Engineer Thamer bin Mohammed Al-Harbi, Assistant Minister of Interior for Technical Affairs, revealed during his participation in the Security and History Dialogue 2026 in Riyadh that the ministry continues to harness modern technologies to enhance readiness and anticipate the future of security work, building on a digital legacy that began over four decades ago with the establishment of the National Information Center and the launch of the Absher platform in early 2010.
Al-Harbi noted that digital transformation has shifted operations from paper-based workflows to a fully integrated digital ecosystem, recording more than 240 million electronic transactions through Absher in the first half of 2026 alone, while providing digital identities to approximately 28 million beneficiaries, making reliable identity verification a cornerstone of service delivery and data protection.
He added that the rapid evolution prompted the Minister of Interior, Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif, to mandate a unified framework for the ministry's technical systems, enhancing governance and clear roadmaps, with the Field System emerging as a key initiative that equips security personnel with real-time information and connects them to security networks, thereby improving response speed and decision-making accuracy.
Among the practical applications showcased were biometric monitoring of security officers during the Hajj season to detect health risks early, alongside drones and advanced vehicle equipment, while the ministry is now developing Field Facilities, an agentic AI assistant capable of accessing mission-related data and presenting it to officers in ways that boost safety and efficiency.
Al-Harbi emphasized that AI projects differ fundamentally from traditional ones, requiring continuous monitoring to address issues like AI hallucination, and he outlined a dual-track approach: raising technical literacy among staff through programs with KAUST and King Fahd University, and deepening security knowledge among technologists via partnerships with Naif Arab University and King Fahd Security College, stressing that leaders must stay abreast of technological capabilities to overcome operational hurdles.