Governments are increasingly becoming aggressive in pursuing complicated data management systems to conduct their business. In fact, some governments in the developed world are the largest users of ICT services.
However, the application of ICTs is still underdeveloped in different nations (Hamner, Taha and Brahmini 367). Governments in the Gulf region are making considerable efforts capitalize on ICTs with the goal of enhancing public service (Culbertson 85).
This has been witnessed in the 20-year plan on ICT implementation that will include the creation of alliances with global ICT leaders. This also concluded the Home PC approach that was aimed at giving its citizens personal computers and internet connection. The convergence of media and telecommunication has been on the rise in the recent past (Al-Khalifa 239).
This has increased the access its people have on information on a global scale. The regulatory measures have improved, and more internet accessibility has been granted with minimal censorship. To make this a success, the IT market saw a large expenditure of an estimated 2.3 billion dollars in the year 2005, and it is estimated that the industry will reach budgets of 3.8 billion dollars by the year 2010 (Al-Khalifa 244).
Of late, the country has created more contact with the world trade organization. This has enabled more avenues to access funds that guarantee the success of the industry. The regulations and liberalizations in the market have engaged many agencies to venture into private –public partnerships that have boosted ICT development and utilization.
This has been made possible through many promotional events that have seen the adoption of ICT services and products hence improving the productivity in all sectors. Computer sales have seen a rise where an estimated 1.5 billion sale was achieved in the year 2006. ICT has found an application in the creation of managed services and channel development.
E- Commerce, for example G2B and B2B, has risen in recent times thus enabling the simplification of information acquisition and exchange (Al-Fakhri 178). The country has many national projects that include smart cards, e-trade, e-Umrah and e-sadad among many others (Kostopoulos 7). It has dominated the oil industry in Middle East and North Africa.
This has not only seen growth internally but also investments from other rich economies such as the USA. The Saudi ICT market has potential growth since the kingdom got the World Trade Organization (WTO) membership (Al-Khalifa 246).
In the Gulf Region, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia leads in the implementation and utilization of ICTs. According to Business Monitor International (38), Saudi Arabia has the highest demand for information technologies in the Gulf region. It is estimated that the country used more than $3.5 billion in 2011 alone, which has now increased significantly.
In addition, a study by Al-Khalifa (241) has shown that the country’s telecommunication and information technology represents more than 50% of the right ICT market in the gulf region as well as the Middle East. Further studies suggest that this is due to the government’s focus on implementation of ICTs in the public and private sector.
Despite the improved development, readiness for ICT infrastructures in Saudi Arabia has been met with mixed feelings. The country has no code of practice. For a long time, it has depended on the US’s code of practice in ICT management in the private sector whereas the public sector has none.
One of this code concerns privacy issues, where the Saudi government implemented the IT criminal law in the year 2007.This has made it uncertain on legal issues to be taken on organizations or individuals who break it. In terms of compatibility, language has been a constraint in the adoption process. Most applications and user interfaces are developed using the English language making them less popular in Arab-speaking countries
Works Cited
Al-Fakhri, Maher, Robert Cropf, Gary Higgs and Patrick Kelly. “E-Government in Saudi Arabia: Between Promise and Reality”. IGI Global (2010): 169-183. Print
Al-Khalifa, Hend. “Heuristic Evaluation of the Usability of E-Government Websites: A Case from Saudi Arabia”. ICEGO (2010): 238-251. Print
Culbertson, Stuart. E-Government and Organizational Change. Hershey, PA: IDE company publishing, 2005. Print
Hamner, Marvine, Doaa Taha, Salah Brahimi and Grey Matter. “Potential Barriers to E-Government Implementation in Developing Countries”. IGI Global (2010): 363-354. Print
Kostopoulos, George. E-Government in the Arabian Gulf: A Vision toward Reality. Sharjah, UAE: American University of Sharjah, 2010. Print.