  This paper contributes to the issue of eGovernment implementation in Saudi
Arabia by discussing the current situation of ministry websites. It evaluates
the rate of web development progress of vital government websites in Saudi
Arabia using the eGovernment stage model. In 2010, Saudi Arabia ranked 58th in
the world and 4th in the Gulf region in eGovernment readiness according to
United Nations reports. In particular, Saudi Arabia has ranked 75th worldwide
for its online service index and its components compared to the neighbouring
Gulf country of Bahrain, which was ranked 8th for the same index. While this is
still modest in relation to the Saudi government expectation concerning its
vision for eGovernment implementation for 2010, and the results achieved by the
neighbouring Gulf countries such as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates on the
eGovernment index, the Saudi government has endeavoured to meet the public
needs concerning eGovernment and carry out the implementation of eGovernment
properly. Governments may heed the importance of actively launching official
government websites as the main portals for delivering their online services to
all the different categories of eGovernment (including G2C, G2B, and G2G).
However, certain Saudi ministries have not given due attention to this vital
issue. This is evidenced by the fact that some of their websites are not fully
developed or do not yet exist, which clearly impedes that particular ministry
from appropriately delivering eServices.
