DCO to host 2nd General Assembly in Riyadh

The DCO’S 2nd General Assembly will be the platform to notarise international cooperation between governments with the aim of enhancing global collaboration on the digital economy

The Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) will host the 2nd General Assembly in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on February 5, bringing together DCO member states to discuss strategic directions and initiatives to enable digital prosperity for all nations.

Ministers representing the 13 DCO member states, along with high-level delegations from DCO observers, as well as representatives from guest countries and international organisations will convene for the General Assembly, to discuss the state of the digital economy and the challenges facing all nations in achieving equitable global digital growth and development.

The 2nd General Assembly will be the first-ever in-person meeting of the DCO member states, marking two years of progress for the international organisation which has been founded to help achieve social prosperity and growth by unifying efforts to advance and promote interest in the digital economy.

The event which takes place at the Fairmont Hotel in Riyadh, will also reflect the qualitative leaps made by the member states in its shift toward a tech-powered economy.

Says Deemah Al Yahya, Secretary-general of the DCO, “Digital technologies have immense potential to transform economies and empower groups including women and entrepreneurs with new opportunities, especially that 70 per cent of the new value created in the global economy over the next decade will be based on digitally enabled platforms so it is of critical importance that all nations have the same ability to leverage the power of digitalisation to achieve their goals.”

“The DCO was formed to accelerate digital transformation through collaboration and knowledge sharing among all stakeholders to empower nations to develop strategies and programmes to drive their own digital development and equally participate in the global digital economy.”

“I am very pleased that the ministers from DCO member states will convene in Riyadh, the headquarters of the DCO, for the 2nd General Assembly to mark two years of progress towards the DCO’S goals, and to continue the discussions on how we can achieve digital prosperity for all in collaboration with our international observers from the ecosystem stakeholders representing the private sector, academia, think tanks and civil society organisations,” Al Yahya added.

Focused on empowering youth, women, and entrepreneurs, leveraging the accelerative power of the digital economy and leapfrogging with innovation, the DCO is a global multilateral organisation founded in November 2020 that aims to enable digital prosperity for all by accelerating the inclusive growth of the digital economy.

Thirteen member states have joined DCO to date – Bahrain, Cyprus, Djibouti, The Gambia, Ghana, Jordan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Oman, Nigeria, Rwanda, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia – along with the private sector, academia, and NGO observer members.

Real time updates from the general assembly and select livestream sessions can be accessed via the DCO’S twitter account (@ DCORG).