The Development of IT Systems in Saudi Arabia's Public Sectors

Abstract

One of the key priorities of governments internationally is to ensure that they

will be able to develop the necessary mechanisms for the increase of their

countries’ competitiveness in the international community. In this case, the

increase of competitiveness is related with the increase of the power of the

country to intervene in political issues of high importance; it is also related with

the improvement of the country’s position in the global market. Information

technology is commonly used as a tool of the achievement of the above targets

(Xu et al., 2009, p.18); current study focuses on the potential role of information

system as a tool for achieving competitive advantage; reference is made to the

communication sector of Saudi Arabia. The research conducted for this study will

have two forms: qualitative and quantitative – including the review of the relevant

literature but also a survey; in this way, it is expected that the findings will reflect

– as possible – the actual value of IT in increasing a country’s competitiveness.

1. Background

The continuous increase of competition in all industrial sectors has led to the

differentiation of strategic plans related with the development of organizational

performance; indeed, managers in most organizations have realized the need for

continuous update of organizational policies in order to respond to the changing

customer preferences and the market trends. Information systems is an important

element of success in all organizations worldwide; in fact, information systems

have been found to play a crucial role in the development of activities in the

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context of both the private and the public sector. The main aspects of this role

have been identified i...

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