Digital transformation in Algeria…an embodiment of transparency in the management of public affairs – Algerian Dialogue

Algeria has made great strides in the path of digital transformation, which would eliminate bureaucracy, adopt transparency in the management of public affairs, and strengthen the foundations of electronic governance to embody the principle of digital national sovereignty.
These accelerated steps come as an embodiment of the commitment of the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, No. 25, which stipulates “achieving a digital transformation to improve communication, generalize the use of information and communication technologies, especially in public utility departments, and improve the governance of the economic sector.” Last September, the President of the Republic established The high conservatism of digitization, which reflects – according to experts – the importance that the President of the Republic attaches to the process.
In his evaluation of a presentation on digital transformation in Algeria, during a Council of Ministers meeting last Tuesday, the President of the Republic appreciated “the clarity of the vision regarding Algeria’s digital direction,” recalling that “the primary goal of this huge project is to eliminate the bureaucracy that hinders projects and adopt transparency in the management of the matter.” General, and precise identification of the country’s needs in all sectors.”
The High Prefecture for Digitization, which is a public institution of a special nature placed under the supervision of the Presidency of the Republic and enjoys legal personality and financial independence, is responsible for ensuring the follow-up and implementation of the national strategy for digitization.
It is also concerned with ensuring that the plans of the sectors concerned in the field of digitization are compatible with the national strategy for digitization, evaluating the achievements of each sector and proposing the necessary corrections, in addition to undertaking the identification of priority projects, strategic investments, ways to mobilize the human resource and their financing tools, and proposing regulatory and legal tools and/or any technical solution. To ensure the effectiveness and continuous improvement of the digital transformation axes and propose every measure that would enhance digital sovereignty and develop the national product.
In this context, the High Prefecture for Digitization launched last week national workshops on preparing the national strategy for digital transformation, where participants stressed that the efforts of public authorities to develop a national strategy in this field would achieve digital sovereignty, which is an urgent need in today’s world. In the same context, the Council of Ministers, held the day before yesterday, approved a project to establish “a base for storing and protecting electronic data by the Chinese company Huawei.”
The strategy is also expected to be reinforced with a law on digitization, to which the High Conservative Minister of Digitization, Meriem Ben Mouloud, confirmed that her body is in the process of preparing a draft of this text, highlighting that it will be ready during the first trimester of next year as the regulatory framework for the field of digitization.
Ben Mouloud explained that “the ultimate goal of digitization lies in establishing a new model for the management of public and economic departments, bodies, and institutions by moving from classic paper-based management to digital governance, which is based primarily on the widespread use of modern digital technologies in order to enhance the principles of transparency, consolidate the relationship between the administration and the citizen, and facilitate… Administrative transactions and procedures by ensuring the provision of quality, safe and fast public services at the lowest cost.”
Establishing this would achieve synergy in human and material resources, rationalize state expenditures, strengthen the foundations of electronic governance, and embody the principle of digital national sovereignty.