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Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 is one of the most ambitious reform programs in recent history. Its objectives include growing the Saudi economy, diversifying away from oil, reducing unemployment, increasing female workforce participation, raising life expectancy, and even increasing physical fitness activity. Vision 2030 touches nearly every aspect of Saudi society. It will impact how citizens work, live, and interact with each other, even within their own families. Implementing such far-reaching changes is difficult from a purely policy perspective. The Saudi government’s commitment to do so in a manner consistent with the Saudi traditions and values, while maintaining the Kingdom’s standing as the leader of the Islamic world, makes this a daunting task.
To achieve the objectives of Vision 2030, public and private officials leading this transformation need to address the inevitable questions, concerns, and tensions that their programs will elicit across Saudi society. No matter how well intentioned or planned initial programs may be, the interconnected nature of Vision 2030’s objectives will lead to unexpected reactions from a society being asked to simultaneously transform itself along multiple dimensions. Foreign direct investment and the upcoming Aramco IPO have already prompted questions. While policies designed to increase the employment rate, introduce new forms of entertainment, or remove subsidies could be perceived as challenges to deeply held lifestyle traditions that shape Saudi identity.
These potential flashpoints transcend typical political, economic, or technical risks. Government officials must find ways to anticipate and mitigate this more personal, and potentially high social risk. The authorities must understand public concerns and effectively communicate how Vision 2030 changes address the needs of both the country at-large and different segments of the population. The Saudi government cannot impose policies on its people. Instead, it must proactively engage and partner with Saudi citizens to position the Kingdom for success in the future while respecting the honor and achievements of its past.
Fortunately, the Saudi government is well-positioned to proactively engage with its society through social media. The Saudi population is comfortable using modern communications technology to voice its opinion on political, economic, religious, and leisure topics. The country has the highest penetration of Twitter users in the world, and their per capita consumption of YouTube is the highest in the world. When social media discussions turn to debates about Vision 2030 — which they already have — Saudi officials should take this opportunity to measure sentiment and learn which programs work well and which need adjustments. Even contentious online debates should be viewed as valuable feedback mechanism of public perception and not as an impediment to change. In fact, ignoring contrasting online voices will only increase frustration and put Vision 2030 at greater risk.
Harnessing the power of digital information requires investments in proactive, sophisticated approaches to manage social and online media. The official Twitter account for Vision 2030 (@SaudiVision2030), for example, has nearly 550,000 followers and the hashtags associated with it (#Saudivision2030 and __2030#) are used in thousands of tweets that reach millions of users each month. Accurately analyzing this tiny slice of the social media by manual means is challenging. Doing so for the thousands of related hashtags and millions of additional users who view them, not to mention other online platforms, is nearly impossible using current techniques.
Successful public engagement, however, requires more than just managing data. The architects of Vision 2030 also need to understand social grievances and continually integrate these concerns into the design and implementation of policies and programs. Winning the support of the Kingdom’s rural population, for example, will require different narratives that explain the benefits of Vision 2030 than narratives designed for young urban professionals in places like Riyadh and Jeddah. Some Saudi organizations are already starting to do this. The General Entertainment Authority engages different demographics to understand preferences for new entertainment options. The Kingdom’s telecom operators, such as STC, are seeking new ways to communicate with underserved demographic groups, such as women. Intelligent, data-driven digital media communication strategies along these lines can help address the concerns of Saudi Arabia’s diverse population through customized communication strategies tailored to specific geographic locations or demographic groups.
The ability to proactively and digitally connect across Saudi society in real time as policies are designed and delivered provides an immense advantage. The ability for Saudi officials to speak directly to people in a language that they understand about the concerns that they are facing requires investments to change how public and private entities have historically engaged the public. Unlike traditional public relations and marketing campaigns, which focus on relaying a one-side message, this data-driven approach seeks to engage the public in a two-way conversation that aligns government and public expectations and objectives.
ENODO Global is a risk advisory firm that harnesses the power of online discussions. They create customized technology platforms that combine big data analytics to manage data, natural language processing techniques to uncover the nuances of digital Arabic texts, and advanced machine learning tools to classify and learn from the various topics, narratives, and rhetoric used in online discussions. Their platforms understand the pulse of the street, provide immediate feedback to decision makers based on the pulse, and enable planners to design targeted narratives and communication strategies that support citizen orientated initiatives. They recently introduced their technology to both large institutions examining strategic nation-wide trends and smaller organizations focused on more localized issues.
Vision 2030 will require similar customized technologies to be adopted across Saudi government ministries as well as private companies, particularly those that have yet to fully embrace the engagement power of modern information technology. Saudi government, business, and civil leaders have the technical and human capital to use these new resources to partner with the public to ensure Vision 2030’s success and the Kingdom’s future.
© The Saudi Gazette 2017
