EGovernment Stage Model: Evaluating the Rate of Web Development Progress of Government Websites in Saudi Arabia

TL;DR

This paper assesses the development progress of Saudi Arabian government websites using the eGovernment stage model, highlighting current shortcomings and regional comparisons to inform future improvements.

Contribution

It evaluates the web development status of Saudi government websites through the eGovernment stage model, providing a benchmark analysis against regional standards.

Findings

Saudi Arabia ranked 58th globally in eGovernment readiness in 2010.

Many Saudi ministries have underdeveloped or non-existent websites.

Regional comparison shows Bahrain and UAE outperform Saudi Arabia in eGovernment indices.

Abstract

This paper contributes to the issue of eGovernment implementation in Saudi Arabia by discussing the current situation of ministry websites. It evaluates the rate of web development progress of vital government websites in Saudi Arabia using the eGovernment stage model. In 2010, Saudi Arabia ranked 58th in the world and 4th in the Gulf region in eGovernment readiness according to United Nations reports. In particular, Saudi Arabia has ranked 75th worldwide for its online service index and its components compared to the neighbouring Gulf country of Bahrain, which was ranked 8th for the same index. While this is still modest in relation to the Saudi government expectation concerning its vision for eGovernment implementation for 2010, and the results achieved by the neighbouring Gulf countries such as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates on the eGovernment index, the Saudi government has endeavoured to meet the public needs concerning eGovernment and carry out the implementation of eGovernment properly. Governments may heed the importance of actively launching official government websites as the main portals for delivering their online services to all the different categories of eGovernment (including G2C, G2B, and G2G). However, certain Saudi ministries have not given due attention to this vital issue. This is evidenced by the fact that some of their websites are not fully developed or do not yet exist, which clearly impedes that particular ministry from appropriately delivering eServices.