This presentation was conducted during the Kingdom of SA e-government conference 2012. This presentation covers the role SM plays in the government to citizens communications

1. Social Media - The Future of Government to Citizen Communications:
Region is not far Behind
Dr. Saeed Al Dhaheri
Advisor to the Minister,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs - UAE
Kingdom e-Government Summit Riyadh 25 - 26 Sep. 2012

2. View points
Drivers
e-participation: why is it important, what tools are there, and ranking of
GCC governments
Social Media in GCC Governments: numbers, potential use, status,
channels, and examples
conclusion
2

3. Drivers
 Open Government:
 participation and engagements
 Transparency
 Innovation
 Improve service delivery and usage
e-participation is essential for Open Government
3

4. Why e-participation is important
 Enhance trust between government and people through engagement and transparency
 e-participation is a criterion in the UN e-gov survey
4

5. GCC Governments e-participation ranking
Extent of e-participation
Country
Rank
UAE
6
Bahrain
8
Qatar
9
Saudi Arabia
9
Oman
16
Kuwait
25
UN e-gov Survey 2012
5

6. How to e-participate
 Forums
 Blogs
 chat
 Customer Satisfaction Surveys
 Polls
 Feedback forms
 Main stream Social Media Platofrom (Facebook, Twitter, youtube, LinkedIn,,etc)
6

7. Potential of Social Media in Government
 Improve reach, accessibility and
targeting
 Meet expectations and enhance
reputation
 Improve cost-effectiveness
 Accelerate response
 Support deeper relationships
Social Media is an opportunity for Governments
7

8. Social Media population in the GCC
Facebook
Twitter
5.5 M
3.2 M
19
U.A.E
3.29 M
263,070
40
Kuwait
992,200
370,987
34
Qatar
567,680
59,835
29
Oman
482,680
16
Bahrain
352,520
29
Saudi Arabia
PR%
Arab Social Media Report 2012
8

9. Status of GCC Governments adoption of Social Media
 More than 75% gov orgs are using SM
 More institutionalized, but still developing
 Mostly one way communication
 Many in the trial phase
 Few with Social media strategy and policies
9

10. GCC Governments portals and Social Media
 Bahrain gov portal:
 Kuwait gov portal:
 Oman gov portal:
 Qatar gov portal:
 Saudi Arabia gov portal:
 UAE gov portal:
10

11. GCC Governments and Social Media: Twitter examples
11

12. GCC Governments and Social Media: UAE examples
 Professional and Personal Use
– UAE Leadership is driving SM in Gov
– Interacting with people
– Receiving ideas and suggestions
12

13. GCC Governments and Social Media: UAE example
 Official Government-to-citizen communication

Facebook and Twitter channels



Communicate news, announcements
Listen to citizens and receive feedback
create awareness about e-services
 Other uses

Crowed sourcing and idea contest
13

14. GCC Governments and Social Media: UAE MoFA example
– Official Government-to-citizen communication

Twitter channel
 Communicate news, announcements and alerts
 Listen to citizens and provide assistance in
emergency situations
 Creating awareness about MoFA e-services
 Broadcasting events – Ambassadors Forum
 Crisis updates
 Polls and Forum
– Professional and Personal use
14

15. GCC governments and Social Media: UAE example
 Emirates e-government
 guidelines for social media usage
in government entities document
 Workshops with government
organization to help develop
strategies and policies
15

16. GCC Governments Plans to adopt Social Media: examples
2nd e-government Action Plan for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
16

17. GCC Governments Plans to adopt Social Media: examples
Qatar Supreme Council of ICT
17

18. Conclusion
 SM will play an important role for government engagements with its citizens
and people
 Governments should assess their capabilities and develop SM strategies
and policies and monitor performance for an effective engagement
 Develop capabilities and use the right SM platform for the right audience
 Governments must be prepared to respond
18

19. Thank you
19