qatar’s ict landscape government 2 0 1 3 · 2017-09-11 · government from within, qatar’s...

Government

Supreme Council of Information & Communication Technology

Qatar’s ICT Landscape 2 0 1 3

Introduction 1

Background 4

Topline Findings 6

Detailed Findings 9

ICT Penetration 9

ICT Usage 13

IT Workforce and ICT Skills 20

ICT Satisfaction 25

Benefits and Barriers to ICT Adoption 26

Conclusion 28

Appendix: Methodology 30

Contents

For nearly a decade now, Qatar has been

focused on developing a knowledge-based

economy that relies on the production,

distribution, and use of data and information. A

main focus of this transformation has been the

concerted, nationwide effort over the past five

years to make Qatar’s government work better

for those it serves. Not surprisingly, information

and communication technology (ICT)

applications that improve the productivity,

efficiency, and transparency of the government

have been at the core of this modernization

effort—improving the delivery of a broad range of

e-government services to the public as well as

enhancing the interaction among government

entities in managing government resources.

Today, a review of the ICT landscape shows that

the country—including its government sector—is

more connected than ever before. According to

the World Economic Forum’s 2013 Networked

Readiness Index, which measures a country’s

capacity to fully benefit from new technologies in

terms of economic competitiveness, citizens’

daily lives, and overall social growth, Qatar ranks

23rd out of 144 countries, a leap from 28th in

2012 and up from 39th in 2005. This ranking

recognizes Qatar as the most networked country

in the Arab world.

The nation’s successes in modernizing and

improving its government, under the leadership

of the Ministry of Information and Communication

Technology (ictQATAR), have been recognized in

a host of international benchmarking studies. In

the United Nations E-Government Survey 2012,

Qatar jumped to 27th out of 193 countries on its

online services index. The UN survey also placed

Qatar at number 9 on the e-participation index,

which assesses how well a government engages

citizens in public policymaking through the use of

e-government programs. And the survey ranks

Qatar 48th—up sharply from 62nd in 2010—on

the e-government development index, a

composite indicator measuring the willingness

and capacity of a national administration to use

information and communication technology to

deliver public services. In addition, Qatar ranks

among the top 10 countries in the world in the

World Economic Forum’s Global Information

Technology Report 2013 on indicators that

measure ICT usage and government efficiency,

government procurement of advanced

technology, government prioritization of ICT, and

the importance of ICT to the government’s vision.

Prior studies of the ICT landscape commissioned

by ictQATAR found that the government sector

has been leading the way in driving overall ICT

1

Introduction

Qatar’s ICT Landscape 2013: Government

usage, setting a swift pace for ICT adoption

across all sectors in Qatar. A new large-scale

survey of employees in a wide range of

government entities as well as a survey of IT

executives across the government confirms this

trend. This, the resulting report—Qatar’s ICT

Landscape 2013: Government, measures the

penetration and usage of ICT in the government

sector. This report is a companion to the recently

released Qatar’s ICT Landscape 2013: Business

and Qatar’s ICT Landscape 2013: Households

and Individuals.


reveals a highly connected government

workforce with a majority of employees routinely

using computers and the Internet for work

purposes. The number of IT employees in the

government sector has grown since 2008, and, in

addition, the majority of government entities now

have fully or partially automated core processes.

The report also indicates that Qatar’s

government has made significant strides in

improving its online presence. Finally, the survey

reveals that IT security continues to be a strong

area of focus and investment for IT executives

in government organizations in Qatar. Indeed,

organizations indicated that, on average, roughly

30 percent of their ICT spending was allocated

to IT security.

Despite great progress, the report identifies

areas for improvement, including employee

training. In addition, there is room for progress

when it comes to the percentage of government

organizations that have a Web presence, with

a goal of 100 percent, more in line with the most

advanced nations of the world, and the number

of public services online, with a target of 160

online services by 2015, as outlined in Qatar’s

National ICT Plan 2015.

In the meantime, it is encouraging that citizens

and residents who use online services—either

through the Ministry websites or Hukoomi,

Qatar’s award-winning e-government

portal—report that they are highly satisfied with

the quality of current online services.

Indeed, recent developments bode well for

achieving a state-of-the-art government that is

more responsive to the public. The second

generation of Hukoomi offers advanced services

that are faster and more accessible than ever

before, and the portal has experienced

exponential growth since it launched in 2008.

Specifically, public use of online services has

grown 40 percent since 2009, to more than 2.7

million transactions in 2012. As noted, ictQATAR

continues to expand these online

offerings—which include the ability to pay traffic

violations, obtain a passport or visa, and pay

utility bills online, as well as to access

government documents, service application

forms, and general information. In 2012, a

national legal portal was launched along with the

Qatar Customs Clearance Single Window portal.

In a move to create a more efficient and effective

government from within, Qatar’s government

resource planning portal, known as Mawared,

was launched in 2012 to help streamline and

improve HR and finance service delivery across

all government agencies. One of the most

important initiatives in the iGov program, its aim

is to enhance the interaction among government

entities in managing government resources, as

well as to advance the country’s move to

becoming a paperless government.

To increase government connectivity and

transparency, ictQATAR has rolled out the

Government Network, a single, secure,

communications platform that will link all

government entities to one another through a

single network connection. According to the

government landscape study, the benefits of the

Government Network, namely the ease of

Introduction

2 Qatar’s ICT Landscape 2013: Government

exchanging information, more secure processes,

and increased operational efficiency, were clear

to many of the organizations surveyed. Nearly

half of all government organizations are

connected to the network.

ictQATAR is committed to regularly tracking and

reviewing ICT progress in key sectors of the

economy, both within the country and compared

to regional and global peers, in publications such

as this one. As a result, Qatar will be able to judge

where it stands at any point—and to identify any

roadblocks or challenges it faces—and then to

make timely adjustments and additional

investments in new programs and initiatives

when necessary. This will insure that the country

continues to advance on the path toward

transforming itself into a highly connected,

knowledge-driven economy.

Introduction


In order to continually track Qatar’s progress

toward enhancing public service delivery—one of

the country’s key goals in its effort to create a

vibrant, inclusive, knowledge-based economy—

ictQATAR commissioned International Data

Corporation (IDC) to conduct a large-scale study

on the current state of ICT penetration and usage

within the government community in 2013. This

follows similar studies in 2008 and 2010. The

purpose of the research was to assess the

current levels of ICT access and usage among

government employees and organizations in

Qatar and to provide insights on ICT

development in the sector over time. In addition,

Qatar was benchmarked against selected

regional and international peers.

The study was primarily based on interviews

conducted with government employees and

government IT executives between mid-February

and May 2013. Government organizations

(ministries, authorities, and councils) with

regulatory authority or those involved in setting

standards or that play a key role in developing

and implementing national strategies and

policies were considered for the study; for-profit

government enterprises, charitable

organizations, and the military were excluded.

In total, IDC conducted in-person interviews with

408 employees (representing 34 out of the 54

government organizations under consideration.

The respondents varied by seniority, gender, age,

experience, and education level. Only employees

with computers were interviewed.

In addition, researchers surveyed 38 IT

executives in government—one each from

38 of the 54 government organizations under

consideration for this study—using a

self-administered questionnaire. In addition,

in-depth face-to-face interviews with 11

IT executives were used to further explore the

issues raised in the questionnaire.

IDC also conducted secondary research to obtain

data on the government sector in Qatar using a

range of resources, including international

organizations that capture ICT-related country

data, past reports, and market data and market

forecasts available online. To gauge its

advancement toward universal ICT penetration

and usage in the government arena, it is essential

for Qatar to measure its progress against regional

and international peers. Thus, throughout this

report, Qatar is benchmarked against various

countries, including developed economies,

knowledge economy champions, e-government

champions, and emerging e-government

champions across the globe. (See the appendix

on page 30 for more details on the study

methodology.)

Background


Findings in this, the resulting report—Qatar’s ICT

Landscape 2013: Government, are organized into

five sections:

ICT Penetration examines the development of

and access to ICT, including the availability of

personal computers for government employees,

network connectivity, online presence, and IT

security, among other issues.

ICT Usage looks at government employee

usage of PCs, mobile devices, and the Internet;

online public service offerings; and the adoption

of emerging technologies.

IT Workforce and ICT Skills summarizes the

state of the IT workforce and the level of

preparation and capacity to take advantage of

ICT, including employee ICT skills, the ability of

government to recruit IT personnel, and

employee ICT training.

ICT Satisfaction explores employees’

expectations regarding the quality of their

Internet connection and their satisfaction related

to online public service offerings.

Benefits and Barriers to ICT Adoption

identifies areas in which government

organizations and employees have benefited

from the use of ICT, and outlines the challenges

they face in advancing its use.

Background


Overall, Qatar’s ICT Landscape 2013:

Government reveals that ongoing developments

in the country’s ICT environment across

government organizations have resulted in a

good deal of progress over a relatively short

period of time. This includes steady growth in the

government sector’s ICT maturity, particularly as

it relates to the availability of infrastructure;

employee usage of computers, the Internet, and

online tools for communication; the increasing

automation of government processes and

procedures; and the enhanced online presence

of government entities and e-services.

Still, the report also identifies several challenges

that must be addressed in order for Qatar to

achieve its goal of establishing a vibrant,

innovative, inclusive ICT sector that will fuel its

economy and provide societal benefits for all.

Looking at the data from this survey, several clear

trends emerge:

Government organizations and employees

in Qatar are highly connected—to the

Internet and to one another. In 2013, the

number of personal computing devices installed

per 100 permanent employees in the government

sector reached 101; this number includes

desktop computers, laptops, and tablets. All

government organizations are connected to the

Internet at speeds of 2 Mbps or greater, while 55

percent have an Internet connection of between

4 Mbps and 16 Mbps, with 42 percent of

organizations having connections of 32 Mbps or

higher. Further, all government organizations are

connected to a LAN, while 84 percent of them

have an intranet. Nearly half are already

connected to the Government Network, a safe,

reliable network linking government agencies,

allowing for improved data sharing and enhanced

security for e-services.

A majority of employees use computers and

the Internet on a routine basis. Sixty-nine

percent of employees routinely (at least once a

week) use a computer for work purposes and

65 percent of employees with computer access

can get on the Internet. On average, government

employees who use a PC report that they

spend 25.9 hours per week on a computer for

work-related purposes, a substantial increase

over the 18.6 hours spent in 2010. Email and

word processing are the most commonly used

applications, followed by Web browsers and

spreadsheet software, with increased usage of

all four since 2010. Employees report that they

use the Internet most commonly for sending work

emails, searching for work-related information,

and communicating with colleagues.

Qatar’s government has made significant

progress in improving its online presence.

Ninety-five percent of government entities now

report having a Web presence, with 82 percent

having a bilingual (Arabic and English) site. The

comprehensiveness of government websites

Topline Findings

Qatar’s ICT Landscape 2013: Government6

has also increased significantly over the

past several years, with 51 percent of the

organizations indicating that they have all their

public information available on their websites,

compared to 30 percent in 2010 and 21 percent

in 2008. A large majority of government

employees believe that their organizations have

thus far been effective in reaching out to citizens

and residents, as well as in introducing various

online services. Currently, on average, an

estimated 35 percent of public services are

offered online by government organizations.

It is expected that by mid-2014, 51 percent of

public services will be offered online. The

majority of organizations provide inquiry services

(87 percent), as well as transactional services

(37 percent) and transactions with online

payment functionality (26 percent).

However, Qatar still has a way to go to achieve

the 100 percent Web presence of many of its

benchmarked peer countries. There is also room

for improvement in the amount of information

available online and the number of transactional

e-services offered to the public.

Qatar is well on its way to becoming a

paperless government. Eighty-seven percent

of the organizations surveyed indicated that

they have fully or partially automated processes

for areas such as human resources, finance,

procurement, and inventory processes and

systems. Of the entities that have taken steps

toward automation, 94 percent report that they

have automated the human resources function,

followed by other core processes including

finance (88 percent), IT (55 percent), and

procurement (52 percent).

IT security remains a top priority for ICT

executives. Organizations indicated that, on

average, roughly 30 percent of their ICT spending

was allocated to IT security. More than half of the

government organizations have incorporated

IT security planning and strategy into their

work, including key areas of concern such as

identity management and access control; IT

risk–based security strategies/policies; business

continuity and disaster recovery planning; and

ICT asset classification policies. One-third of

the organizations surveyed also indicated that

they comply with some type of information

security standard.

In addition, 58 percent of the government

organizations interviewed employ an IT official

such as a security officer or another employee

dedicated to IT security–related issues;

55 percent had an IT security incident response

procedure in place. However, nearly 40 percent

of the organizations surveyed do not have

an IT risk–based security strategy or policy,

and slightly more than half of the organizations

surveyed are aware of the Government

Information Assurance (GIA) policy. Many

IT executives highlighted the need for unified

security protocols across government

departments to simplify the process of providing

IT security, as well as to make it more effective.

Emerging technologies help boost

awareness of government services and

enhance interactions with the public.

The increasing penetration of smartphones has

resulted in government entities developing a

number of mobile applications for employees

and customers. Specifically, 58 percent of

government organizations indicated that they

have already deployed or are planning to deploy

new mobile applications for citizens and

residents; 50 percent have extended or plan to

extend existing applications to mobile platforms.

Interestingly, only 5 percent of organizations said

that they have not deployed nor are they planning

to deploy any mobile applications. The most

important reason for deploying mobile

applications is to increase awareness about

available services, followed by to manage/

improve relationships with citizens/residents,

to gather ideas/feedback on services, and to

acquire and share knowledge within the

Topline Findings


organization. Respondents indicate that now

through 2016, mobile applications, along with

face-to-face meetings, will be the most popular

ways government employees communicate with

citizens and residents, while social media will

increase in popularity. While mobile applications

have clearly caught on in Qatar, use of any kind of

cloud computing service has not. Sixty-eight

percent of the government organizations do not

yet use cloud computing services.

The world has noted Qatar’s progress with

e-government. Qatar ranks among the top 10

countries in the world when it comes to ICT usage

and prioritization by the government according to

the World Economic Forum’s Global Information

Technology Report 2013. The country scores

high in four indicators: ICT use and government

efficiency; government procurement of advanced

technology; government prioritization of ICT;

and importance of ICT to the government’s vision.

Qatar also ranked 48th out of 193 countries on

the willingness and capacity of governments to

use ICT to deliver public services in the United

Nations e-government development index 2012,

a jump from 53rd in 2008. And in the same study’s

e-participation index, which assesses the quality,

relevance, and usefulness of government websites

in providing online information and participatory

tools and services to its citizens, Qatar scored

.63 on a 0–1 scale.

ICT training and recruitment of IT

professionals continue to be a challenge.

While government employees’ confidence in their

ICT skills has increased since 2010, still only 36

percent reported that their computer skills are

adequate and there is no need for improvement.

Seventy-five percent of employees indicate that

they have not received any ICT training within the

last three years, due to lack of time, adequacy of

existing skills, or lack of sponsorship. However,

government employees anticipate they will

receive more than 11 hours, on average, of ICT

training by mid-2014. In terms of recruitment,

government organizations are actively looking

for IT professionals—among the government

organizations that reported having at least one

open ICT position, the average number of open

positions was 12. The least widely available skills

among government organizations in Qatar are

those related to mobile technology, geographic

information systems, and IT security.

The benefits of ICT are well understood by

government employees and organizations,

but barriers to adoption still exist.

Executives indicated that ICT has benefited their

organizations in numerous ways, including

improving corporate communication, providing

better product/service support, and enhancing

internal workflow and customer relationships.

But while half of the IT executives surveyed

indicated that there were no barriers to further

ICT adoption, 29 percent mentioned lack of

in-house technical expertise, 26 percent cited

the inability to hire IT professionals with the

required skills, and 16 percent mentioned budget

constraints. Thirty percent of employees name

work-related pressures and lack of time as

limitations on their ICT use at work.

Topline Findings


ICT Penetration

PCs and Mobile Devices

The overall number of personal computing

devices installed per 100 permanent employees

in the government sector stands at 101 in 2013,

an increase from 70 in 2010. The number of both

desktops and laptops per 100 employees also

showed large increases—desktops increased

from 58 in 2010 to 77 in 2013 and laptops from

12 in 2010 to 20 in 2013. Ninety-three percent of

the PCs installed in the government sector are

dedicated computers, while 7 percent are shared

among employees (see Figure 1).

Penetration of company-provided mobile devices

also increased, from 2.4 percent of employees in

2010 to 3.2 percent in 2013. Not surprisingly, the

percentage of employees provided smartphones,

including Blackberries, by their government

organization increased even more over the same

time period—from 1.6 percent to 3.2

percent—while standard mobile phones

decreased significantly from .8 percent to .1

percent.

Network Connectivity

Government organizations are connected to

one another and to the Internet as never before.

All government organizations in Qatar are

connected to a LAN, while 84 percent of them

have an intranet, up significantly from 64 percent

in 2010. And all the organizations that

participated in the survey said they are

connected to the Internet in 2013—same as in

2010. However, there is a gradual decrease in the

number of extranet connections, which are

extensions of an organization’s intranet to users

outside the organization (usually partners,

vendors, and suppliers), from 55 percent in 2010

to 47 percent in 2013. The decrease could be the

result of the adoption of alternative networks that

enable government and nongovernment

organizations to connect with one another.

A leased line is the most common type of Internet

connection, used by 63 percent of government

organizations. In 2013, none of the organizations

Continuing nearly a decade of progress, the 2013 landscape data once again shows

gains in nearly every key indicator of ICT penetration, usage, and skills among

government organizations and their employees. The following provides further details.

Detailed Findings


Source: Government IT Executives Survey, 2010, 2013; 2010 n=44, 2013 n=38

Note: Tablets not tracked in 2010

Note: Penetration calculated using 5 percent trimmed mean

Figure 1: Number of Devices Installed in Government Sector (per 100 employees)

Desktops

Laptops

Tablets

Overall

77

20

4

101

58

12

70

2010 2013

indicated that they have a dial-up connection,

compared with 14 percent in 2010. And only 3

percent of government organizations have a

wireless network.

In Qatar, all government entities are connected to

the Internet at speeds of 2 Mbps or greater; 55

percent have an Internet connection of between

4 Mbps and 16 Mbps, with 42 percent having

connections of 32 Mbps or higher (see Figure 2).

information from their organization” and that their

organization “shares information and data

between internal divisions and departments.”

Online Presence

When it comes to online presence, 95 percent of

government organizations have a Web presence,

with 82 percent having a bilingual (Arabic and

English) website, a significant increase from the

73 percent with a bilingual site in 2010.

Eighty-eight percent of the organizations that

have a website use the .qa domain.

Not only has online presence increased, the

comprehensiveness of government websites

has also increased significantly over the

years—51 percent of the organizations with

a website indicated that they have all of their

public information available on their websites,

compared to only 30 percent of such

organizations in 2010, and 21 percent in 2008.

Nearly 92 percent of the organizations provide

most of the relevant contact information, as well

as information on the services provided online.

Despite this robust Web presence, Qatar lags

behind other nations in both the percentage of

government entities that have a Web presence

and the comprehensiveness of those sites (see

Figure 3).The majority of organizations (76 percent)

indicated that they are connected to other

government or nongovernment organizations

through a network. Forty-seven percent of the

government organizations surveyed are already

connected to the Government Network, a secure,

reliable network that connects Qatar’s

government agencies. This network allows for

improved data sharing and enhanced security for

e-services.

The increased connectivity in the government

sector has helped government employees share

information both within their organizations and

across the wider public sector. More than 82

percent agreed that “it is easy to obtain

Detailed Findings


Source: Government IT Executives Survey, 2013; Government organizations with Internet access n=38

Figure 2: Speed of Internet Connection among Government Organizations

2 Mbps4 Mbps

8 Mbps16 Mbps

32 Mbps64+ Mbps

24%

21%

26%

18%

3%

8%

Figure 3: Comprehensiveness of Government Websites

7%2%

0%

22%30%

51%

No public information

displayed on our website

All public information

available online on our website

2008 2010 2013

Source: Government IT Executives Survey, 2008, 2010, 2013; Government Organizations with websites 2008 n=28, 2010 n=44, 2013 n=36

Level of Automation

One of Qatar’s long-term goals is to become a

paperless government. This study shows that the

nation is making progress toward that end,

showing a steady increase in the automation of

its core processes. Eighty-seven percent of the

organizations surveyed indicated that they have

fully or partially automated their core processes,

such as human resources (HR), finance,

procurement, and inventory processes and

systems, compared with 68 percent in 2010. The

human resources function is the most commonly

automated of the core processes. Among those

organizations that have automated their

processes, 94 percent indicated that they have

automated HR. This is followed by finance (88

percent), IT (55 percent), and procurement (52

percent) (see Figure 4).

Website Hosting and Content Management

The use of third parties for hosting websites is

low among government organizations, with 86

percent of them indicating that they host their

websites internally. Fourteen percent host their

websites with an external provider; 6 percent

have a provider based in Qatar, and 8 percent

have an international provider hosting their

website. Interestingly, the use of external

providers decreased to 14 percent in 2013 from

28 percent in 2010.

The use of third parties for developing Web

content is also low in government organizations,

with 89 percent indicating that they develop their

content internally. The use of third parties for

posting content on their websites follows the

same trend, with 91 percent of the organizations

indicating that they post their content internally. A

similar pattern can be seen when it comes to

managing IP addresses, with 84 percent of

government organizations indicating that they

manage their own IP addresses.

IT Security

IT security continues to be a strong area of focus

and investment for IT executives in government

organizations in Qatar, with organizations

indicating that, on average, roughly 30 percent of

their ICT spending was allocated to IT security. IT

executives surveyed report that more than half of

their organizations incorporate different aspects

of IT security planning and strategy, including

identity management and access control; IT

risk–based security strategies/policies; business

continuity and disaster recovery planning; and

ICT asset classification policies. Nearly one-third

of the organizations surveyed also indicated that

they comply with some type of information

security standard. Fifty-eight percent of

organizations interviewed employ an IT official,

such as a security officer or another employee

dedicated to IT security–related issues.

CS/Q-CERT, Qatar’s National Center for

Information Security, is available to government

organizations for counsel and assistance.

Fifty-three percent of government organizations

indicated familiarity with CS/Q-CERT, while 55

Detailed Findings


Figure 4: Processes Most Commonly Automated by Government Organizations

HR (Human resources)

Finance

Information technology

Procurement

Inventory

Public relations/Communications

Marketing

Quality assurance

Publishing

Social services

Online training

94%

88%

55%

52%

48%

39%

18%

18%

6%

3%

3%

Source: Government IT Executives Survey, 2013; Organizations that have automated their processes n=33

percent had an IT security incident response

procedure in place. Awareness of the

Government Information Assurance (GIA) policy

was reported at similar levels (see Figure 5).

An overwhelming majority—87 percent—of IT

executives believed that their organization had a

secure Internet connection. In addition, 95 percent

of government organizations surveyed indicated

that they use antivirus solutions to protect their

data, and roughly two-thirds reported that they

use authentication/authorization solutions.

The incidence of online threats has increased in

countries all over the world, and Qatar is no

exception. IT executives report an increase in the

incidence of online threats, with 5 percent of the

organizations surveyed reporting that they were

victims of an online threat in the last 12 months.

By comparison, no organizations reported

experiencing a threat in the 12 months prior to the

2010 survey. Another 3 percent of the

organizations in the 2013 survey reported being

victims of an online threat more than 12 months

prior, compared to 2 percent in 2010.

Finally, many organizations raised the need for

unified security protocols and guidelines across

government departments to simplify the process

of providing IT security, as well as to make it more

effective.

Detailed Findings


Source: Government IT Executives Survey, 2013; n=38

Figure 5: Percentage of Government Organizations That Responded “Yes” to an Element/Action Related to IT Security

Having an IT risk–based security strategy or policy

Performing identity management and access control

Having a dedicated person looking after IT security–related issues

Being aware of GIA policy in relation to information assurance/security

Having an IT security incident response procedure

Creating a security culture through constant awareness

Having familiarity with the ictQATAR (CS/Q-CERT) security program

Having an ICT asset-classi�cation policy

Having a business continuity planning and disaster recovery management policy

Providing training on IT security in the last 12 months

Complying with ISO 27001 or any other information security standard

61%

61%

58%

55%

55%

55%

53%

53%

50%

45%

32%

Detailed Findings

ICT Usage

PCs and Mobile Devices

Sixty-nine percent of the employees in the

government sector in Qatar routinely (at least once

a week) use a computer at work, according to

statistics provided by the IT executives. Desktop

PCs are the most commonly used devices for

computing purposes, with 99 percent of

employees who use a computer saying they use

a desktop. Other computing devices such as

laptops and tablet PCs are less pervasive, with

only 25 percent of government employees using

a laptop and 11 percent using a tablet.

In terms of other telecommunication devices,

landline telephones remain the most commonly

used devices, with 97 percent of surveyed

government employees using them. Interestingly,

the usage of smartphones is much higher than

that of standard mobile phones, with 48 percent

of employees using a smartphone compared

with 36 percent using a regular mobile phone

(see Figure 6). Thirty-four percent of government

employees don’t use any kind of mobile phone

for work purposes.

The amount of time government employees who

use a PC spend on a computer for work-related

purposes has increased significantly since 2010,

from 18.6 hours per week to 25.9 hours per week,

on average. Assuming a 40-hour workweek,

employees spent more than 64 percent of their

working hours on a computer.

Email and word processing remain the most

commonly used applications by PC users in

the government sector, followed by Web browsers

and spreadsheet applications. In 2013 there

was an increase in usage of all four of these

applications compared with 2010, with word

processing showing the highest growth in

usage. Interestingly, the utilization of specialized

internal applications decreased significantly

in 2013, which may be attributable to Qatar’s

cross-government efforts to standardize the use

of internal software applications (see Figure 7).


Figure 6: Usage of ICT Technologies by Government Employees

Figure 7: PC Applications Used by Government Employees at Work

PC-Desktop

Laptop

Tablets

Printers

Landline (telephone)

Smartphone

Standard Mobile Phone

99%

25%

11%

91%

97%

48%

36%

Email access

Word processor

Spreadsheet

Web browser

Graphics

Specialized internal application

90%96%

84%99%

67%78%

76%81%

11%13%

41%14%

2010 2013

Source: Government Employees Survey, 2013; n=408

Source: Government Employees Survey, 2010, 2013; 2010 n=380, 2013 n=408

Detailed Findings

Aside from activities such as text processing

using a program like MS Word (99 percent)

and performing basic arithmetic functions using

a spreadsheet (78 percent), file management

is the most common activity carried out by

government employees at 94 percent. Only a

small portion of PC users do more advanced

activities such as detecting and solving

computer problems (15 percent), connecting

computers to a local area network (11 percent),

and writing a computer program using a

specialized programming language (9 percent).

The behavior of employees related to securing

their data remains an issue in Qatar. Not all

government employees interviewed back up their

data. Eighty-four percent of employees indicated

that they back up their data at least occasionally,

while 61 percent do it regularly. In all, 67 percent

of the government employees surveyed said they

back up their work-related data onto the hard

disk of the PC they use, while 55 percent

indicated that they back up their work-related

data onto a removable device such as an external

hard disk, flash memory, or an optical disk. Only

19 percent of employees use a central location

such as a server when backing up data (see

Figure 8).

Internet

In 2013, 65 percent of employees who use

a PC have access to the Internet at the office.

In addition, Internet usage is widespread:

96 percent of those with Internet access use it.

Overall, 95 percent of Internet users in the

government sector use it on a daily basis, while

the remaining 5 percent utilize the Internet at

least once a week.

On average, government employees in Qatar

spend 19.6 hours per week using the Internet for

work-related purposes, a substantial increase

from the 12.5 hours a week spent on the Internet

in 2010. Given a 40-hour workweek, employees

spend close to 50 percent of their working hours

on the Internet.

Not surprisingly, 94 percent of government

employees who currently use the Internet at work

believe that the Internet is important for

performing their daily work duties. This opinion is

widely held and is consistent across categories

such as age, years of experience, job seniority,

establishment type, education level, nationality,

and gender.

The main tasks that government employees

perform online remained consistent since 2010,

including sending work-related emails (with or

without attachments), searching for work-related

information online, communicating with

colleagues as well as citizens and residents, and

scheduling business appointments (see Figure 9).



Figure 8: Prevalence of Data Backup Practices among Government Employees

Yes, I do that regularlyYes, I do that occasionallyNo

16%

61%24%

Detailed Findings

Although communicating with colleagues is

a primary reason for Internet use among

government employees, most still prefer to

communicate via telephone (97 percent),

face-to-face interaction (95 percent), or email

(89 percent); fewer communicate by instant

messaging or chat (44 percent). Close to a

quarter of employees still prefer to communicate

via signed formal letters, while work-related

communication among government employees

via social networking is still in the nascent stage

at 6 percent.

Half of the Internet users in the government sector

use instant messaging for communication, and its

use is higher among top and middle management

compared with other employees. The majority

instant-messaging users (73 percent) use it on a

daily basis.

When looking at the use of online media by

government employees, exclusive news websites

are most often accessed at 43 percent. Social

media networks are used by 21 percent of

Internet users among government employees,


Source: Government Employees Survey, 2010, 2013; Employees who use the Internet at work 2010 n=367, 2013 n=393

Figure 9: Tasks Performed by Government Employees at Work Using the Internet

Sending work-related emails

Sending emails with attached �les (documents, pictures, etc.)

Searching for work-related information

Communicating with colleagues

Scheduling business appointments

Communicating with citizens and residents

Keeping viruses, spyware, and adware off your computer

Checking a receipt of work-related payments

Placing orders for equipment/supplies

Finding, downloading, and installing software

Posting messages to chat rooms, newsgroups, or online discussion forums

Creating a Web page/blog

Using the Internet to make calls

Using peer-to-peer �le sharing for exchanging documents,movies, music, etc.

None of the above

94%99%

59%88%

64%78%

74%77%

55%61%

55%57%

13%13%

9%12%

14%12%

28%10%

18%6%

7%4%

9%3%

8%1%

2010 2013

1%1%

Detailed Findings

while forums and blogs are used by 18 percent

(see Figure 10).

Lack of time was cited by 45 percent as the

biggest barrier to the use of online media for

work-related purposes. Close to one-third of the

Internet users indicated that online media is

blocked in their office, while another 7 percent

indicated that their organization discourages the

use of online media. Sixteen percent of Internet

users do not use online media because they feel

it is not relevant to their work (see Figure 11).

The use of the Google search engine, in either

Arabic or English, for work-related purposes has

increased significantly over the years. The local

version of the search engine, google.com.qa,

is particularly popular among Internet users in

the government sector (85 percent), up from 55

percent in 2010. Google’s growth is leading to a

decline in the usage of other search engines such

as Yahoo, where usage decreased by 16 percent

from 2010 to 2013. Use of a government

organization’s public website by its employees

has also increased. On average, government

employees accessed their organizations’ websites

5.7 times a week in 2013, up from 1.9 times in 2010.

E-Services

An overwhelming majority of employees—87

percent—believe that it is important to make

government services available online. This

sentiment is even stronger among government

employees in top and middle management.

Employees (86 percent) also believe that their


Source: Government Employees Survey, 2013; Employees who use the Internet at work n=393

Figure 10: Usage of Online Media by Government Employees

Personal Work-related I don’t use at work

Exclusive news websites

17%

10%

79%

11%

11%

82%

23% 30

%57

%

Forums and blogs

Social media networks

Figure 11: Barriers to Usage of Online Media for Work-Related Purposes by Government Employees

Pressure of work, not enough time

It is blocked in my organization

It is not relevant to my work

My organization discourages usage of online media

Internet speed is too slow

Not secure

No barriers

Not enough websites in Arabic

I am not aware of online media

Others

Don’t know

45%

32%

16%

7%

7%

5%

3%

2%

1%

1%

1%

Source: Government Employees Survey, 2013; Employees who use the Internet at work n=393

Detailed Findings

organization has been effective in introducing

various online and mobile services, while 87

percent believe that their organization is effective

in reaching out to Qatar’s citizens and residents.

Some of the IT executives interviewed believe

that the introduction of online and mobile

services has resulted in increased usage by

citizens and residents. For example, introducing

online payment options has significantly

increased the on-time payments of bills.

The push to move more services online in Qatar

is reflected in government organizations’ ICT

budgets. The survey found that government

organizations currently allocate 23 percent of their

ICT budgets to providing public services online.

The majority of government organizations (87

percent) provide inquiry services (providing

information on services) to citizens and residents,

while more than a third (37 percent) provide

transactional services (for example, information

on outstanding traffic fines, utility bills, applying

for an ID card), while another 26 percent provide

enhanced transactional services with online

payment functionality. Approximately 3 percent

of the organizations do not provide any services

online. As for the future, the executives surveyed

estimated that on average, 35 percent of public

services are currently offered online by

government entities, while another 16 percent of

services are planned for online launch. By

mid-2014, government organizations are expected

to offer 51 percent of public services online.

Despite the growth of online channels available to

government organizations, including social media,

face-to-face interaction is still the most popular

channel used by them to communicate with the

public. Websites and call centers are the other two

most popular channels, with email, SMS, social

media, and traditional media the other major

channels. Organizations expect traditional

channels such as face-to-face interaction and

telephone call centers to remain popular through

2016, with mobile applications expected to catch

up in popularity. Interaction through the Hukoomi

portal is also expected to increase significantly

through 2016 (see Figure 12).


Figure 12: Channels of Interaction with Citizens/Residents among Government Organizations

Face-to-face

Organization website

Telephone call centers

Email

SMS

Traditional media

Social media

Mobile applications

Hukoomi portal

Government Internet portal

95%92%

87%87%

79%92%

74%74%

71%66%

63%68%

45%61%

39%92%

29%50%

26%47%

Currently Through 2016


Detailed Findings


Use of e-Government Services by

Government Employees

Awareness and use of services through Hukoomi,

Qatar’s e-government portal, decreased among

government employees in 2013 compared with

2010. Awareness dropped from 88 percent to 84

percent. A similar decrease is also noted in terms

of usage. In 2010, 41 percent indicated that they

use the services in the Hukoomi portal, while only

19 percent indicated the same in 2013. In 2013,

more than three-quarters of employees were

aware of various government services provided

online through portals other than Hukoomi.

The majority of government employees who

visited the Hukoomi portal (83 percent) are aware

of the Hukoomi Contact Center, but only 29

percent have used it in last 12 months. Sixty-four

percent of all government employees surveyed

indicated that they are aware of the Government

Contact Center, while 10 percent said they have

used it, whether more than 12 months ago,

incidentally in the last 12 months, or regularly

(see Figure 13).

Emerging Technologies

The increasing penetration of smartphones

among government employees, citizens, and

residents has resulted in organizations

developing mobile applications for both internal

(employees) and external (customers, suppliers)

stakeholders. A majority (58 percent) of

government organizations indicated that they

have already deployed or are planning to deploy

new mobile applications for citizens and

residents, and 50 percent have made or plan

to make existing applications for external

stakeholders available on mobile platforms.

In terms of internal stakeholders, 47 percent of

government organizations indicated they have

already deployed or are planning to deploy new

mobile applications, while 37 percent indicated

that they are making existing applications

available on mobile platforms. Only 5 percent

of the organizations surveyed said they have

not deployed nor are they planning any mobile

applications.

Not aware of it at all

I have used it incidentally in the last 12 months

Aware of it, but have never used it

I use it on a regular basis (at least every month)

I used it more than 12 months ago

Government Contact Center

Hukoomi Contact Center

5%2%

3%54%36%

29%12%13%28%17%

Source: Government Employees Survey, 2013; Government Contact Center (all employees) n=408, Hukoomi Contact Center (employees who visited the Hukoomi portal) n=82

Figure 13: Employee Awareness and Usage of Hukoomi Contact Center and Government Contact Center

Detailed Findings


Among reasons to use mobile applications, IT

executives found increasing awareness about

available services to be the most important (66

percent). Managing or improving relationships

with citizens and residents (60 percent)

and gathering ideas or feedback on services

(49 percent) are the other major reasons for

developing mobile applications (see Figure 14).

While mobile applications have clearly caught

on in Qatar, use of any kind of cloud computing

service has not. Sixty-eight percent of the

government organizations surveyed do not use

any kind of cloud computing services.

Figure 14: Reasons to Deploy Mobile Applications in the Government Sector

Increase awareness about available services

Manage/improve relationship with citizens and residents

Gather ideas/feedback on services

Acquire and share knowledge within the organization

Collaborate with citizens and residents on a speci�c project or activity

Respond to citizen/resident questions/complaints

Create wider awareness on topics and programs (beyond e-services provided)

Moderate conversations about public services

Don't know/unsure

66%

60%

49%

43%

37%

11%

11%

9%

3%

Source: Government IT Executives Survey, 2013; Organizations using or planning to use mobile apps for public interactions n=35

Detailed Findings


IT Workforce and ICT Skills

IT Workforce in Government

The total number of permanent IT professionals

working in public administration, defense, and

compulsory social security in Qatar in 2012 was

estimated at 1,856.1 According to the 2013

Government IT Executives Survey, IT employees

in the government sector make up 4.7 percent of

that sector’s permanent workforce, an increase

of 1 percent over 2010 and 1.4 percent over 2008

(see Figure 15).

ICT Skills

Government employee ICT skills are critical to

future progress in the sector. Non-IT employees’

confidence in their ICT skills has improved

steadily since 2010 but still remains low—36

percent of government employees in 2013

indicated their computer skills were adequate

compared with 28 percent in 2010. Not

surprisingly, employee confidence is directly

related to education level, with university

graduates being more confident than diploma

holders and those with lower educational levels.

Graphics and spreadsheets (both at 33 percent)

and email (27 percent) are the main areas where

employees feel further training is required to

improve their skills.

Fifty percent of employees report that self-study

is the most important source of obtaining

ICT-related skills, with 43 percent supplementing

their skills through formal education at an

education institution, 20 percent through a

vocational center, and 17 percent through

a an adult education center. Ten percent say

they obtain their ICT skills directly on the job

(see Figure 16).

1 Estimated based on Qatar Statistics Authority labor force data 2012 (http://www.qix.gov.qa/portal/page/portal/qix/subject_area/Statistics?subject_area=183), and findings from the Government IT Executives Survey, 2013

Figure 15: IT Employees as a Percentage of Permanent Employees (estimated)

2008

2010

2013

3.3%

3.7%

4.7%

Source: Government IT Executives Survey, 2008, 2010, 2013; 2008 n=28, 2010 n=44, 2013 n=38

Note: Penetration calculated using 5 percent trimmed mean

Figure 16: Source of ICT Skills for Government Employees

Self-study using books, CD-ROMs, online courses, etc.

At a formal educational institution

Vocational training courses (demanded by your employer)

Training courses at an adult education center (but not on your employer’s initiative)

On the job

50%

43%

20%

17%

10%


Recruitment of IT Professionals

Government organizations are actively looking for IT

professionals. Among the government organizations

that reported having at least one open IT position,

the average number of open positions was 12.

For the mid-2013–mid-2014 period, unified

communications (83 percent); datacenter

management (78 percent); and governance, risk

management, and compliance (73 percent) are

the strategic focus areas in which the existing

employees are most skilled, followed by storage

and availability (69 percent), content/document

management (68 percent), and enterprise search

(67 percent). The least widely available skills are

those related to mobile technology, geographic

information systems, and IT security (see Figure 17).

Reflecting the lack of skills in strategic focus

areas shown at left, areas of focus for recruitment

between mid-2013 and mid-2014 by government

organizations include collaboration tools, IT

security, and automation of services. They will

also be looking for employees with skills in GIS,

storage and availability, and ERP (see Figure 18).

Detailed Findings

21


Figure 17: Skills Availability in Strategic Focus Areas, Mid-2013–Mid-2014

Figure 18: Focus Areas of Recruitment by Government Organizations, Mid-2013—Mid-2014

Uni�ed communication (6)

Datacenter (18)

Governance, risk management,

and compliance (15)

Storage and availability (26)

Content management/document management (25)

Enterprise search (6)

ERP/GRP (21)

Virtualization (21)

Cloud computing (9)

Automation of organizational and

public services (20)

Business intelligence and analytics (9)

Collaboration tools (7)

IT security (32)

Geographic information systems (GIS) (10)

Mobile technology (27)

83%

78%

73%

69%

68%

67%

57%

57%

56%

55%

44%

43%

28%

20%

0%


IT security (32)

Automation of organizational and public services (20)



ERP/GRP (21)



Cloud computing (9)

Virtualization (21)

Content management document management (25)

Governance, risk management, and compliance (15)


Datacenter (18)

29%

25%

20%

20%

19%

19%

17%

11%

11%

10%

8%

7%

7%

6%

Source: Government IT Executives Survey, 2013; Organizations focusing on the given ICT area, the basis for each area is indicated in parentheses


The technology area most likely to be outsourced

is mobile technology, followed by geographic

information systems (GIS). Cloud computing,

collaboration tools, and automation of

organizational and public services are the other

strategic areas most likely to be outsourced (see

Figure 19). The primary reason for outsourcing

these technologies is the low availability of skills

inside the organizations.

ICT Training

ICT training of permanent non-IT staff has

decreased—from 6.8 percent in 2010 to 1.8

percent in 2013—according to IT executives

surveyed. Meanwhile, 19 percent of IT employees

received training in the last 12 months. Twenty-nine

percent of the government organizations surveyed

indicated that they provide training online, slightly

lower than the 32 percent reported in 2010.

Between mid-2013 and mid-2014, government

organizations are expected to make higher levels

of investment in training existing IT staff in IT

security, business intelligence and analytics, cloud

computing, and collaboration tools (see Figure 20).

Detailed Findings


Figure 19: Strategic Focus Areas for Outsourcing among Government Organizations

Figure 20: Strategic Focus for ICT Training among Government Organizations, Mid-2013–Mid-2014


Geographic information systems

(GIS) (10)

Cloud computing (9)


Automation of organizational and

public services (20)

Virtualization (21)

ERP/GRP (21)


Governance, risk management,

and compliance (15)


Datacenter (18)


IT security (32)

89%

60%

33%

29%

25%

24%

19%

17%

13%

12%

11%

8%

6%

IT security (32)


Cloud computing (9)


Virtualization (21)

Automation of organizational and public services (20)



Governance, risk management, and compliance (15)

ERP/GRP (21)

Uni�ed communication (6)

Datacenter (18)



53%

44%

33%

29%

29%

25%

20%

20%

20%

19%

17%

17%

15%

11%



When asked about ICT training, a large

majority—75 percent—of government employees

indicated that they had not received any ICT

training within the last three years, with more

males than females reporting the lack of training

(see Figure 21).

Lack of time (44 percent), the adequacy of

existing skills (32 percent), and lack of

sponsorship (23 percent) were the top three

reasons given for employees not undergoing

ICT training. Other reasons cited were lack of

suitable courses (8 percent), difficulty of courses

(2 percent), and affordability (1 percent).

Not surprisingly, employer sponsorship plays

a major role in employees’ participation in ICT

training activities. Of those employees who

availed themselves of ICT training in the last 12

months, 83 percent were sponsored by their

employers. In all, 93 percent of Qatari employees

indicated that they received at least partial

sponsorship, compared with 71 percent of

expatriates in the government sector.

The most common types of training received by

government employees include word processing,

presentations, and spreadsheets. These were

followed by Internet browsing and emailing,

as well as general computer skills. Of the

employees who received ICT training in the last

12 months, only 43 percent received training in

e-government-related topics (see Figure 22).

Detailed Findings


Yes, within the last three months

Yes, more than three years ago

Yes, between three months and a year ago

No, I have never received training

Yes, between one and three years ago

Male

Female

Overall

50%31%12%6%

2%

37%22%23%15%4%

46%29%14%8%

2%


Note: Percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.

Figure 21: ICT Training Received by Government Employees

Figure 22: Type of ICT Training Received by Government Employees

General computer skills

Text processing, spreadsheets, and presentations

Internet browsing and emailing

Online databases and search engines

E-government-related topics

Other

17%45%36%2%

12%52%33%2%

14%52%31%2%

Basic

Did not receiveIntermediate

Advanced

36%31%26%7%

93%7%

57%29%12%2%

Source: Government Employees Survey, 2013; Employees who have received ICT training in the last 12 months n=42

Note: Percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.

Government employees are not taking full

advantage of Web-based training opportunities.

Only 17 percent of employees indicated having

received any online Web-based training. In

addition, awareness and usage of Qatar’s

National e-Learning Portal, which provides

thousands of online courses, is low. Only 4

percent of those surveyed have used the portal,

while another 31 percent are aware of it but have

never used it. Close to two-thirds of employees

are not even aware of the portal’s existence.

Young employees are more aware of the portal

than their older colleagues.

Moving forward, government employees

anticipate receiving an average of more than

11 hours of ICT training between mid-2013 and

mid-2014. Employees with lower education

levels expect to receive more hours of training

than university graduates or those with higher

education levels.

Detailed Findings


ICT Satisfaction

Satisfaction among government employees in

the quality of Internet connectivity at work as well

as in e-government services is generally high. On

a scale of 1 (very dissatisfied) to 7 (very satisfied),

80 percent of government employees assessing

Internet service gave it a score of 5 or higher.

Eighty-two percent of employees also cited

satisfaction with the reliability (6.0) and speed

(5.9) of their Internet service (see Figure 23).

Regarding e-government services, a large subset

of government employees who have used

Hukoomi are satisfied with the quality of the online

services provided, an increase in satisfaction

compared with 2010. In all, 86 percent of the

government employees who use Hukoomi

indicated that they are satisfied, giving it a score of

5 or higher on a 7-point scale. Satisfaction levels

were consistent across all the services evaluated,

with “applying for an exit permit” showing the

greatest satisfaction levels (6.7) as well as the

largest increase in satisfaction compared with 2010

(5.9). Paying bills online and transactions related to

residence permits are the other two top-rated

online services (see Figure 24).

Government employees who used the Hukoomi

Contact Center also indicated high levels of

satisfaction. Politeness of staff was the most

highly rated aspect of the contact center (6.4),

followed by the quality of solutions provided. The

number of unsuccessful attempts to get

connected/on-hold duration received the lowest

satisfaction scores (5.5).

Detailed Findings


Figure 23: Government Employees Satisfaction with the Internet 1 (Very Dissatisfied) to 7 (Very Satisfied)

Reliability of the Internet at work

Speed of the Internet at work

Overall Internet service provided at work

5.96.0%

5.8%5.9%

5.9%5.8%

2010 2013

Source: Government Employees Survey, 2010, 2013; Employees who use the Internet at work 2010 n=367, 2013 n=393

Figure 24: Government Employees’ Satisfaction with Online Services Provided through Hukoomi 1 (Very Dissatisfied) to 7 (Very Satisfied)

Applying for an exit permit

Paying bills online (e.g., from Kahramaa or Qtel)

Applying for a new residence permit; renewal/reactivation/cancellation of an existing one

Applying for a smart card to use Hukoomi services

Applying for or renewing a visa

Applying for a Health Card

Changing company details

Using Post Box online to track mail (track and trace service)

Overall satisfaction with the services used on the Hukoomi website

5.96.7

6.36.5

6.06.4

6.16.3

6.06.2

5.86.0

5.46.0

5.96.0

6.2

2010 2013

Source: Government Employees Survey, 2010, 2013; Employees who visited the Hukoomi portal 2010 n=max 126, 2013 n=max 82

Note: Overall satisfaction was not measured in 2010

Benefits and Barriers to ICT Adoption

Benefits

The IT executives surveyed believe that ICT has

brought significant advantages to their

organizations. Sixty-eight percent indicated that

improved corporate communication (internal and

external) and provision of product/service

support were the greatest benefits, followed by

enhanced internal workflows (61 percent) and

enhanced customer relationships (50 percent). In

general, these benefits were also the most highly

rated in the 2010 survey, with the only difference

being that “facilitating knowledge management”

was cited among the top four options in 2010

instead of “providing product/service support”

(see Figure 25).

The benefits of the Government Network, namely

the ease of exchanging information (89 percent),

more secure processes (78 percent), and

increased operational efficiency (72 percent)

were clear to many of the IT executives surveyed.

On the other hand, the main reasons cited by

interviewees for why they did not connect to

the network were security concerns and the fact

that their infrastructure/skills did not support

joining. Forty-four percent of the organizations

that are not connected to the Government

Network indicated they are satisfied with their

current setup.

Barriers

Indeed half of the IT executives surveyed

indicated there were no barriers to ICT adoption.

However, 29 percent cited the lack of required

employee skills in the use of ICT technologies

and 26 percent cited an inability to hire IT


Detailed Findings

Figure 25: Benefits of ICT for Government Organizations

Improved corporate communication (internal and external)

Better provision of product/service support

Enhanced internal work�ows

Enhanced customer relationships

Reduced costs

Increased availability of and accessibility to business information

Offering online/mobile services to the public

Improved logistics

Improved coordination with customers/suppliers

Facilitatation of knowledge management

Facilitation of scienti�c research and development (e.g., product development)

Security

58%68%

33%68%

63%61%

56%50%

0%37%

35%34%

0%34%

40%32%

33%29%

58%24%

33%13%

0%3%

2010 2013

Source: Government IT Executives Survey, 2010, 2013; 2010 n=43, 2013 n=38

professionals with the required skills as the most

prominent barriers (see Figure 26).

When asked specifically about the challenges

faced when deploying mobile applications in their

organizations, executives indicated that getting

executive support (34 percent), justifying the

expense (31 percent), and measuring impact on

core objectives (31 percent) were the main reasons.

Government employees were asked about

the factors limiting their use of ICT at work,

and the majority (51 percent) cited no limitations

to ICT use at work. However 30 percent cited

work-related pressures and lack of time as

limitations on their ICT use at work, followed

by limited access to the Internet (11 percent)

(see Figure 27).


Detailed Findings

Figure 26: Barriers to ICT Adoption for Government Organizations

Figure 27: Factors Limiting Government Employees’ ICT Usage

No barriers at all

Lack of in-house technical expertise

Unable to hire IT professionals with the required skills

Budget constraints

Company-speci�c policy around security of documents and databases that does not facilitate usage of ICT in some/key areas

Lack of budget for staff training on new technologies

Employee resistance

Scale of organization

Lack of trust in ICT (security and privacy issues, for example)

50%

29%

26%

16%

11%

11%

11%

3%

3%

No limitations to ICT use at work

Pressure of workload, not enough time

Limited access to the Internet

Lack of security in Internet transactions

No budget for staff ICT training courses

Lack of websites in Arabic relevant to organization’s business

Lack of skills required to use computers/Internet

Websites of Qatari organizations (government and private) are not informative

Lack of trust in ICT (e.g., security/privacy issues on the Internet)

Technology is too complicated

The websites of Qatari organizations (government and private) are not user-friendly

Internet not available at work

No bene�t in incorporating ICT into work practices

Others

51%

30%

11%

8%

5%

5%

4%

4%

3%

3%

2%

1%

1%

1%




highlights the many areas where government

organizations have made strides in using

technology to create a more responsive and

transparent government that serves the needs of

all Qatar’s people.

Since 2010, the country has done a good job of

implementing its infrastructure strategy—the

ratio of PCs to employees is now more than

1-to-1, staff members use PCs and the Internet

regularly, and the automation of core processes

has been fully or partially implemented by an

overwhelming majority of organizations. While

government employees don’t use social media to

reach the public as much as they could, those

interviewed report that they plan to harness the

benefits of this medium in the future.

Qatar has also made significant progress in

improving its online presence. Ninety-five

percent of government organizations today have

a Web presence, and the percentage of

organizations offering information and

transactional services has grown. Citizens and

residents who use such online services are

satisfied, and a majority of government

organizations have already deployed or plan to

deploy mobile applications to make doing

business with the government even easier and

more efficient. Overall, there has been significant

progress toward Qatar’s goals of achieving wide

accessibility, effectiveness of all key government

services, and the target of 160 online services

by 2015.

The nation continues to improve its rankings

in a number of important global studies, including

those that measure a government’s networked

readiness and its ICT usage and prioritization—

including ICT usage and government efficiency,

government procurement of advanced

technology, government prioritization of ICT, and

the importance of ICT to the government’s vision.

Nevertheless, the research points to two main

areas for improvement. They are the need to

implement the national IT infrastructure

protection standards at each government

organization (to ensure the security of

government resources) and enhanced ICT

training for government employees (to keep ICT

maturity at a high level).

Indeed, IT security is foremost in IT executives’

minds, and government organizations in Qatar

are already spending a significant portion of their

budgets on it. However, as the landscape study

points out, only 60 percent of these organizations

have an IT risk–based security strategy, and the

same percentage of government employees

regularly back up data. Moving forward,

Conclusion


Conclusion


implementing the national IT security

standards—which include data backup, file

storage, unified security protocols, and a

technology obsolescence policy, among other

features—would help secure the government’s

precious resources. In addition, a security

communication plan in each government

organization would let all staff know the level of

threat to the technologies they use. Other

potential solutions to current security concerns

include cloud technology, which is not commonly

used by government organizations, and a more

robust role for CS/Q-CERT, the nation’s

information security center, in supporting

government organizations.

Improved ICT training of employees is the other

area where improvements would greatly enhance

Qatar’s efforts toward its goal of building an

advanced ICT sector, which is critical to the

growth of a knowledge economy. Implementing

long-term training programs to ensure

government staff are current with ICT trends

and knowledge and encouraging employees to

use a portion of their work time to take advantage

of online ICT courses and knowledge-sharing

sites are strategies to consider. In addition,

Qatar’s National E-Learning Portal is a good

resource for professional development on

ICT-related issues.

These and other future developments will help

ensure that Qatar’s government continues to lead

the way and drive ICT advances across all

sectors. It will also guarantee that Qatar

continues to build a state-of-the-art government

that is highly connected and responsive to the

people it serves.

Qatar’s ICT Landscape 2013: Government is

based on a large-scale, sample-based study of

the current state of ICT penetration and usage

among 408 government employees at 34

organizations, and 38 IT executives, one each

from 38 of the 54 core government organizations

(ministries, authorities, and councils) considered

for the study.

Primary research was based on face-to-face

interviews conducted between mid-February

and May 2013, with structured questionnaires

covering 2012 and the first quarter of 2013. The

54 core government organizations considered for

the study included entities of a regulatory nature

or those involved in setting standards or that

have a key role in developing and implementing

national strategies and policies. All for-profit

government organizations, charitable

organizations, and the military were excluded.

The organizations that participated in the survey

are listed below.

Government Employees Survey

Senior government administrative staff members

were asked to nominate a sufficient number

of employees based on factors such as gender,

age, and nationality. Face-to-face meetings

were arranged with these employees—only

government employees that use a computer were

interviewed for the study. The margin of error

from the government employees’ sample is ±4.9

percent, a 95 percent confidence level. The

margin of error increases when the results are

analyzed by subgroups. A profile of the

respondents is detailed in the charts below

(see Figures 28–33).

Appendix: Methodology


Figure 28: Profile of Respondents by Job Position

Figure 29: Profile of Respondents by Gender

General management, director, or top managementMiddle managementOther employee

14%

35%50%

MaleFemale

75%

25%


Note: Segments do not total 100 due to rounding.




IT Executives Survey

In total, 38 IT executives from 38 of the 54

government organizations considered for the

survey were polled through a self-administered

questionnaire. In-person assistance was also

provided to these executives in order to facilitate

data collection. In addition, in-depth face-to-face

interviews with 11 executives (nine from the

original 38 organizations and two from additional

organizations) were conducted to further

explore the issues raised in the questionnaire.

The government organizations that participated

are listed below.

Secondary Research

In addition to the primary survey, secondary

research was conducted to obtain further

statistics and insights on Qatar’s government

sector, as well as the country’s economic,

demographic, and ICT landscape, in general.

Sources included:

• International organizations that capture

ICT-related country data, such as the

International Telecommunications Union (ITU),

the United Nations (UN), and the World Economic

Figure 32: Profile of Respondents by ExperienceFigure 30: Profile of Respondents by Nationality

Figure 33: Profile of Respondents by Education Level Figure 31: Profile of Respondents by Age

Less than 2 years of experience2 to 4 years of experience5 to 7 years of experience

8 to 10 years of experienceMore than 10 years of experience

14%

14%

18%

45%

9%

QatariArab expatNon-Arab expat

55%

4%

41%

Preparatory/IntermediateSecondary/High SchoolPre-University Diploma

University/Graduate (Bachelor’s)Higher DiplomaPost-graduate (Master’s or Ph.D.)

4%21%

52%

11%

2%

10%

Less than 29 years30–34 years35–39 years

40–44 years45+ years

12%

28%

20%

19%

21%

Source: Government Employees Survey, 2013; n = 408Source: Government Employees Survey, 2013; n=408

Source: Government Employees Survey, 2013; n = 408Source: Government Employees Survey, 2013; Employees who specified age n=392

Forum (WEF)

• IDC’s in-house database of past reports,

market data, and market forecasts

• The Internet, for relevant databases, articles,

and reports on the government sector

An internationally developed list of data

indicators was used for benchmarking purposes.

They appear below. The countries ultimately

selected for comparison are listed in Table 1.

Partnership Indicators

The Partnership on Measuring Information and

Communication Technology for Development

was launched in 2004 to improve the availability

of internationally comparable ICT statistics. Its

task group on e-government, in collaboration

international organizations including the

International Telecommunication Union (ITU), has

developed a set of seven globally comparable

e-government core indicators:

1. EG1—Proportion of persons employed in

central government organizations routinely

using computers

2. EG2—Proportion of persons employed in

central government organizations routinely

using the Internet

3. EG3—Proportion of central government

organizations with a local area network (LAN)


organizations with an Intranet


organizations with Internet access, by type of

access


organizations with a Web presence

7. EG7—Selected Internet-based online services

available to citizens, by level of sophistication

of service



Table 1: International Benchmarking—Country List

Country

Republic of Korea

Netherlands

Singapore

Ireland

Estonia

Belgium

UAE

Saudi Arabia

Kuwait

Oman

Bahrain

Morocco

Tunisia

Colombia

Chile

Mexico

Malaysia

Kazakhstan

e-Government Champions*

The top two countries in the United Nations’ online e-government index

A small country that rapidly developed into a knowledge economy, and is also an e-government leader

Knowledge Economy Champion

Emerging e-Government Champions

Developed Economies

Three relatively small countries that quickly developed into solid knowledge-based economies

Five other countries that are part of the Gulf Cooperation Council

Morocco and Tunisia are regional peers that are fast-developing when it comes to e-government

The fastest-growing economies in terms of e-government development

Regional Peers

GroupingRationale for

Selection

Source: IDC 2013

*Champions are defined as countries that are leaders and have scored high in the relevant rankings

Organizations That Participated in

the Executive Survey

Advisory Council

Civil Aviation Authority

General Authority For Minors Affairs

General Retirement and Social Insurance Authority

General Secretariat for Development Planning

Hamad Medical Corporation

Institute of Administrative Development (IAD)

Ministry of Business and Trade

Ministry of Culture, Arts, and Heritage

Ministry of Economy and Finance

Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs

Ministry of Energy and Industry

Ministry of Environment

Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning

Ministry of Social Affairs

National Human Rights Committee

Primary Health Care Corporation

Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Qatar Financial Markets Authority

Qatar Foundation for Child and Women Protection

Qatar Foundation for Combating Human Trafficking

Qatar Foundation for Elderly People Care

Qatar General Electricity and Water Company (Kahramaa)

Qatar Investment Authority

Qatar Media Corporation

Qatar Museums Authority

Qatar News Agency

Qatar Orphan Foundation

Qatar Ports Management Company

Qatar Statistics Authority

Qatar Tourism Authority

Qatar University

The Social Rehabilitation Center

State Audit Bureau

Supreme Council for Economic Affairs and Investment

Supreme Council for Family Affairs

Supreme Council of Health

Supreme Judiciary Council

Organizations That Participated in

the Employee Survey

Civil Aviation Authority

General Directorate of Customs

General Retirement and Social Insurance Authority

General Secretariat for Development Planning

Hamad Medical Corporation

Institute of Administrative Development (IAD)

Ministry of Business and Trade

Ministry of Culture, Arts, and Heritage

Ministry of Economy and Finance

Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs

Ministry of Energy and Industry

Ministry of Environment

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Labor

Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning

Ministry of Social Affairs

National Human Rights Committee

Primary Health Care Corporation

Public Prosecution

Public Works Authority (Ashghal)

Qatar Development Bank

Qatar Foundation for Combating Human Trafficking

Qatar Foundation for Elderly People Care

Qatar General Electricity and Water Company (Kahramaa)

Qatar Museums Authority

Qatar National Olympic Committee

Qatar Orphan Foundation

Qatar Ports Management Company

Qatar Tourism Authority

Qatar University

The Social Rehabilitation Center

State Audit Bureau

Supreme Council of Health

Supreme Education Council



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