Websites Applications” category, in recognition of the Tamkeen core system and its government-to-business mobile app. Also, SIDF is very proud and fortunate to have won “best e-government portal” from the Arab League’s e-government award committee.

During the difficult and challenging year of 2020, our digital achievements contributed to SIDF achieving the best results in its entire 46-year history. This can be illustrated in SIDF approving loans exceeding SR17 billion ($4.53 billion) despite the COVID-19 economic impact and worldwide business implications on all sectors.

SIDF achievements in digital transformation stem primarily from its deep awareness of its important role in preparing the ecosystem for a future driven by Vision 2030. SIDF prioritizes its clients to have full and real-time visibility on our loan processes, leading to more streamlined loans and a more competitive industrial sector aligned with the goals of Vision 2030.

• Abdulaziz Saleh Al-Ghufaili is vice president of technology at the Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF).