E-Government in Saudi Arabia: Between Promise and Reality

Review Of The Literature

There have been a number of studies that focus on the e-government experiences from several developing countries around the world. Many of these studies examine the effects, impacts, challenges, and issues of implementing e-government from the perspective of a developing nation. However, there have been relatively few studies on e-government in Saudi Arabia or the rest of the Arab world. Studies conducted by OECD (2003) provided depth examinations of several countries’ experiences with implementing e-government including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Mexico, the United States, and Germany. The studied compared and evaluated the differences of implementing e-government among these selected OECD countries. Also, they focused on the challenges and obstacles that should be overcome in order for e-governments to flourish. The results showed the most important challenges facing governments today and in the future include lack of funds, shortage of skills, overall costs, lack of accountability, and difficulties of monitoring and evaluating e-government programs.