Review of e-Government Policy and Outcomes in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia

• Main Authors: Alanezi, M.A, Mahmood, Ahmad Kamil, Basri, Shuib
• Format: Article
• Published: LJS Publisher and IJCSIS Press 2011
• Subjects: ZA4050 Electronic information resources
• Online Access: http://eprints.utp.edu.my/6804/1/e-governemnt_in_Saudi_Arabia.doc; http://eprints.utp.edu.my/6804/
• Institution: Universiti Teknologi Petronas

Public sector organizations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were directed to place their communications and services online in 2005, in part to promote internet-based technologies throughout the country. Due to political and technical issues, the internet was late to the region; however, the advent of useful and affordable mobile devices accelerated private and commercial take up of data-sharing technologies, and Saudi Arabia currently has one of the highest national growth rates in this regard. Late adoption means that the Kingdom bypassed many early issues of large-scale technological change as managers could select from a range of proven technologies, nevertheless the traditionalist Saudi society remained until recently largely unconvinced of the benefits of the internet. Using the two aspects of rapidly improving technological infrastructure and a reticent family-based national consumer profile, this paper relates the progress of internet-based adoption in an emerging market through the prism of e-government status in Saudi Arabia. The issues raised in the context of Saudi Arabia have application in the Arab world and other emerging markets, especially Islamic.