SDAIA sets rules for selling state data
New policy governs development of government data-driven products and services
#SaudiArabia #data - Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) has issued a Data Monetization Policy setting out the rules for how government entities and private companies working on their behalf can build commercial products and services from government data. The policy covers data held by government bodies, data collected by private firms carrying out government tasks, and any data originally sourced from a government entity regardless of purpose. It introduces licensing frameworks, regulatory sandboxes for testing new data products, and registration requirements for data marketplaces, while keeping privacy protection and national security controls in place.
SO WHAT? - Saudi Arabia is turning government data from a static public asset into a tradeable one, withing strict governance guidelines. Saudi Arabia already has more than 4,500 digital government services, which represents over 97 percent of all public sector services. However, it plans to create and enhance thousands of new government services leveraging AI, digital twins and IoT. The new Data Monetisation Policy gives developers of digital services a legal basis to build and sell data-based products, which has been a grey area for much of the market.
KEY POINTS:
Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) has issued a Data Monetization Policy establishing core principles and general rules for developing data-driven products and services from government data.
The policy aims to grow Saudi Arabia’s data market by encouraging entities to innovate and invest in data-based products, while protecting individual privacy in personal data processing.
It also promotes wider dissemination of open data, with the goal of improving transparency and letting different sectors draw value from public datasets.
Scope covers government entity data, data obtained by private companies performing tasks on behalf of government bodies, and any data first sourced from government by any means.
Licensing frameworks set out how datasets can be licensed or used to generate revenue, giving entities a clear legal path to commercialise data products.
Regulatory sandboxes allow organisations to test new data-based products and services in a controlled environment before wider rollout.
Entities are required to register and commercialise data products through data marketplaces and central platforms mandated under the policy.
SDAIA has invited all relevant entities to review the policy and comply with its provisions, publishing the full document on its website.
The policy builds on SDAIA’s wider data governance programme and supports Saudi Vision 2030’s push to position the Kingdom as a global leader in data and AI, with 2026 declared the Kingdom’s Year of Artificial Intelligence.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]
Source: SDAIA, SPA
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