E-governance makes rapid strides in KSA’s ministries

Saudi Arabia is making rapid strides in e-governance covering a wide gamut of administrative procedures which is evident from the important and successful role played by the portals of the Ministries of Interior and Labor during the recently-concluded amnesty period.
The portals of these ministries rendered hassle-free and time-saving services to residents during the correction period, establishing e-governance as yet another milestone in administration. And now, municipalities in the Kingdom are also increasingly turning toward e-governance to provide better services to the people.
The Kingdom has been keen on adopting and activating communication and Information Technology systems to usher in an IT community and a digital economy, leading to higher levels of prosperity and welfare of citizens and expatriates alike. In order to achieve this vision, the Kingdom has taken effective steps to develop business processes and disseminate the concept of e-services among various government agencies.
In order to realize the objectives, Saudi Arabia embarked on an ambitious plan, and the e-Government Program has been assigned the task of developing and implementing these plans and strategies in coordination with government agencies.
After successfully completing the first phase, e-governance is now set to reach its peaks with the implementation of the second action plan which will run till 2016.
In recently held prestigious events of e-governance among GCC, three Saudi e-portals bagged awards. Ministries of Interior, Higher Education, and Foreign Affairs received the awards while the Ministry of Haj and Jeddah Municipality participated in the event to showcase their achievements and share their cutting-edge technology with their counterparts in the Gulf region. Jeddah Municipality also won the award for best information management through portal.
The event was organized to exchange ideas and experiences on e-government among GCC countries. The agenda included review of levels of achievements accomplished in digital knowledge economy, e-readiness and challenges that confront implementation of e-government in GCC countries, besides coming up with solutions to problems while converting to e-services.
Sources said that Jeddah Municipality’s e-governance portal had drawn the attention of several others and municipalities. “It is planning to launch paper-less administration soon and with instant and complete data available online, it will facilitate taking appropriate and right action,” the sources said.
The Ministry of Haj is ensuring that all its employees learn the IT system to ensure smooth services to pilgrims. The ministry had made it mandatory for staff to spend at least two hours in learning new IT system.