Market trends
Digital government 2026: what an 87% index means for a business owner
The Digital Government Authority published this year's digital experience maturity results. The numbers describe an environment where incorporating a company is finished on screen.
Dynamics team Editorial desk 2 min read Market trends
In August 2026 the Digital Government Authority announced the results of this year's Digital Experience Maturity Index: 87.06%, an "Advanced" level under the index's own scale.
Numbers like that usually pass through a news bulletin leaving nothing behind. This one describes the environment in which every government transaction a business makes now happens — which is why incorporating a limited liability company is a screen rather than a queue.
What was measured
The index covered 59 digital platforms, up from 50 in 2025, assessed across four perspectives and twenty themes.
More significantly, survey participation rose from 374,000 to more than 805,500 people. That is not a statistical footnote: an index measuring "experience" and resting on 805,000 responses is a far stronger instrument than one resting on half that.
The top platforms
| Platform | Score |
|---|---|
| Absher | 94.38% |
| Etimad | 94.36% |
| Senaei | 92.83% |
Digital inclusion: the less flattering number
The digital inclusion sub-index came in at 76.98% — "Competent", not "Advanced".
That gap, a full ten points between experience maturity and inclusion, is the figure worth attention. A platform being mature is one thing; being usable by everyone who needs it is another.
International standing
- 2nd globally in the World Bank's GovTech Maturity Index (GTMI) 2025.
- 1st regionally in the GEMS 2025 e-government services index, for the fourth consecutive year.
What it means in practice
The direct effect on businesses is that a transaction which used to mean approaching several authorities now completes in a single pass. The LLC incorporation service is the clearest example: it issues the commercial registration, opens the business file with the Ministry of Human Resources, registers with the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority and with social insurance, and subscribes to the National Address and the Chamber of Commerce — from the same application. The detail is in how to set up a limited liability company.
What the index does not say
It measures the experience maturity of the platforms it covers, not every government service. Fifty-nine platforms is a lot, but it is not all of them, and anyone dealing with a service outside that list may have an experience nothing like 87%.
It also measures the digital experience, not the outcome of the transaction. A fast screen does not mean a fast decision behind it.
Also published this year
Two 2026 DGA releases that bear on how government entities and their suppliers work:
- Cloud computing controls for government agencies (July 2026).
- A guideline for the digital project management methodology (August 2026).
If you supply technology to the public sector, those two documents affect your tendering more than the index does.
Sources
Written by
Dynamics team
Editorial desk — the team that reviews listings and keeps the directory's data current.
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