competitive advantage in Banking

Like never before, most of the governments across the globe are implementing e-government to improve service delivery, time-saving, cost reduction as well as increase effectiveness and efficiency in various sectors. E-government utilizes the available information and communication technology (ICT) in the process of delivering public services to the citizens. In fact, the government of Saudi Arabi continues to attach high value to the concept of e-government as one of the core or top priority. The government of Saudi Arabia believe that e-government has the potential to allow fundamental change in health sector while utilizing ICT. In this case, the current research will explore e-government in the health sector, and how government initiatives such as e-health will directly affect the lives of citizens, especially patients regarding service delivery. The core objective of the current research is to investigate and illustrate some of the e-government benefits with the focus on e-health initiative in Saudi Arabia. More so, the current study aims at investigating challenges and opportunities in the process of implementing e-health system in Saudi Arabia. Results of the current research investigation may contribute to Saudi Arabia policy guidelines to ensure the successful implementation of e-government in health sector. The current research will be presented in various sections including introduction, literature review, methodology, data collection and analysis, as well as discussion and conclusion.

Keywords: E-government, public service delivery, e-government benefits, e-health, information and communication technology.

Table of Contents Abstract 2 Acknowledgments 4 Introduction 4 Statement of problem 5 Purpose of the Study 6 Research Questions/Hypothesis 6 Part 1. Literature Review 7 Chapter 1. E-government at Global Perspective 7 Introduction 7 I. E-governance Concept in General 7 II. E-governance advantages in general 7 III. Challenges in General 7 Conclusion 7 Chapter 2: E-government Status in Saudi Arabia 7 Introduction 7 I. The Digital Transformation Initiatives and National Vision 2030 7 II. Benefits of e-government. 8 III. Society Understanding of e-government. 8 Conclusion 8 Chapter 3. E-government in health sector in Saudi Arabia 8 Introduction 8 I. E-health status in Saudi Arabia 8 II. Benefits of E-health 8 III. Barriers to E-health 8 Conclusion 8 Part 2. Empirical study 9 Introduction 9 Chapter 1. Methodology 9 Chapter 2. Discussion 10 Discussion of results 10 Implications and limits 10 Conclusion 10 References 10 Appendix 10

Today, the advancement of ICT and the use of World Wide Web continues to provide several communication opportunities for governments across the globe. In their research, Al-Khateeb, Faloudah, Bahumayd, & Zafar (2015) highlight that e-government presents a paradigm shift when it comes to the way public services are delivered. Governments use the advancement of technology and ICT in particular as the core driving factor of change in public operations. In fact, Al-Khateeb et al. (2015) allude that the government of Saudi Arabia has already embraced the idea of e-government in various sectors. On the same note, F.El-Sofany, Al-Tourki, Al-Howimel, & Al-Sadoon (2012) paint that e-government is creating a fundamental change in the approach public services are delivered and at the same time managed. In fact, same study indicates that governments are implementing e-government in a bid to cut costs while improving service delivery to the citizens. F.El-Sofany et al. (2012) revealed that e-government was first introduced in public service as early as in the 1990s. However, the concept was not cleared defined and understood by experts in public administration.

The term e-government captured the aspect of governmental use available technology such as the internet, mobile computing and general ICT, which have the ability to transform or bridge the gap between citizens and government agencies. For the past few decades, e-government has attracted the attention of many governments including Saudi Arabia (Sarrayrih & Sriram, 2015). E-government approach is considered to be multidimensional as it serves various functions to achieve a wide range of goals and objectives. In response to the increasing expectations of citizens in various countries, e-government concept is being implemented to deliver quality services to society (Sarrayrih & Sriram, 2015). In this case, therefore, e-government has become a central ring in connecting the strategy, process, and technology in the process of providing effective procedures for public service sectors to perform their duties in timely manner while allowing citizens to access needed information from time to time.

In particular, the implementation to e-government, especially utilization of e-health in health sector has a great impact on improving healthcare practices and development in the society. In their study, Uluc & Ferman (2016) assert that e-health covers a wide range of concepts including telehealth, use of electric health records, mobile health to mention but a few. In this case, the current study investigates major transformations brought about by e-government implementation in Saudi Arabia while assessing, benefits, opportunities, and challenges in health care sector.

Today, many governments in the Middle East including Saudi Arabia, have embraced the concept of e-government. In fact, research indicates that countries such as Saudi Arabia have undergone tremendous transformation driven by information technology (Sarrayrih & Sriram, 2015; F.El-Sofany et al., 2012). The government of Saudi Arabia is being affected by e-government transformation for achieving the vision 2030 initiatives, and it has changed people's expectations in one way or the other. Much as previous studies paint a clear picture on the substantial advancements in the implementation of e-government in Saudi Arabia, the current study aims to investigate the current state of e-health initiative and its role in transforming health sector regarding service delivery. In this case, it is important to explore the advantages of e-government to the society, economic benefits to citizens in Saudi Arabia, benefits to the government institutions as well as challenges emerging in the process

Purpose of the current study is to investigate the advancement of e-government and its role towards health sector in Saudi Arabia. In particular, the study will investigate challenges and opportunities in the process of implementing e-health system in Saudi Arabia. In this case, the researcher will explore a wide range of factors that enable policymakers in Saudi Arabia to develop better strategies in the process of transforming the country with the implementation of e-government. In this context, the researcher will explore how e-health is significant when it comes to public service delivery in health sector, and how such improvement helps citizens to access better services effectively and efficiently. Most importantly, results of the current investigation will contribute to the available guidelines to policymakers in Saudi Arabia and other countries while highlighting factors that facilitate or hinder the success of e-government in the country.

In an attempt to achieve the core objective of the current study, the researcher will try to answer the following questions.

· What is attitude of Saudi Arabian citizens towards implementation of e-government programs, and e-health in particular?

· Does implementation of e-health improve the workflow and quality of health care services in Saudi Arabia?

· Does the implementation of e-government concept contribute to increasing the quality of life for the society in Saudi Arabia, if yes, how? If no, why?

· What is the current status of e-government in Saudi Arabia?

· How to develop the e- government systems in advancing the quality of services to the citizens in general and for health sectors in particular?

I.1. the world moves toward digital transformation

I.2. different practices of e-government around the world

II.1. improved efficiency, cost reduction and time saving

II.2.less bureaucracy and e-participation

II.3 better communication facilitating among governments, service providers and consumers, and e-users

III.1 limitation of governance: corruption, privacy problem, and budget.

III.2 lack of equality in infrastructure of technology

II.3 false sense of transparency

I.1. the role of Minister of Communications and Information Technology

I.1.2. the evaluating program for e-services

I.2. e-Government Website Accessibility

I.3. Models used

I.4.The process

II.1. Economic benefits to citizens

II.2. Benefits to the government institutions

II.3 Benefits to the region

III.1. Cultural Impact on e-services

III.2. Citizen Participation

II.3. Transforming Service delivery

II.3. Corporation between the government sector and private sector

I.1. Description e-health

I.2. MOH facilities and services in Saudi Arabia? (Applications, systems that used)

I.3 Electronic Health Record (HER)

II.1. Benefits to physicians

II.2. Benefits to patients

II.3 Benefits to management

III.1 Organizational Barriers

III.2 Behavior Barriers

III.3 Information and Communication Barriers

Research Design.

Quantitative research methods will be employed in the current study……

Sampling.

In a bid to have a random sample of the current study, the researcher will select random participants include e-services users, physicians, service providers and consumers as administrators and in Saudi Arabia.

Instrumentation

III.1. Instrument: The researcher will carry out a pilot study before the final survey is done

III.2. Instrument: The researcher will use questionnaire to collect data from the target population

III.3. Instrument: The researcher will carry out monkey survey and distributed through WhatsAPP tools due to limitation of time interviews from the sample population to get in-depth response

Data collection & Analysis Procedures

· A questionnaire with closed and a few open-ended questions will be drafted

· The researcher will get consent from the sample

· Questionnaire will be distributed among the sample size.

· The researcher will sample 80 respondents from many sectors in Saudi Arabia.

When it comes to data analysis, the researcher will take several steps. First, the researcher will analysis descriptive statistical data collected from respondents. Tables will be created for responses to each question. Second, the study questions/hypothesis will be investigated. The researcher will investigate the relationship between research questions/hypothesis to the findings.

Questionnaire

Thank you