Progress report about vital e-Government projects reviewed

Dubai, February 16, 2005: The master policy plan of 2005 for the vital e-Government project was approved by the e-Government steering committee at a meeting today in Dubai under the chairmanship of H.E. Dr. Mohamed Khalfan bin Khirbash, the UAE Minister of State for Finance and Industry. The steering committee members also reviewed progress reports of ongoing projects, and discussed the e-Government Policies, Standards, and Processes (PSP) project. 

Commenting on the meeting, Dr. Khirbash said: "The progress that has been made thus far is satisfactory. The work that has been completed by our technical partners at Etisalat, represented by eCompany, together with the e-Government project management team from the Ministry of Finance and Industry, has been widely lauded. We call on parties involved in this project to speed up the process to meet the deadlines set for the various phases of this landmark project." 

"We aim at establishing an e-environment to help us finalize and achieve a world-class UAE e-Government with cutting edge ITC technology. This objective complements our drive to achieve a highly efficient government, and enhances our efforts to provide the corporate sector and individuals, UAE nationals and residents, with up to date solutions for any anticipated problem," added Dr. Khirbash.

The master plan of 2005 revealed a number of expected delivery items for the projects that were already approved by the steering committee. These will focus on core applications to increase effectiveness and efficiency of the federal government. The master plan offers a seamless interface between the government, businesses, and citizens through a number of e-Services available through different channels, such as Internet, mobile phones, public kiosks, call centers, and other dedicated service centers across the country. The master plan takes also into consideration specialized training programs to enable federal employees to meet the challenges of implementing the e-Government project.

The steering committee was also briefed about the progress made on different ongoing e-Government projects. These comprise of e-Projects, e-Expat, the Human Resources Management Information System (HRMIS), and the Financial Management Information System (FMIS).

The e-Projects, e-Expat, and HRMIS teams have recently conducted, in collaboration with eCompany and e-Government project team from the Ministry of Finance and Industry, kick-off workshops with their relevant stakeholders. The methodology of these projects and the phases of implementations have been presented and discussed, and an initial vision for each project was then formulated.  

The members of the steering committee were also updated about the FMIS, a project that strengthens auditing and financial scrutiny and is regarded as one of the main pillars supporting performance-based budgeting. The necessary hardware for this system has been provided, the infrastructure is already hosted in eCompany data centres, and all essential network, security, and administration requirements for the launch of FMIS have been set. For the next three months, the FMIS project team will complete all documentation and training requirements for the implementation of the system. One vital element is a comprehensive change management plan that has been formulated in sync with the implementation plan for FMIS.

The Policies, Standards and Processes (PSP) project was also discussed at the meeting today. Dr. Mohamed Emir Mavani, the e-Government project Director at the Ministry of Finance and Industry, said that PSP aims to develop necessary standards and policies covering all areas of e-Government. The project also aims to establish a process of ongoing maintenance and update of the recommended policies and standards, and will serve as a benchmark for new government services that will enter the realm of e-services in the future. 

The e-Government project has been designed in such a way to allow the government officials responsible for the project to implement the programs and systems in structured 'wave' stages, whereby each wave has its own milestones and benchmarks. The initiative was introduced as a tool to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the UAE Federal Government and is a key component in sustaining the country's competitiveness.

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© Press Release 2005