Saudi Arabia ranked second globally in the cybersecurity index within the World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) for 2022 published by the Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD), which is considered one of the most comprehensive reports in the world that seeks to analyze and rank the capabilities of countries to create an empowering and stimulus environment for competitiveness, maintaining and developing it. The National Cybersecurity Authority noted that this achievement is the result of support and empowerment efforts of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Crown Prince, for the cybersecurity sector, which gave it a strong boost on the way towards global entrepreneurship in light of the Saudi Vision 2030, and a representation of the excellence of the "Saudi model in cybersecurity" at the global level and its continuation of realizing qualitative leaps on international digital indexes, where it is considered a leading role model internationally. The authority noted that the cybersecurity system in Saudi Arabia seeks to enhance the competitiveness of the public sector, seize promising opportunities and keep pace with renewable changes at a manner that reflects the national ambitions in this field, pointing out that the prestigious global status in the cybersecurity index is the result of perseverance to reach unique outcomes, such as establishing the National Cybersecurity Academy, implementing advanced cyber exercises at the national level, providing initiatives that seek to enhance the competitiveness of the sector locally, and establishing promising start-ups in the cybersecurity sector according to the best international practices. The authority also referred to the exerted efforts in building and sustaining he cybersecurity sector and developing its products that contributed to realizing this global achievement through initiatives that aim at enhancing the competitiveness of national personnel specialized in cybersecurity, represented by issuing the Saudi Cybersecurity Higher Education Framework (SCyber_Edu) to develop high-quality academic programs in the cybersecurity field, and implementing the Saudi Cybersecurity Workforce Framework (SCyWF) that is concerned with works of the cybersecurity personnel in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and carrying out around 45 cyber exercises, empowering more than 4,000 experts in cybersecurity, and raising awareness of more than 7,200 beneficiaries at national institutions. The authority, in its capacity as the concerned institution for cybersecurity in Saudi Arabia, referred to creating a supportive legislative and regulatory environment to stimulate the growth and competitiveness in the sector, publishing a series of policies and constraints, following commitment of national institutions to them, and launching a business accelerator to support the establishment of start-ups in cybersecurity under an approach that contributes to the growth and prosperity of the sector. — SPA
