Nael bin Ibrahim Al-Hogail

Deputy Mayor of the Eastern Province for Digital Transformation and Smart Cities

Nael bin Ibrahim Al-Hogail has served as Deputy Mayor of the Eastern Province for Digital Transformation and Smart Cities since 2022, with more than 20 years of professional experience in digital transformation, strategic planning, business development and innovation, and smart cities. Over his career he has led the digital transformation system at the Eastern Province Municipality, developed digital services, and applied digital best practice and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, improving the efficiency of municipal work and raising service quality and the beneficiary experience. Among the most distinctive initiatives he has overseen is the establishment of the City Operations Platform in Khobar, an advanced model of smart urban management that consolidates and monitors operational data and indicators and connects systems and emerging technologies to support decision-making and improve response efficiency. In institutional and leadership excellence he received the Mayor's Award as best leader at the Eastern Province Municipality in recognition of his role in leading digital transformation and developing the smart services system, while the digital transformation and smart cities agency was named second-best department at the municipality and obtained a number of ISO certifications in quality, governance and business continuity and development, alongside the Gulf Sustainability Award. To these are added the Stevie International Award at gold level for 2025 in the Government Technology category for a project analysing smart camera data using artificial intelligence, the Arab Digital Government Shield for 2023, the municipality's advance in 2025 to the creativity stage in digital transformation measurement indices with a score of 92.77 per cent, and the Saudi quality certification Hayyak for excellence in beneficiary service.