Social media, e-governance take center stage at summit

Social media, e-governance and cyber ambitions dominated the agenda at the second day of the 3rd Annual Kingdom e-Government Summit in Riyadh.
The day comprised of workshops, addresses, panel discussions and a keynote address from Suhail Al-Almaee, director of strategic planning and support initiatives at Yesser, the Kingdom’s e-Government program.
After reviewing the achievements of the First National Action Plan, Al-Amaee presented details of the Second National Action Plan’s initiatives, displaying a particular focus on staff development.
“We are working with Boston University to train CIOs within the government — already 62 individuals have gone to the university and are undergoing training,” he said.
Understanding the ever-changing role of social networking outlets, Fadi Salem, director of Governance and Innovation Program at Dubai School of Government, explored the various ways governments can use social media to help increase knowledge sharing and innovation between and among government entities, citizens and the private sector.
He said: “There is a shift of the way social media used — in 2010 people were used to make social connections, 2011 it had to do with political activism and journalism, and in 2012 it was increasingly concerned about the development of society and institutionalyzing the civil works.”
Salem’s address was followed by an interactive panel discussion during which participants examined just how the government can implement social media use to communicate with citizens and still maintain the culture of Saudi Arabia.
Hosted by French business information group naseba, the 3rd Annual e-Government Summit closed with a workshop led by Mohammed Aal Salem, dean of e-Learning and Distance Learning at Jazan University.