Dr Yeslam Al-Saggaf
PhD MInfoTech CSturt, BE(Hons) I.I.U.Malaysia
Senior Lecturer in Information Technology
Office Location
Room: 115
Building: 01
Consultation Times:
Mailing Address
School of Computing and Mathematics
Locked Bag 588
Wagga Wagga NSW 2678
Australia
Telephone:+61 2 6933 2593
Fax: +61 2 6933 2080
Email: yal-saggaf@csu.edu.au 
Brief Biography
Dr Yeslam Al-Saggaf is a Senior Lecturer in Information Technology and a Research Fellow in the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE). He holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree (with honours) in Computer and Information Engineering from Malaysia and a Master of Information Technology and a PhD from Charles Sturt University, Australia. His research interests lie in the areas of ICT Ethics, Online communities (both social and political) and the online public spheres in the Arab world. He has published in those areas in a number of international refereed journals as well as presented papers at a number of international conferences. His current research project focuses on privacy from a Saudi Arabian perspective.
Research Focus
ICT Ethics, Online communities (both social and political) and the online public spheres in the Arab world
Teaching Responsibilities
Object Oriented Modelling
ICT Ethics
Active Directory for Windows Server 2003
System Analysis
Research Methods
Database Development
Administrative Responsibilities
Member of the School of Computing and Mathematics Research Committee
Professional Activities
Research fellow, Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics Full member of the Australian Computer Society (MACS)
Selected Publications
Books
Weckert, J. & Al-Saggaf, Y. (Eds.) (2004). Computing and Philosophy 2003: Selected papers from the Computing and Philosophy (CAP) conference. Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology, 37, ACS. Sydney : Australian Computer Society
Book Chapter
Weckert, J. & Al-Saggaf, Y. (2008). Regulation and governance of the Internet. In H. T. Tavani, and K. Himma, Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics, pp. 475-495 Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons.
Al-Saggaf, Y. (2007). Exploring political online forums in Saudi Arabia through thematic content analysis. In S. Hongladarom (ed.) Computing and Philosophy in Asia , pp. 13-30. Newcastle : Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Al-Saggaf, Y. (2007). The digital divide within the digital community in Saudi Arabia . In E. Rooksby & J. Weckert (Eds). Information Technology and Social Justice, pp. 262-282. Hershey , PA : Idea Group
Weckert, J. & Al-Saggaf, Y. (2007). Regulation and governance of the Internet. In H. T. Tavani, and K. Himma, Information and Computer Ethics. USA : John Wiley and Sons.( In print)
Al-Saggaf, Y. & Weckert, J. (2006). Political Online Communities (POCs) in Saudi Arabia . In S. Marshall , W. Taylor & X. Yu (Eds.). Encyclopaedia of Developing Regional Communities with ICT, pp. 557-563. Hershey , PA : Idea Group Reference.
Al-Saggaf, Y. & Kharabsheh, R. (2006). Healthcare-Related Web Forums in Saudi Arabia : Understanding their Use Through Silent Observation and Thematic Content Analysis. In Pranee Liamputtong (Ed). Health Research in Cyberspace, pp. 257-272. New York : Nova Science Publishers
Refereed Journal Articles
Zia, T., Al-Saggaf, Y., Islam, M. Z., Zheng, L., and Weckert, J. (2009). The Digital Divide in Asia: Cases from Yemen, Bangladesh, Pakistan and China. Journal of Information Ethics, 18(2), McFarland (In Print).
Al-Saggaf, Y. Himma, K & Kharabsheh, R. (2008). Political online communities in Saudi Arabia: the major players, Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, 6(2), pp. 127-140, Emerald Group Publishing
Al-Saggaf, Y. (2006). The online public sphere in the Arab world: The war in Iraq on the Al Arabiya website. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication , 12(1), article 16. Boston : Blackwell Synergy http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue1/al-saggaf.html pp. 311–334
Al-Saggaf, Yeslam and Kirsty Williamson (2006) “Doing ethnography from within a constructivist paradigm to explore virtual communities in Saudi Arabia .” Qualitative Sociology Review, 2(2), pp.5-20, http://www.qualitativesociologyreview.org /ENG/archive_eng.php)
Ferguson , S., Salmond, R., Al-Saggaf, Y., Bowern, M. & Weckert, J. (2005). The use of case studies in professional codes of ethics: The relevance of the ACS experience to ALIA’s code of ethics. Australian Library Journal. 54(3), pp. 299-308
Al-Saggaf, Y. (2004). The Effect of Online Community on Offline Community in Saudi Arabia . Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries EJISDC, 16, 2, pp.1-16, http://www.ejisdc.org
Al-Saggaf, Y. & Begg, M. (2004). Online Communities Versus Offline Communities, Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, 2(1), pp. 41-54, Troubador: UK
Al-Saggaf, Y. & Weckert, J. (2004). The Effects of Participation in Online Communities on individuals in Saudi Arabia , Computers and Society ACM SIGCAS. 34(1). Retrieved September 2, 2004 from http://www.computersandsociety.org/sigcas_ofthefuture2/sigcas/index.cfm
Al-Saggaf, Y. & Williamson, K. (2004). Online Communities in Saudi Arabia : Evaluating the Impact on Culture Through Online Semi-Structured Interviews. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research [On-line Journal], 5(3), Art. 24. Available at: http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs-texte/3-04/04-3-24-e.htm
Weckert, J. & Al-Saggaf, Y. (2003). Online Cultural Imperialism: Is it an Ethical Issue? Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, 1(1), pp. 21-29, Troubador: UK .
Refereed Conference Proceedings
Al-Saggaf, Y. (2008). Online media and freedom of expression in the Arab world: the case of the Al-Arabiya site. In M.B. Nunes, P. Isaías and D. Ifenthaler (Eds.). Proceedings of the IADIS International Conference WWW/Internet 2008. (pp. 499-503) Freiburg, Germany. 13 - 15 October 2008,
Al-Saggaf, Y. (2008). Breaking the taboo: the case of marriage education communities in Saudi Arabia. . In M.B. Nunes, P. Isaías and D. Ifenthaler (Eds.). Proceedings of the IADIS International Conference WWW/Internet 2008. (pp. 339-343). Freiburg, Germany. 13 - 15 October 2008
Al-Saggaf, Y. (2006) Online media and the Public Sphere in the Arab World. In L. Stillman & G. Johanson (Eds.), Proceedings of the 3rd Prato International Community Informatics Conference (CIRN 2006) . (pp. 1-17). Prato , Italy , 9-11 October.
Al-Saggaf, Y. & Weckert, J. (2004). Keeping the public in Saudi Arabia informed: the role of virtual communities. In P. Rushbrook & G. Whiteford (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2004 Conference: Continuing Professional Education Conference 2004 (CPE 04) 5-6 March, Australian National University , Canberra, Australia (pp. 1-8). Wagga Wagga: CSU .
Al-Saggaf, Y., Weckert, J. & Williamson, K. (2002). The Effect of Online
Community Experience on Individuals’ Offline Lives: A Saudi Arabian Perspective. Conference Proceedings: Electronic Networking 2002 Building Community, 3-5 July, Melbourne , Australia .
Al-Saggaf, Y., Weckert, J. & Williamson, K. (2002). What Do Individuals in Saudi Arabia Say About their Participation in Online Communities. Conference Proceedings: IADIS International Conference WWW/Internet, 13-15 November , Lisbon , Portugal .
Al-Saggaf, Y., Williamson, K. & Weckert, J. (2002). Online Communities in Saudi Arabia : An Ethnographic Study. Conference Proceedings: The Thirteenth Australasian Conference on Information Systems ACIS, 4-6 December, Melbourne , Australia .
Research Project Supervision
ICT Ethics, Online communities (both social and political) and the online public spheres in the Arab world.
Current Research Students
Campbell Gunn, Doctor of InfoTech, The study of social interactions in online communities and the development of a framework for understanding online identities
Gillian Harvie, Doctor of InfoTech, Managing the Octopus: Managing Information Technology Network and Culture Transition
Grants and Awards
2006, I am one of the Chief Investigators in a major ARC Linkage Grant (LP0667487), worth $421,929, and titled “Generating knowledge and avoiding plagiarism: Smart information use by secondary students”.
2005, I am one of the Chief Investigators of a major ARC Linkage Grant ( LP0560659), worth $218,400, and titled “Ethics and Regulation in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Industry” . This project is in partnership with the Australian Computer Society (ACS).
2007, The Faculty of Business at Charles Sturt University has awarded me a $3000 seed grant to conduct a research project titled “ Islamic Fundamentalism on Saudi Online communities”
2007, The School of Computing and Mathematics has awarded me a $1000 seed grant to attend an international conference in Helsinki
2007, The Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics has given me $1500 to attend an international conference in Bangkok
2006, I am also one of the successful applicants of the Science and Agriculture Publication Assistance Scheme (worth $1000).
2003, I was a team member in the ACS Code of Ethics project which generated ethical scenarios that highlighted the ACS code of ethics. I contributed 5 scenarios of the 30 submitted to the ACS. The grant given to the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics for this project was $5000.