Under the patronage of H.E. the Deputy Prime Minister
Manama, Bahrain: The eGovernment strategy for the Kingdom of Bahrain and a new National Portal accessible at www.e.gov.bh were unveiled today by H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Chairman of the Supreme Committee for Information and Communication Technology (SCICT). The event, held under the patronage of the Deputy Prime Minister, took place at Palm Hall in the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre from 9.30 AM to 11.30 AM. The ceremony was attended by the President of the Shura Council, Ministers, Parliament Members, Governors, Municipalities' Councils and key members of the public and private sector.
The event began with the speech of the Deputy Prime Minister where he highlighted the necessity to leverage eGovernment in order to make the public sector more competitive, efficient and productive. The Deputy Premier dwelled on advantages of provisioning electronically enabled services such as lesser turnaround time for providing services to citizens, better information sharing amongst government agencies and accrual of cost savings to the government. H.E. informed the gathering that 28 important eGovernment services are already available on the national eGovernment portal and over the next 3 years about 167 most important services will be made available online. He concluded with the an invitation to all the ministries, individuals, media and businesses to work together for making the eGovernment strategy a success.
The speech of the Deputy Premier was followed by a presentation by H.E. Sheikh Ahmed bin Atiyatallah Al Khalifa, Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs and a member of the SCICT. During the speech, H.E. Sheikh Ahmed discussed the significance of the eGovernment program for the development of the country and the economy while explaining how the eGovernment program complements the ambitious reforms undertaken by the Kingdom in the fields of education, economy and labor market. H.E. Sheikh Ahmed told the audience that the basic aim of the eGovernment strategy is to achieve a visible improvement in service delivery to individuals and businesses while achieving productivity and efficiency for the public sector. During the speech, the eGovernment strategy document was presented to the Deputy Prime Minister heralding the launch of the eGovernment program for the Kingdom.
The eGovernment strategy under the guidance of SCICT has been prepared by the renowned international management consultancy firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers. The eGovernment strategy details out the action plan for the electronic enablement of over 160 services from 28 government agencies, 4 service delivery mediums - the Internet, national contact center, common services centers and mobile gateway over the next 3 years. Additionally, nine key enablers have been defined to augment the skill sets and to ensure the sustainability of the eGovernment program.
H.E. Sheikh Ahmed's speech was followed by a promotional video developed by the eGovernment strategy team. This video depicts the significance of eGovernment and the way it touches lives of people in all spheres of life. This promotional video will be aired on BTV soon.
After the promotional video, a joint presentation prepared by CIO; Ministry of Municipalities and Agricultural Affairs; General Directorate for Nationality, Passports and Residence; and Ministry of Industry and Commerce was made. The theme of the presentation was to capture the essence of collaborative efforts of ministries to address the needs of the four primary customer segments addressed in the eGovernment strategy - individuals, businesses, visitors and government.
Mohammed Ali Al Qaed, General Director IT, appraised the audience regarding the vision, outcomes and targets for the eGovernment strategy. He further gave details regarding the initiatives planned under the eGovernment program. These include access through multiple channels such as the internet-enabled PCs, mobile phones, contact center and common service centers. The presentation was then handed over to Mohammed Noor Sheikh from the Ministry of Municipalities and Agricultural Affairs who highlighted the key electronic services provided by Municipalities. Municipalities already offer services through multiple delivery channels such as the internet, contact centre, post offices and mobile phones. Subsequently, the representative from Ministry of Interior, Basim Yaqoob Al Hamer, explained the eBorder system and the benefits accruing out of it to the various stakeholders including the government, tourists and businesses. The presentation revealed that over 3000 eVisas were issued during each of the past two months. List of services, available on the eGovernment portal, for the visitors was also presented. The presentation from Ministry of Industry and Commerce shed light on the initiatives undertaken by the Kingdom for enhancing the contribution of businesses in the economy by proper streamlining of processes and procedures. The presentation also examined the various stakeholders for the development of eCommerce in Bahrain.
After the presentation, the national eGovernment portal of Bahrain was launched by H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa. The portal is now accessible through the internet at www.e.gov.bh . 28 important services including the payment of electricity and water bills, appointment for smart card, traffic contravention payment are currently available on the portal. This portal has been re-branded based on international standards to ensure ease of navigation for the users and easy retrieval of information. Furthermore, going forward it is envisaged that the services will be listed in a manner such that the user will not need to know which ministry provides a given service to avail a particular service.
After the launch of the national eGovernment portal, H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Mubarak al Khalifa inaugurated the exhibition. While passing through the various ministerial stands at the exhibition, the Deputy Premier displayed immense interest in understanding the services that were being showcased by the various ministries.
With this event, the Kingdom of Bahrain has taken another significant step in its endeavour for economic prosperity and welfare of its people.
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© Press Release 2007
