ARMONK, New York, June 8 /PRNewswire/ --

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced it has completed the deployment of an
infrastructure that will modernize the delivery of government services for
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The multi-year eGovernment Service Bus (GSB)
project delivers the core communication and security infrastructure for the
Yesser eGovernment Program, the Kingdom's long-term modernization of all
government services. This program will eventually provide everyone in the
Kingdom with access to government services from anyplace and at anytime,
replacing the current system of time-consuming, manual processes.

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"The importance of electronic communication in providing efficient public
services is recognized in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," said Engineer Ali S.
Al Soma, Director General of the Yesser eGovernment Program. "Through our
partnership with IBM, we have put in place the core infrastructure required
to move the large majority of government processes in Saudi Arabia into the
information society."

This is the largest project of its kind ever achieved in the Kingdom. The
solution includes key elements from the business portfolios of every division
within IBM, including software, hardware, services and research, with POWER
System and System x servers, and DataPower devices hosting IBM SOA middleware
products at eight geographically distributed sites in the Kingdom. Together,
these products support the automation of business processes and the increased
collaboration necessary to usher in a new era of efficiency in government
services in Saudi Arabia.

IBM is helping Saudi Arabia reliably and securely host the high volume of
transactions associated with the large-scale delivery of online services to
citizens and enterprises, enabling access to government services in minutes
and hours, rather than the days or weeks traditionally required. The
deployment of the eGovernment Service Bus paves the way for the
organizational and governance structures required to support the delivery of
online eGovernment services to the citizens of Saudi Arabia. This project
will support a staged roll-out of nearly a thousand government processes that
are currently delivered manually. Over the next few years, these will be
transformed into a system that supports online, voice, and mobile device
access, fundamentally transforming interaction between the Saudi government
and the people it serves.

Highlights of the project include:

    - Delivery of large-scale core enabling (service bus) infrastructure 
      enabling an extensive eGovernment transformation process.
    - Establishment of a unified identity management system providing secure 
      single sign-on access for individuals and enterprises to eGovernment 
      services.
    - Delivery of shared and core services necessary to enable the first 
      generation of eServices, including university admissions, employment 
      services, and work permits, government payments, and commercial 
      registrations.



The solution is built upon a fully instrumented, interconnected, and
intelligent IT infrastructure.

"This project is significant because of its scope and what it will
deliver to the Saudi people, simplifying their dealings with government
agencies and increasing overall efficiency," said Steve Mills, Senior Vice
President and Group Executive, IBM Software Group. "This is among the best
uses of technology, and it underscores IBM's commitment to helping the Saudi
eGovernment Program realize its vision of smarter government."

For more information on how IBM is helping clients and business partners
to make smarter, faster decisions by using SOA, visit:
http://www.ibm.com/soa.

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All other company, product or service names may be trademarks or
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Contact: Chris Rubsamen
             IBM Media Relations
             +1-914-766-1803
             rubsamen@us.ibm.com