Development of e-Government Services in Russian Federation, Islamic Republic of Iran and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Since the 1950s, information technology (IT) has been actively introduced into all spheres of human activity, including public administration in both developed and developing countries. With the help of IT, e-government services are being created, which provides a significant reduction in decision-making, as well as transparency of collected statistics. This article aims to familiarize the reader with the approaches and strategies of the Russian Federation (RF), the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to «digitization» of public administration, to give an objective assessment of the results of work on the implementation of e-government doctrines and to give a brief description of most popular e-services among citizens (subjects) or foreigners residing in the territory of those countries. The methods of analysis, synthesis, analogy and deduction were used in the research. The need of e-government as an important condition for economic development and ensuring external and internal sovereignty is equally recognized by the leadership of the RF, IRI and the KSA. However, the conditions of implementation of e-government doctrines differ due to geographical, demographic and political factors. Meanwhile the strategies of building of such systems in the countries under consideration tend to converge. Regardless of serious work that has been done in all three countries in this domain reputable international statistical studies do not always consider the real achievements of those countries. The authors have identified indirect signs of statistical distortion highly likely used to discriminate and “cancel” achievements of some countries. According to the authors point of view it seems to be necessary to create an independent body for collecting statistics and building a common strategy for the development and implementation of e-government within the framework of the BRICS.