Business & Money | Saturday 7 May, 2016 5:13 am |

Saudi Arabia is likely to be ranked among the five top countries in e-governance by 2030 because of the changes currently being put in place by the government.
This is according to Ibrahim Al-Baez, former media professor at King Saud University, who said that the UN’s 2014 report on e-government services around the world has seen the Kingdom ranked at 36 out of 193 countries surveyed, according to a report in a local publication recently.
Al-Baez said that Saudi Arabia, according to the International Federation of Telecommunication (IFT) index on the use of information technology, has been given a performance ranking of 70 percent.
He said that these statistics show that the government is well on its way to be ranked among the top five countries in the world by 2030. The top five places are currently held by South Korea, Australia, Singapore, France and the Netherlands.
He said these measures by the government would allow citizens to save time and effort in getting their paperwork completed by various government departments, ensure a high degree of transparency, and help fight corruption.
He said government departments must make sure they can adapt to the new form of administration that would come with the provision of e-services and the use of the Internet.
He cited the Interior Ministry is a good example of being at the forefront of technological innovation, especially with its Abshir system.
According to the UN survey on its website, conducted by its economic and social affairs department, Saudi Arabia has risen rapidly in the rankings over the years, from 105 in 2003, 90 in 2004, 80 in 2005, 70 in 2008, 58 in 2010, to 41 in 2012.
The UN’s e-government index is an assessment of the website development patterns in a country, and infrastructure and educational levels, “to reflect how a country is using information technologies to promote access and inclusion of its people.”
It is a composite measure of three important dimensions of e-government, namely: provision of online services, telecommunication connectivity and human capacity, the website stated.