Digital Transformation in Palestine
The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media has released a report titled “Digital Transformation in Palestine: A Rights-Based Readiness Assessment of Emerging Digital Public Infrastructure.” The report assesses the readiness of legal, institutional, technical, and governance frameworks to keep pace with Palestine’s digital transformation, alongside the safeguards needed to protect human rights when developing public digital systems and services.
Authored by Dr. Mohammad Alshurafa, the report examines a range of Palestinian digital initiatives, including the “Hukumati” e-government platform, the National Data Carrier and other data-exchange systems, digital payments, electronic procurement, digital identity, cybersecurity and emerging artificial intelligence initiatives.
The report draws on desk research, a structured review of Palestinian laws, draft legislation, policies and regulatory instruments, and ten interviews with stakeholders and experts across multiple sectors. It reflects the evidence available as of 1 October 2026.
The report finds that technological and strategic developments in Palestine are advancing faster than the legal, institutional, and human rights safeguards needed to govern integrated digital systems. While digital systems can improve access to services and their efficiency, weak governance, oversight, and avenues for redress may increase the risks of exclusion, surveillance, errors, and opaque decision-making.
The report identifies personal data protection as one of the most significant gaps in Palestine’s digital transformation. As of the assessment date, no comprehensive personal data protection law had been enacted, despite the publication of a draft law and its referral to the President in November 2025. This gap becomes increasingly significant as government systems become more interconnected and digital identity and artificial intelligence initiatives expand.
The report also shows that Palestinian digital policies include commitments to inclusion, accessibility, data protection, and cybersecurity. However, these commitments are not consistently translated into binding human rights safeguards, independent oversight mechanisms, and effective remedies. Human rights considerations therefore remain fragmented and insufficiently integrated into the governance of digital systems. The report calls for the enactment of a personal data protection law, clear and binding rules governing data exchange between institutions, and human rights impact assessments before digital systems are adopted.
Dr. Mohammad Alshurafa, the report’s author, said: “Digital transformation is not measured solely by the number of new platforms and services, but by the existence of a legal and institutional framework that protects people’s rights and ensures equitable access to these services. Equitable access, alongside data protection, independent oversight, and the ability to challenge decisions and seek redress, must be built into digital systems from the outset, taking people’s differing capabilities and circumstances into account, rather than addressed only after harm or exclusion has occurred.”
The report also highlights the risks of digital exclusion, particularly for persons with disabilities, older people, women, children, residents of remote areas, and people facing barriers to connectivity or access to devices, identity documents, or digital payment methods. It stresses the importance of providing effective non-digital alternatives so that using technology does not become a prerequisite for accessing essential services.
In the digital payments sector, the report notes that there were approximately 1.4 million e-wallet accounts by January 2026, including around 1.07 million in Gaza. It explains that this growth in Gaza also reflects the collapse of conventional banking and cash channels, making consumer protection, fraud prevention, affordability, and access to cash essential elements of any assessment of digital readiness.
The report emphasizes that Palestine’s readiness for digital transformation cannot be separated from the lack of Palestinian sovereign control over the telecommunications sector or from the destruction of infrastructure in Gaza. According to the 2026 Gaza Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment, damage to the information and communications technology sector amounted to approximately USD 200.7 million, while losses were estimated at USD 346 million, with around 81% of the sector’s assets destroyed.
The report calls for investment in digital infrastructure to be tied to clear legal safeguards for data protection, independent oversight, human rights impact assessments, and effective non-digital alternatives. It also calls for binding rules governing the use of artificial intelligence in public decision-making and for digital rights to be integrated into Gaza’s reconstruction efforts.
To Read full report: DigitalTransformation in Palestine