KUWAIT: The Central Agency for Information Technology (CAIT) in Kuwait, in collaboration with Microsoft and its partners PWC, Gartner and BlueVoyant, organized the “Digital Leader Academy” to advance digital sustainability in alignment with the goals of New Kuwait 2035. This initiative comprised of four intensive workshops, each focusing on essential aspects of the digital transformation process and involving 75 government sector leaders and officials.

The workshops, conducted from Sept 26 to Oct 17, aimed to equip government sector leaders with the latest technological advancements and smart digital transformation applications, while also sharing global experiences to expedite Kuwait’s government digitalization. The four workshops covered the primary areas of the Digital Leader Academy: Digital transformation, change management, artificial intelligence and information security.

The first workshop, titled “Concept of Digital Transformation in the Government Sector”, elucidated the importance and implications of smart digital transformation in government services. It distinguished between digital transformation and digital efficiency, outlined methods for applying digital transformation in government and introduced globally-used technologies in this sector.

The second workshop focused on “Organizational Change Management”, empowering government sector leaders to comprehend change program fundamentals, successful elements, key actors, and strategies for developing sector-specific change programs.

The third workshop delved into “Fundamentals of Cybersecurity”, covering information security branches, international standards, risk assessment, intrusion prevention, cybersecurity operations room management, governance, and emerging challenges like cloud computing.

The fourth workshop was dedicated to “Artificial Intelligence”, aiming to raise awareness and understanding of this rapidly evolving field. It explained the diverse applications of AI, its role in enhancing government services and data management, and strategies for leveraging it effectively.

Minister of State for Municipal Affairs and Minister of State for Communications Affairs Fahad Al-Shula commended CAIT’s efforts and the Digital Leader Academy’s concept. He emphasized the significance of cooperation with Microsoft as part of the ministry’s strategy to bolster the government sector’s technological infrastructure and achieve the vision of New Kuwait 2035.

Dr Ammar Al-Husseini, Acting Director General of CAIT, reiterated the agency’s commitment to supporting the nation’s digital transformation, highlighting Kuwait’s notable achievements in comprehensive digitization.

Alaa El-Din Karim, General Manager of Microsoft in Kuwait, expressed Microsoft’s pleasure in collaborating with the Kuwaiti government and its involvement in the workshops. Microsoft aims to leverage its expertise in software to provide secure technology solutions, which are especially critical given the ongoing technological changes and the need for advanced infrastructure to support sustainable development plans worldwide.