Access Digital Divide in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA): Current State and Measures for Improvement

Abstract

In this age the emergence of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has been identified as a major step toward solve the problems challenged the nation development. Problems such as corruption, delays in service delivery, lack of public sector accountability can be overcome with ICT. Furthermore, ICT are the key factors in improving government business and human sustainable development in all life aspects. Whilst the ICT considered the key to these problems but owning these technologies was facing many obstacles staring from bought them to continuous use, and create a gap between countries and within a country from the perspective of who does have computer and networks communication and who doesn't, and this refers to the digital divide. Some aspects of the digital divide exist everywhere and not only related to developing countries but also the size of the gap, which is different in countries and within a single community. This study focuses on the digital divide problem by exploring the current state of the access digital divide in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) based on three main research questions. And to achieve that, Data collected from International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), and World Bank were used. The study found that Saudi Arabia is suffering from the access digital divide, and there is a strong link between household income and the access digital divide resulting from unaffordable prices in both ICT and broadband services and this gap tends to be larger in the regions where the inhabitants have the lowest income level. The study recommends that the government should give improving household income the highest priorities and at the same time offering affordable prices for broadband services. Also, the study finds that mobile penetration represents a valuable resource for the Saudi Arabia government to be investing in delivering government services through mobile platforms. Finally, the study recommends that public-private partnerships with promoting and encouraging the private sectors to invest in ICT is one of the most important measurements in bridging the access digital divide.