Saudi among top 5 countries in e-services
Riyadh, April 13, 2014
Saudi Arabia has ranked fifth among the world’s top 10 countries in e-government services and online government-citizen interactivity, said a report.
A comparative study conducted by Accenture International, a company specialised in administrative consultation, found that Saudi Arabia excelled in providing online portals for public services and using social media networks to interact with citizens, said the Arab News report.
Singapore topped the list with a score of 7.4 out of 10 on a scale evaluating digital services and citizen engagement, followed by Norway, UAE and South Korea. Brazil, Germany, India, UK and the US also ranked in the top 10, it said.
"Citizens want to interact online with retailers and banks. They also want to engage digitally with their government and feel connected through mobile devices," Bernard Le Masson, head of Accenture, was quoted as saying.
"We found that citizen demand for digital services is even stronger in emerging markets, such as India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, where 80 per cent of citizens said they would like to communicate with government via social media and on their mobiles," he said.
The majority of countries that scored high in the study have made a sustained investment in digital government, while the highest-ranking countries actively seek and listen to citizen feedback, he said.
The score is on the basis of citizen service delivery experience, citizen satisfaction and service maturity.
