Saudis beating Europe in public sector IT

Saudi Arabia is meeting its citizens' needs more efficiently than governments in Europe thanks to improved technology, a study has claimed.

Research sponsored by Cisco and the Saudi Ministry for Communications and IT found that satisfaction with Saudi public sector departments has increased by 44 per cent in the past year.

However, the research was carried out in 2005 and the comparison with European trends is based on a study in 2004.

"The notably higher rates of application implementation in Saudi Arabia in 2005 compared to our research in Europe in 2004 may be due to the time lag between the studies, or the very real possibility that Saudi Arabia has leapfrogged ahead," said Yvon Le Roux, vice president, public sector at Cisco Systems Europe.

The number of inquiries resolved by Saudi public sector employees rose by 38 per cent and the number of citizens using services increased by 34 per cent.

The success of the network services could also be down to the focus on increasing usability rather than cutting costs.

"Another interesting finding is that Saudi organisations are not specifically focused on reducing costs," said Le Roux.

"Instead they are interested in increasing their agility and extending the resources they need to meet the demands of citizens."

The study also found that Saudi departments are leading the way in the adoption of technology 'best practices', with 95 per cent using finance and accounting applications and 79 per cent offering a web interface for workforce collaboration and training.