Drupal 11 and the Rise of Digital Sovereignty in GCC Governments

Digital sovereignty is emerging as a central concern for governments across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as national digital transformation programmes expand. In an iSpectra blog post, Nouf Al Fayez outlines how this shift is influencing technology choices for government platforms in countries including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman.

The post emphasises that digital sovereignty requires control over infrastructure, data, and security without dependence on proprietary vendors. Open-source platforms are positioned as a key part of this strategy, enabling governments to audit code, customise systems to regulatory requirements, and maintain long-term independence from vendor-controlled ecosystems.

Drupal 11 is presented as a strong fit for these requirements, offering secure architecture, flexible deployment across sovereign and hybrid cloud environments, and support for multilingual public services including Arabic and right-to-left interfaces. Its API-first design also enables integration with national identity systems and other government services, supporting interoperable and scalable digital platforms.