AMMAN – The Jordanian government has allocated JD31.7 million for the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship in its 2025 draft budget, underscoring its commitment to advancing digital transformation and innovation in the public sector. While the budget sees slight cuts compared to 2024, the ministry is tasked with ambitious goals, including the digitalisation of 100 percent of government services by the end of next year and addressing key challenges in the digital economy.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, the allocated budget will be distributed across six key programmes, with a primary focus on advancing digital transformation within the public sector. The E-Government Programme receives the largest share, accounting for 43 percent of the budget, which is JD13.4 million. This allocation supports the government’s ongoing digital transformation strategy, aiming to fully digitalise public services by the end of 2025.
“To date, approximately 60 percent of the 2,400 government services have already been digitalised,” the ministry stated.
Despite these strides, the ministry continues to face significant challenges, including the emigration of skilled professionals, limited expertise in emerging digital technologies, slow adoption of e-services and payment systems, and inadequate technological readiness across government institutions. Other obstacles include unclear or inconsistent legislation governing the digital economy, regional disparities in development efforts, slow economic growth, and limited financial resources.
“The emigration of skilled professionals remains a major concern. To retain talent, the government needs to offer competitive incentives and create more opportunities, while fostering a culture of innovation,” said telecommunication specialist Razan Hourani in an interview with The Jordan Times.
Hourani also emphasized that a fully digitalised public sector would improve transparency and ease of doing business, making Jordan more attractive to foreign investors. Simplified procedures like online business registration and tax filing could greatly enhance the country’s investment climate.
Regarding the digitalisation of all government services by 2025, Bayan Khaled, a computer engineer and AI developer, noted that achieving full digitalisation requires not only technical implementation but also cultural changes in how people and businesses engage with the government. Khaled also highlighted the need for public awareness to make this transformation successful.
