Development of Electronic Government in Saudi Arabia
In Saudi Arabia, electronic government, or what is recognized as e-government, signifies a substantial modification of the public sector, values of the local people, and the use of technology as a communication instrument for the governmental organizations (Alshehri, & Drew, 2010). Electronic government refers to the use of technologies or what is called ICT to ensure better governmental services and carry out business activities efficiently (Alshehri, Drew & Alfarraj, 2012). The development of the electronic government in Saudi Arabia has been valuable to the authority and people. The e-government programs offer electronic services to the Saudi citizens within the state authority and other people in public sector who want to transact with the government electronically (Al-Mushayt, Perwej & Haq, 2012; Jayashree & Marthandan, 2010). Thus, since the growth of e-government programs in Saudi Arabia has been prominent over the years, this study will focus on exploring the expansion of the ICT in the Saudi Arabian government. The proposal will entail four sections, which are the background of the survey, the methodology chapter to explain the data collection procedures, the time scale section, and the resources that the researcher will use to complete the study.
Research Background
Nowadays, the government of the Saudi Arabia is implementing ICT in order to enhance and facilitate its operations. In the modern world, some administrations are still in the primary stages of implementing and adopting the electronic government systems. In turn, Carter and Belanger (2005) has argued that in most of the states across the globe, the recipient of the government electronic services are the citizens or public, business people, employees, and the s tate servants. In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is one of the largest nations in the region, and the country is in the process of a transition to a use of electronic government (Alshehri, & Drew, 2010). Similarly, Alshehri, Drew, and Alfarraj (2012) reveal that in the Saudi government, 22 ministries have their own websites, which is a clear sign of the expansion of e-government system in the state. Moreover, by the year 2011, 45.5% of the Saudi ministries had partially implemented e-government systems, while 13.6% of the government departments were in the second stage of the execution of the electronic government tools (Al-Nuaim, 2011). From the statistical information, it is evident that the Saudi government has clear notions on the benefits of ICT, and it intends to facilitate its functioning and operations by the employment of ICT settings in the entire government organization.
Although the development of e-government structures in Saudi has been immense, the KSA authority has faced several challenges in the journey of implementing the services (Basamh, Qudaih & Suhaimi, 2014; Alshehri & Drew, 2010; El-sofany et al., 2012). This makes the development of e-government in Saudi a complex agenda; however, through the support from various organizations and ICT stakeholders, the development of ICT services in Saudi has beco me more intensive. Chatfield and Alhujran (2009) posit that the objective of developing e-government in Saudi is met due to the support that Saudi government is receiving from a network of stakeholders including the international donors, the private ICT organizations, and ICT investors who are working as crucial partners of the Saudi authority. The accorded maintenance is making the development of ICT system in the Saudi a broader concept, as through the support, e-government in KSA does not end with computerization of the government offices. Al-Mudhayt, Haq, and Perwej (2009) assert that the help of other parties in implementing and developing ICT has gradually changed how Saudi government operates and communicates to its citizens. The development is also assisting many businesses operating under Saudi’s government jurisdiction and other agencies that function under the effectiveness of ICT plans. This means that several parties, main political players, and interest agencies that want to establish ICT in the Middles East region are facilitating the development of electronic government in the Saudi government.
Conversely, the advancement of electronic government initiative in Saudi is viewed as part of the overall information technology plan becasue ICT structures in the region are taken as tools to reform the public and governmental organizations (Alshehri & Drew, 2010). In turn, a report by the Internet Service Unit (ISU) in Saudi has once announced that in 2001 and 2003, the number of the web users increased from 690,000 to 1,462,000 due to the implementation and expansion of electronic government in the country (Abanumy & Mayhew, 2005). In addition, the growth of e-government initiative in the KSA has revolved the ICT industry (Al-Khateeb et al., 2015; Al-Shboul et al., 2014; Mahmood, 2013). As such, the local people can now compete with other individuals using ICT system and apply different ICT programs to access the governmental services. In addition, t he development of e-government programs has influences on the communication system of the Saudi authority. This has been an obvious benefit in that the through e-government, the Saudi administration is not spending more money and time to develop its channel of communication (Al-Sobhi, Kamal & Weerakkody, 2009; Reddick, 2010). This allows the government to connect various related agencies and systems with a single web portal; hence, making the government official more transparent and accountable with the attributed activities (Al-Khouri & Bal, 2007; Alshomrani, Altalhi & Qamar, 2014). In essence, it is evident that in the country, the advancement of electronic government has made the public sector organization more efficient, as the programs link the citizens with the services offered by the Saudi authority in a more effective manner.
Objective of the Study
The overall purpose of this study will involve reviewing the development of automated government in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the procedures the government has used to implement e-government system effectively. The objectives of the research will serve as guidance to the investigator, as the goals will be used to answer the research questions.
- To explore the contribution of the ICT stakeholders to the development of electronic government in Saudi Arabia.
- To identify the challenges that the Saudi authority has encountered in the process of developing e-government systems.
- To discover the significance of using System Application Products (SAP) to robust e-government programs in Saudi Arabia.
- The study will also discuss the position of the Arabian people in the development of e-government schemes.
- To examine the benefits and advantages associated with the development of e-government programs.
Research Methodology
The purpose of this chapter will involve discussing the methodology that the researcher will adapt to gather the necessary data for this survey.
Research Design
For this study, the research design will involve the arrangements of the elementary methods that the investigator will use to collect the data (Vogt, Gardner & Haeffele, 2012). Taking into consideration that this survey intends to evaluate the development of electronic government in KSA as one of the most important component in the present world, the investigator will use a secondary data collection method. In this case, the researcher will review printed materials such as academic journals, books, and case studies on the subject related to this survey.
Participants
In the scholarly work, there are different questions that the researcher needs to address before selecting the participants for an investigation (Drew, Hardman & Hosp, 2008). For this study, the researcher will consider questions such as whether the selected participant are appropriate for the research questions and if the participant selected for this study are suitable for the creation of a sample size. The projected participants for this research include a number of Saudi residents from public places where the government uses the I nternet for business purposes, IT employees working for the Saudi government including computer operators , software creators, and network designers. Finally, the government ministers, who have enacted Internet websites, will also be used for this study, in particular because he is the only one who has fully implemented e-government programs for operation services. In turn, an important point here is that the investigator will use the published data to select the mentioned participants and to evaluate their responses to discuss the research findings.
Ethical Consideration
It is important for researchers to be ethical when carrying out the work, as this would help them promote the aim of the study and avoid any error that may occur during the research process (Miller, 2012). For this study, the investigator will maintain and observe confidentiality in order to ensure that no personal information about the participants is disclosed. Besides, the investigator will cite all secondary sources and information used for this study as a way of showing the level of integrity regarding the research work.
Research Time Scale
Figure 1. Gantt Chart for the research activities
Resources
The resources for this investigation refer to the materials that the researcher will use to complete the study. Some of the resources that the scholar will use to answer the investigation question will include materials such as high-quality academic journals, books, and the Internet to access the published scholarly journals. Apparently, if the researcher uses the available materials efficiently, the study will be based on evidence and take the support of the available data.
References
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