Al-Marsad newspaper: Prince Bandar bin Abdullah bin Mashari, Assistant Minister of Interior for Technical Affairs, revealed the scenes of the “ten boxes” that every Saudi and resident carry in his pocket, and the details of its emergence in the digital government journey.
And Prince Bandar bin Abdullah, in an interview with MBC1 channel, said: “In the first half of the seventies, and as I remember during the reign of King Faisal, may God have mercy on him, it was at that time, according to what was told to me, that King Fahd “Prince Fahd” at that time was the Minister of Interior and the second deputy. Council of Ministers”.
He pointed out: “The idea of establishing a computer center began, and according to what was told to me from the story, those who started the idea were a group of consultants who visited the Kingdom and met with senior officials, including senior officials in the Ministry of the Interior, and they mentioned to them the importance of adopting technology in government work, and among the things they mentioned is something new. in the world, which is the computer and the computer.
He pointed out: “They mentioned that there are countries that started to adopt computers in government work, and they gave examples of countries in the region. King Fahd’s directive, as he mentioned to me, was referring them to some specialists within the ministry, so I interviewed them and the idea started from that time in many details, but the practical implementation of the idea began. in the second half of the seventies.
For his part, Engineer Ahmed Al-Suwayan, Governor of the Digital Government Authority, stated: “In 1979 the National Information Center was established, which represents the main infrastructure for digital government services. This center began as a computer center within the Ministry of Interior. And also multiple sectors within the government.”
In the same context, Dr. Khaled Al-Ghunaim, former head of Elm Company, explained: “Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Sager was appointed director of the National Information Center and established two other entities with the center, one of which is the Research and Development Center, which was under the name of Elm Research and Development Company,” pointing out: “A request to establish a computer college.” To provide qualified Saudi human cadres to manage and operate the center later.”
In the same way, one of the specialists stated: “Things began in 1980 and 1981, when the appropriate Saudi manpower was built, and I mention them at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, because I was there the establishment of the Computer Department and also the establishment of a Computer Department at King Saud University and King University Abdel Azeez”. Prince Bandar bin Abdullah added: “When the National Information Center was established, there was a project to establish a central computer, and according to what I heard that the central computer was built in America, and he sent a group of young high school graduates to be trained during this stage so that they would be ready when the computer was ready. “.
He continued: “The youth returned and built the computer in the information center that is in its current location now and on Al-Ma’athar Street, and this is considered the end of the buildings in Riyadh at that time,” pointing out: “Around the end of 1981, the center began operational work, and it was the first step it took. The National Information Center is to create the computer number for every citizen, which is the current number that we call the identity number or the civil registry number, and since that time it is 10 digits, and this is also a future vision.”
Prince Bandar bin Abdullah concluded: “In 1982 the transformation process began, and citizens began reviewing civil status in order to issue a civil status card and replace the civil status card.”