Dubai: 21 October, 2008 - eHosting DataFort (EHDF), a member of TECOM Investments, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dubai eGovernment (DEG) to promote e-services and ultimately create a paperless, electronic environment in the UAE.

The agreement was signed by Mohamed Fouz, CEO, EHDF and His Excellency Salem Al Shair, Director eServices, DEG, at the GITEX Technology Week 2008 that opened on 19 October and will run until the 23 October at the Dubai International Exhibition and Convention Centre.

Under the terms of the MoU, EHDF and DEG will work together to provide services to corporate customers from several sectors in the Middle East. EHDF has already worked to manage and operate the Dubai eGovernment portal infrastructure, deploying second generation platforms such as services infrastructure, services technology and backup, creating the foundation to expand its services to non-government sectors throughout the UAE.

Addressing a press conference at the region's leading technology event in Dubai, Fouz said: "The initiative is based on the collective knowledge of DEG on e-transformation and EHDF's expertise, as the Middle East's leading IT managed service provider, on managed services and operational outsourcing. Our partnership will provide government and non-government entities, businesses and individuals with a secure and user-friendly platform for operating their business and conducting daily transactions more efficiently and conveniently."

Apart from electronic payment solutions through credit and debit cards, mobile phone, and other avenues, the services offered through the agreement will also address business continuity and disaster recovery; strategy and design consultancy for government portals, while offering platform as a service for virtualization, storage, and networking, and software as a service for creating web portals and identity management.

DEG has been successful in bringing Dubai's government services online with 91 per cent of the more than 2,300 services now available online. Combining this with the UAE's ranking in internet penetration - the most wired country in the Middle East, according to the Arab Advisors Group's annual Total Country Connectivity Measure - makes the UAE a prime country for achieving the ambition of a paperless environment.

His Excellency Al Shair said: "We will leverage our expertise, including our service provider platform capability, for contributing towards the creation of a paperless environment. This will allow us to generate phenomenal benefits ranging from environmental gains to increased efficiency, cost reduction and an improved work environment. The agreement also aims to capitalize on the ambition of the Dubai eGovernment to proactively offer e-services to non-government entities. From large commercial entities to regular consumers, companies can enhance their business service delivery and market reach through seamlessly delivered e-services."

DEG was named Best eGoverment Programme in the Middle East at the inaugural Middle East Business Achievement Awards in January this, following which it launched a number of initiatives to continue promoting and revamping the level of e-services through providing enhanced infrastructure and storage back up to create a second generation proof platform.

EHDF has earlier facilitated DEG to enhance and expand its core network, storage and back-up platforms to service provider class, while reducing both the capital expenditure and operational expenses of installing and managing such a scalable service delivery platform.

eHosting DataFort has established a wide network of technology and channel partners based in the GCC, MENA, Europe, North America and the Asia Pacific regions. With world-class data centers, state-of-the-art infrastructure and round the clock 24/7 operations, the region's leading managed services provider delivers its operations through highly reliable infrastructures based on best practices including ITIL, ISO 27001, ISO 20000 and BS25999.

An impressive portfolio of customers, EHDF currently provides a number of IT services and consultancy to various sectors including government, finance and banking, IT, Telecom and Media, including Emirates airlines, Dubai Financial Market, Dubai Ruler's Court, Dubai Aluminium Company (DUBAL), du, Dubai e-Government, Dubai TV, Emirates NBD, and Arcelor Mittal, the world's largest steel company.

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About eHosting DataFort
eHosting DataFort, a fully owned subsidiary of TECOM Investments is a leading provider of IT - Consulting & Outsourcing services. The organization has obtained a number of notable projects to deliver world-class outsourcing services to major enterprises across GCC, MENA, US and Europe. eHosting DataFort's proven track record for managing an enterprise's IT infrastructure includes some of the largest organizations e.g. Dubai Financial Market, Arcelor Mittal (World's largest Steel manufacturer), Emirates Airlines, Standard Chartered Bank, Tejari, Arab Bank, British Telecom, Khaleej Times, Aramex, Dubai e-government and du.

Website: www.ehdf.com;
Email: info@ehdf.com;
Phone: +971 4 391 3040;
Fax: +971 4 391 3050

About Dubai eGovernment
Dubai eGovernment is a pioneering initiative in the region to provide online services across the spectrum of corporate and community life in the emirate. It also has a vision to integrate individually automated government departments under the single umbrella of the eGovernment initiative, thus empowering employees across lines of businesses and levels of government, besides facilitating the lives of citizens and customers of the government. Dubai has taken a lead in the region in deploying eGovernment applications and is among the first few governments in the world to provide such integrated services to its citizens. The eGovernment portal (www.dubai.ae) is a single contact point masking the complexity of the bureaucratic procedures, and guiding access to all services in the easiest possible way. In addition, the eGovernment initiative seeks to improve and enhance procedures by maximizing the benefit from technology, so that users from all walks of life will be able to utilize the portal for their specific needs with considerable ease. 

For more information please contact: 
Angelina Wong
Senior Account Executive
JIWIN Public Relations
Tel: + 971 4 369 2834
Email: Angelina.wong@jiwin.ae

Hammam Al Yazji
JiWin Public Relations
Account Executive
Mob: +971 50  9232100
Tel:   + 971 4 375 5877 (direct)
Email: Hammam.Alyazji@jiwin.ae

© Press Release 2008