RIYADH – Public-private partnerships are essential to facilitate opportunities, ease project workload and further develop Saudi Arabia's economy by creating jobs, speakers at the two-day 3rd Annual e-Government Summit to discuss the Kingdom's digital future that opened Tuesday at Novotel Hotel, Riyadh said. The event is organized by business information company naseba. Saudi Arabia has been experiencing rapid adoption of new technologies with huge potential in VAS, online gaming, and e-commerce. The Kingdom has become one of the fastest growing IT markets in the Middle Eastern region and is projected to account for up to 50 percent of the total ICT investments in the GCC during 2010-2012, RNCOS reported earlier. Further, the Saudi government has implemented various e-Government projects and many government projects are under development. Examples include: e-government portal, e-government network, public key infrastructure (PKI), e-government interoperability framework, national smart ID cards, e-Payment gateway (Sadad), e-Tax system, social insurance system, and electronic information exchange. Besides, numerous government services are currently available online, such as investment licenses, visa applications, traffic tickets enquiry & payment, paying passport fees, and paying utilities bills. Moreover, overall IT spending in Saudi Arabia is set to hit $ 5.7 billion by the end of 2014 from around $3.5 billion in 2010, at a compound annual growth rate of around 13 percent, the report said. The country's per capita IT spending is expected to reach close to $200 by 2014. Communications sector continues to be the largest investor in the IT industry. Besides, growing youth population is an important factor for the surging IT spending in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, the government spends much on infrastructure and education, which creates a huge demand for advanced technology and security. Mamdouh Khawaji, Vice President of IT at SEDCO, in his welcome address, stressed the need for public awareness in e-Government initiatives. He said the “United Nations defines e-Government as the employment of the Internet for delivering government information and services to the citizens. Hence citizens are a key component of this service.” With the implementation of the Second National Plan, the government also hopes to increase collaboration with private companies as a way to ease project workload and to further develop Saudi Arabia's economy by creating jobs. An in-depth case study on countries such as Singapore who have adopted public-private partnerships (PPP) was discussed, in which Abdulaziz Al Mulhelm, Deputy Assistant Minister and CIO of Planning at the Ministry of Culture and Information, Saudi Arabia, cited how constraints on resources, coupled with wealth in the private sector and bureaucracy in the public sector, means PPP is a much needed tool to facilitate opportunities such as jointly owning technology or services. “e-Government means the engagement of people, government and PPPs – which creates people-public partnerships – it is the people who are the most important,” he pointed out. Alexander Zarovsky, International Business Chief at InfoWatch, led a panel discussion on national digital information traffic monitoring, data loss prevention, social media monitoring and other topics. He underscored the timeliness of the summit, highlighting how “92 percent of security incidents online are now related to personal data.” For example, credit card numbers, bank accounts and personal emails which can lead to company-level hacking, he added. “Compliance and risk management are the leading drivers for the national program and this summit allows us all to come together and discuss these issues,” he noted. Other panels included dialogue on digital security threats and solutions, e-Participation – which involves connecting people and politics through the Internet – and a panel discussion on effective ways to implement e-Government interoperability. Government organizations are among the largest IT service providers in the Kingdom. With 22 objectives, with 46 supporting initiatives, the Second National e-Government Action Plan is a fully formed project able to take the Kingdom's e-Government performance to the next level. There are four strategic themes to the new plan – build a sustainable e-Government workforce, improve the experience of the public in their interactions with Government, develop a culture of collaboration, and improve Government efficiency – all resulting in the efficient and immediate delivery of services and goods to Saudi citizens. – SG
