Information Technology Usageby households, business, government and military

Information technology has been in use in Saudi Arabia for quite some time, but was mainly in the government, academic or commercial areas. Up until few years back the effective IT usage in the government sector was limited to few branches, some of the most to use IT were the Ministry Of Defense and branches of the armed forces, Ministry Of Commerce, Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency and the Ministry of PTT. During the last few years, other branches of the government have been increasingly adopting IT. On the commercial arena, financial institutions were the first to adopted IT and use it, which proved very beneficial. Other organizations followed in this path, but the costs involved and the lack of skills limited such practice to large firms. Recently with the rapid advances in technology, reduced costs and an increasing level of skills allowed information technology to spread. Currently the largest share of growth in IT is in the commercial sector. The usage of it by households was the area that did not witness any significant growth up until the last five years, during this period the use of IT has been increasing exponentially. Boasting the largest computer market in the in the Gulf region, Saudi Arabia is currently enjoying a computer boom. With an annual turnover of approximately $1.2 billion, Saudi Arabia accounts for 40% of computer sales in the Gulf region. Recent price wars between the world's largest PC producers are expected to fuel the Kingdom's ever growing computer market.

Saudi Arabia offers a growing home market and a burgeoning small business market to computer manufacturers. Approximately 15% to 20% of PCs end up in the home market, while the rest of production is allotted to corporate accounts. Throughout the country, local businesses are upgrading their computer systems. Both Saudi Aramco and the King Khaled Military City's administration for operation and maintenance are working on bids to upgrade their computer systems. Saudi Commerce & Review has also identified SCECO-East, the King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals and the Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud Islamic University as entities that are working on significant computer projects. The rising level of computer literacy in Saudi Arabia, and internet form a major catalyst for this boom. More and more companies are using the latest technology. A few years ago e-mail and networking were unheard of, but today they are becoming common features of small to medium sized businesses in Saudi Arabia.