NEWS
KSA
KSA to increase
digital technology
in health sector
Saudi Ministry of Health is leaning towards increasing
the use of technology in health care services. The
ministry based its decision on scientific studies stating
that technology can indeed enhance the level of services
granted in the health sector.
Saudi Arabia is working on activating the privatization
programs in several vital sectors. Investors of the health
sector are anticipating the increase of incentives which
will increase investments in the health care sector
in turn. This will lead to an increase in the capacity
of receiving patients and create thousands of job
opportunities.
According to latest reports, Saudi Council of Cooperative
Health Insurance (CCHI) is launching a series of
workshops to help enhance the health services sector.
At the same time, KPMG International and the Nuffield
Trust, a charitable trust with a mission to improve
healthcare services in the United Kingdom, have recently
published a report ‘Digital Health – Heaven or Hell’
that highlights the importance of applying digital
technologies in the health services.
The report discusses the fact that health services
have been slower than most industries in adopting
information technology to increase productivity and
quality of services.
Study shows educators in
MENA struggle to implement
tech in the classroom
from primary, through to
secondary and tertiary
institutions, as well as
academic governing
bodies across the region.
However, only 32%
of respondents are
implementing STEM
education and digital
literacy as part of their
curriculum.
NInty-seven percent of educators in the
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
feel that technology plays a big role in
transforming education systems. This is
according to a recent survey conducted
by Microsoft, which polled educators
www.intelligentcio.com
“With over half the
survey respondents indicating a lack
of budget and training to optimise
the use of technology in the
classroom, there is a definite need to
improve integration of technology
in classrooms in the region to meet
the needs of the 21st century labour
market,” says Ahmed Ameen Ashour,
Educational Lead, Microsoft Gulf.
Other challenges identified by the
respondents include:
- A lack of training to use technology
optimally, with 52% saying they
didn’t have adequate access to
training.
- A further 40% indicated that there
is a lack of integration of technology
with the curriculum.
The survey also showed that both
parents and teachers are committed to
creating digital classrooms, improving
access to STEM and digital literacy
programs in the region, with only 19%
of parents indicating that they do not
support technology in classrooms.
“This points to the fact that the buy-in
is there with families and educators
alike willing to implement and adopt
e-learning to transform classrooms,”
says Ahmed.
INTELLIGENTCIO
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