A review of the information management systems used in the public sector of Saudi Arabia
Yousef Ghalib Alharbi
University of Newcastle, Australia
Abstract
The aim of this research was to review of the information management systems used in the public sector of Saudi Arabia. The Google Scholar database was searched for the key works, ‘Saudi Arabia, ‘Public Sector’ and ‘Information Mangement Systems’. Journal articles and books published up to 2017 were searched. A total of 5 papers were shortlisted for this review. The main findings from the review are: (1) The use of information mangement systems is not widespread in the Saudi public sector, and there are departments which still do not use such systems; (2) The information management systems that are in use in the Saudi public sector are mainly being used for e-governance; (3) In the cases where the information management systems exist in the Saudi public sector, the level of adoption by the target users is hindered by lot of barriers and can be increased by the use of intermediaries; (4) The information mangement systems used in the Saudi public sector may not be able to be efficient and effective unless the telecommunication infrastructure is optimal; and (5) The level of adoption of information management systems in the Saudi public sector can be explained by relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability levels. Overall, it safe to say that the use of information management systems in the Saudi public sector is at a nascent level, and it has a long way to go before it becomes efficient and effective and is adopted widely by the citizens. It is expected that these findings will provide insights about the current status, issues and future direction relating to the use of information management systems in the public sector of Saudi Arabia.