The Feasibility of the Private Sector and IT Impact on Educational and Economic Development - Research Proposal Example

The feasibility of the Private Sector and IT impact in Educational and Economic Development Customer Inserts His/Her Name Customer Inserts Grade Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name 7th October 2012 Outline I. Introduction II. Proposal; Statement of Purpose III. Plan of action IV. Benefits V. Will it work? VI. Desired outcomes VII. Resources needed VIII. Preparations made IX. Conclusion Introduction The private sector refers to the section of the economy that is not controlled by the state. Therefore, it is run by individuals and companies; it is run by the profit-making businesses owned by or operated by the government (Private Sector 2012). This sector is an important stakeholder in the economic development. It is responsible for provision of income, goods and services and poverty alleviation. Some of the key players in the private sector are the finance institutions and development banks. These are known as International Financial Institutions. They also provide capital, knowledge and risk management. Saudi Arabia’s private sector assists the country to attain sustainable economic growth. For example the country’s business activity in the private sector has been rising. For example, according to the country’s Purchasing Manager’s, index that processes performance in the manufacturing and service sectors rose from 58.3 to 60.3. This was change between August and September 2012 (Saudi private sector growth at 4-month high 2012). This proposal has also discussed the role of the Information Technology (IT) in attaining national economic development in Saudi Arabia. This is seen from various projects such as construction of social hubs such as websites, Twitter and Facebook as well as browsing (How To Write A Proposal Essay/Paper 2012). Proposal; statement of purpose This section states the main purpose of the proposal and its objectives. The intention of this proposal is to identify, analyse and report about Saudi Arabia’s private sector’s contribution towards financing the educational sector. The educational sector is an important part of any nation. Therefore, when the private sector promotes such projects, it reduces the level of illiteracy in the country. The proposal has also analysed the role of IT in attaining national economic development for the country. IT is becoming of the major sources of GDP in worldwide. Investment in this sector improves the economic status of the given state. I propose that the country’s private sector should follow up and ensure that the projects it has funded are put in to their intended use. This will reduce wastage of resources. Additionally, the government should back-up the IT sector in order to ensure equal and diversified economic development. It is important to note that recently, there has been rapid spread of use of IT in Saudi Arabia. This is ranging from use of phones, modems and PCs. Therefore, the Kingdom should continue to improve its operating conditions and employment levels in order to maintain the growth and internet usage trend (Saudi private sector growth at 4-month high 2012). It is also recommended that the government should reduce trade barriers and taxation towards the private sector. Such factors reduce the level of investment in the private sector and subsequently, it reduces the contribution towards the educational sector. Additionally, the government of Saudi Arabia should offer subsidies and price cuts. This will encourage production and investments (Saudi Arabia: Government Support for the Private Sector 2012). As a result, the private sector will have more funds to support the educational sector. Saudi Arabia’s government should also control the pricing and monitor economic projects. This is because the private sector tends to manipulate the public by raising the costs of basic commodities. For example, education facilities such as books and laptops should be affordable to students. The government can establish bookshops in several places or offer subsidies to such laptops in order to reduce the burden passed to the students (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Economic Overview 2012). Plan of action This section is intended explain how the proposal will go about achieving its objectives. The aim of the proposal is to establish the impact of private investments and IT on economic factors. The proposal is written based on information from diverse sources. These include the website, UNDP and Saudi Arabia’s economic reports. From these reports information necessary for use in the proposal is available in form of theory, tables, graphs and charts. The project is divided in to various parts that are done on different days. Therefore, every task is assigned 24 hours. However, there are simple tasks that have been grouped together. This reduces overlapping of tasks because they are arranged according to their urgency and the time required to complete them (Importance of Economic Diversification for Saudi Arabia 2012). The different sections of the proposal are assigned different titles and task completion time. The average task completion time is 24 hours per task. The total project completion time is 5 days. This gives the project’s owner enough time to exhaust the options available for a given tasks. The tasks that are combined together use the same resources as those that are uncombined. The data collected is classified, organized and published in to a proposal or report. The report is divided in to sections that make up a proposal. Benefits This section states the reason why the proposal is worth implementing. A project or a proposal is intended to benefit the user or the person implementing it. This section identifies developmental challenges in the society and comes up with ways of solving them. The major challenges in this proposal are poor economic growth and educational facilities. These factors affect the private sector’s contribution towards the educational sector. This section also analysis the benefits of Information Technology (IT) to the economic development of Saudi Arabia. The benefits of the proposal are as follows (Ramady 2010, p. 46): Inclusive growth: this focuses on economic growth within countries that have various sectors and it is inclusive of the labour force. Therefore attention is on the welfare of the poor population in Saudi Arabia and the growth opportunities at their disposal. This approach aims at offering productive employment as a way of increasing people’s income (International Finance Institutions and Development Through the Private Sector 2011). Saudi Arabia’s economy is highly supported by its oil exports. However, most of the oil investment is under the control of the government. Therefore, the private sector’s contribution towards economic growth is minimal. Therefore, the government can promote this sector in order to increase the returns to the society. Poverty reduction: the private sector in Saudi Arabia aims at poverty reduction as a way of economic development. This aim can be achieved through raising the income of the poor and creation of more growth and employment opportunities for them. One effective method of this approach is to establish Youth Funds that can be lent with interest. Some of the growth opportunities are provision of health, infrastructure, and financing of the educational services. Results reveal that major efforts have been made in order to get children from the poor families in to schools or educational facilities (International Finance Institutions and Development Through the Private Sector 2011). The private sector also plays a role in addressing the educational and economic development challenges raised above. The Consumer Credit Regulations require the banks in Saudi Arabia to finance educational needs of the society (Saudi Arabia Banking Sector 2006). Growth: the Commission on Growth and Development is made up of major economists and policy makers. In their 2008 report, these economists found five characteristics of economies with high economic growth. This is summarized in the below chart: These characteristics show the ways in which Saudi Arabia’s private sector has benefited the economic and educational sector. In Saudi Arabia, the private sector also plays a role in addressing poverty and inclusive growth. Research reveals that economic growth leads to significant drop in poverty and it results in to higher living standards. Growth increases the income of the poor and the entire economy at the same rate (Doran & Buck 1991, p. 102). This causes a major reduction in poverty. As a result of improved economic growth, poverty reduces leading to educational advancement. A study involving various countries revealed that when the average household income increases by 2 percent per annum, the rate of poverty reduces by approximately 4 percent (International Finance Institutions and Development Through the Private Sector 2011). The diagram below shows the growth in Saudi Arabia’s GDP from 2004 to 2024. The service sector, under which IT falls, is expected to rise from SR50.03 in 2004 to SR430.56 in 2024. This is equivalent to 11.4% growth. During this period, IT is expected to be a leading source of diversification. This is because there has been international development in IT technology. It is notable that the Information Technology sector in Saudi Arabia is also becoming a leading source of the country’s GDP (Saudi Arabia: Long-Term Strategy 2012). IT revolution in Saudi Arabia has been as a result of speedy development of ICT infrastructure in the Kingdom. For example, the Kingdom’s local broadband usage has risen from zero in 2005 to more than 44% in 2012. Additionally, mobile broadband usage rose from 60% to 10% during the same period. This is a more than double increment. The table below shows the economic contribution that ICT has on economic growth of selected nations. From the table above, ICT’s contribution to overall growth rate in 2011 was 3.70%. Additionally, the ICT’s contribution to economic growth in 2011 was 9% (Coyle & Souter 2011). This proposal is worth implementing because there is enough evidence regarding the proposal. This information is sourced from different areas which increases the level of accuracy. There is good preparation given that there is a time-table showing every task and its time of implementation or completion (Saudi Arabia’s New Private Sector Investment Strategies: Institutional Changes, Privatization Challenges 2012). Will it work? This section informs the reader the reason why this proposal will be successful. This proposal would work because it focuses on the intended subject. It clearly expresses how the private sector contributes towards the financing of the educational sector especially in Saudi Arabia. It also addresses the issue of economic development. The proposal is straight to the point, clear and understandable. Additionally, the proposal contains graphical data which provides statistical figures for easier understanding. It is done on timely basis given that it is divided in to sections. Therefore, each task has its own completion time (Saudi Arabian Private Sector: activity eases off 2012). Desired outcomes This section describes the goals or the objectives of the proposal. This proposal is intended to inform an analyst or the user about the private sector’s contribution towards the success of the educational sector in Saudi Arabia. The private sector is required to make contributions towards Community Social Responsibility. In this regard, the educational sector is one of the areas that benefits from these schemes. Additionally, Saudi Arabia’s economy is expected to benefit from improved returns from the private sector. This is because this sector forms the largest part of the economy. Most of Saudi Arabia’s revenue is sourced from investments made by individuals. This means that many projects are financed using funds from the private sector. Such funds are obtained through the Community Social Responsibility (CSR) which is a requirement of all corporations. In Saudi Arabia, the educational sector is a beneficiary of such funds. As a result, this improves the literacy level in the Kingdom. Some activities involving CSR also benefit the economy. For example, some companies have built recreational facilities which attract tourists. This creates employment and economic growth. Resources needed This section explains the source of information used in the proposal relative to the goals in mind. The internet search engine was very useful in this proposal. It was the source of the statistical data and information regarding the private sector. Some information was available from the reports in the banking sector and the social network reports. The banking sector has information relating to their contribution towards the educational sector. The information available from the reports relates to the economic benefits of IT technology. Personal knowledge and experience is also a source of information for this report. The data is available in form of tables and it requires interpretation in order to determine the exact contribution made by a given variable. Raw data must be analysed, interpreted and explained in order to make sense to the user. It is from this data that information about economic development is obtained. Preparations made This section elaborates the steps used in coming up with the proposal. This proposal is divided in to various sections. In order to tackle them, the proposal was divided as shown in the below table. The first task was done on a Monday. This involved introducing the project and stating the intention of writing the proposal. On Tuesday, the plan of action for the project was formulated. The resources necessary to make the proposal successful are also assembled on day 2. On Wednesday, there is an analysis of the reasons why the project would workout successfully. On the same date, there is an analysis of the desired outcomes. Thursday was the day to assemble all the previous tasks and determine the proposal’s benefits. On Friday, a summary was made together with the preparations made. Date Task Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Introduction √ Proposal; Statement of Purpose √ Plan of action √ Benefits √ Will it work? √ Desired outcomes √ Resources needed √ Preparations made √ Conclusion √ Conclusion This proposal gives an analysis of the private sector’s contribution towards Saudi Arabia’s educational sector. It also analyses the impact that IT has on the economic development of the Kingdom. The proposal has been arranged in to various sections. Section 1 states the purpose of the proposal; the role that the private sector plays in contributing to the educational sector. Information Technology also plays a role in improving the economic development of the Kingdom. Section 2 has analysed the plan of action or the methods that the report has used to achieve its goal. This ranges from theoretical to graphical data. The section also explains the data obtained in form of graphs or tables. Section 3 indicates the benefits that the private sector has towards the educational sector. It also explains the benefits that IT has towards the economic development of Saudi Arabia’s economy. Section 4 gives the reason why the proposal is viable for use. It also states the benefits associated with it. Section 5 states the outcome expected from the proposal. It also indicates the goals or the objectives of the proposal. Section 6 explains the resources that were used in the report. These are website sources, reports and personal knowledge and experience. The last section summarises the preparations made before writing the proposal. This involves project management and it is displayed in a tabular form. It shows the event in order of their urgency while ensuring that they do not overlap with each other. It is recommended that Saudi Arabia should promote private sector investments. Additionally, the Kingdom should promote growth in IT by offering subsidies towards the costs of browsing. If Saudi Arabia is in a position to implement the recommendations stated above, it is in a position to reduce poverty and illiteracy among its population. References Coyle, D & Souter, D 2011, The Social Impact of Information and Communication Technologies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, viewed 07 October 2012, Doran C., & Buck S. (1991). Political and Economic Issues. London, UK: Lynne Rienner Publishers. How To Write A Proposal Essay/Paper, viewed 07 October 2012, . Importance of Economic Diversification for Saudi Arabia, viewed 07 October 2012, . International Finance Institutions and Development Through the Private Sector, viewed 07 October 2012, . Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Economic Overview, viewed 07 October 2012, . Private Sector, viewed 05 October 2012, . Ramady, M 2010, The Saudi Arabian Economy: Policies, Achievements and Challenges, Springer International, New York. Saudi Arabia Banking Sector 2006: Biggest beneficiary of the economic boom, viewed 07 October 2012, . Saudi Arabia: Government Support for the Private Sector, viewed 07 October 2012, . Saudi Arabia: Long-Term Strategy, viewed 07 October 2012, . Saudi Arabia’s New Private Sector Investment Strategies: Institutional Changes, Privatization Challenges, viewed 07 October 2012, . Saudi Arabian Private Sector: activity eases off, viewed 07 October 2012, Saudi private sector growth at 4-month high, viewed 07 October 2012, . Read More