The Kingdom, by the end of first quarter of 2010, has launched about 700 e-services that include services from 92 public sector agencies, according to a high-ranking official of a IT company. There is a need to create more awareness among Saudi consumers for effective utilization of whole range of IT services, Mansour Al-Obaid, Partner and CEO of Emerging Technology, said. Muhammad Jameel Mulla, Minister of Communication and Information Technology, will launch Tuesday VoiceGate portal to tap the growing demand of IT services in the Kingdom, he said. Quoting the recent Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) report, Al-Obaid said the demand for IT services has increased by 70 percent by the 1st quarter of 2010. He said the total value of computer and software market in Saudi Arabia will reach SR37 billion by 2013. The IT sector represents almost 65 percent of the total expenditure, the IT services 24 percent and software market 11 percent. The number of subscribers in mobile telecommunication services has reached about 46 million, an increase of 178 percent in the first quarter of 2010, he said. The fixed-land subscription grew up to 4.1 million that in a way supports to the booming telecommunication market. “By end of 2009 the number of Internet users in the Kingdom has reached 10 million, an average of 36 percent growth over last year,” Al-Obaid said quoting CITC report. The Internet penetration in Saudi Arabia has reached almost 39 percent, he said. The concept of telecommunication is set to revolutionize and Saudi Arabia offers huge opportunities for growth in the IT sector, he said. V-gov is built based on work environment that is dependent on IP-based networking, wireless solutions and advanced visual imaging. Communications are being improved through a higher-definition video image quality and widescreen aspect ratios.
