IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

A project to unify services provided by Bahrain’s General Directorate of Traffic and the Electricity and Water Authority was announced yesterday (March 17) at the Bahrain International eGovernment Forum 2015.

The 'Unified Interface for Services' concept seeks to provide convenient ways to access the services through one outlet with added benefits through the 'eKey' service. It allows customers to complete transactions securely and easily, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication

Kingdom of Bahrain - The eGovernment Authority (eGA) today announced the success of the Sanitary Complaints eServices available online at www.bahrain.bh since earlier this year. Sanitary complaints were the first e-service of four to be made available to the public online by the Ministry of Works in 2008. The services are aligned with the e-Government program goals that aim to achieve a higher standard of living and quality of life by providing comprehensive, accurate and timely information and services.

The Central Informatics Organisation (CIO) announced on Sunday its plan to launch the electronic wallet for Smart Card users.

The wallet is part of many projects to be launched as part of Smart Card facilities, including allowing access to medical reports and history of cardholders through those cards.

Head of CIO, Dr Mohammed Ahmed Al Amer, said that the electronic wallet comes hand in hand with the e-government portal that encourages e-payments for many government fees and services. Al Amer said that the move is considered as a big step towards activation of e-government services. He pointed out that this service would keep people from carrying large amounts of money with them.

Bahrain is moving towards the creation of 'smart cities' that will revolutionise the way people live their lives, according to a senior official.

EGovernment Authority chief executive Mohammed Ali Al Qaed revealed thought was going into how technology can be used in transport, utilities, healthcare, retail and homes to improve life experience, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

When BlackBerry released its first smartphones back in 2002, all it offered was just enough juice in the battery to make calls for up to 30 minutes a day.

But to do that, one had to keep the phone in the charging dock for more than 10 hours! And it weighs 1.1 kilograms! Martin Cooper of Motorola when made the first mobile phone call on 3 April 1973 that was the weight of the device he used. Dimensions were 23X13X4.45 cm.

The projects, executed within the eGA national portal initiative, have been implemented and deployed within record time and include migration of data from AIX Environment to the new Robust Virtual Linux Infrastructure Environment, upgrading the Portal Application System from IBM portal 6.1 to IBM portal 8.0, in addition to providing easy and fast access to information and services, enhanced eServices, and an Interactive interface compatible with smart devices.

This statement was made in the opening session during a visit for evaluation of program performance indicators in Bahrain e-Government Authority in the presence of Mr. Mohamed Ali Al-Qaed Chief Executive Officer of e-government Authority, and expert Mohamed Buhijji of the Excellence Program, and directors of departments and employees in the e-government.

Those successfully completing the course will be awarded a professional certificate in eConcent Management. The course will be a combination of classroom training followed by practical training in one of the government entities or private sector organizations.

Huawei is implementing for governments and enterprises across the region to help build smarter and safer cities.

The Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) Chief Executive Mr. Mohamed Ali AlQaed visited the Middle East headquarters in Bahrain of Huawei, the leading global provider of ICT infrastructure and smart devices. The Huawei team, led by the Huawei Bahrain CEO Jon Lu Yuedong, showcased a range of innovative solutions that Huawei is implementing for governments and enterprises across the region to help build smarter and safer cities.

The participation comes in a bid to increase the efficiency of eGovernment services, to increase cooperation frameworks with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in the implementation of eGovernment strategic and programs, besides exchanging expertise in the provision of eServices, capacity building, ePerformance, and to exchange experiences with others to measure the achievements in the digital knowledge economy.

The Executive Chairman of the e-Government Authority Mohammed Al Qaed told a Press conference on Saturday that an average of 30,000 individuals visit the portal every day and 500,000 every month and said that the portal would offer more services soon.

The 2011 Security Strategist Editor's Choice Award follows the recent presentation of the ISO 27001 certificate, to the authority.

Bahrain has become the first country in the Middle East to receive an ISO certificate in the sector.

It was placed 18th overall of 193 countries included in the UN e-Government Survey 2014, up 18 positions from 2012.

The country was ranked seventh globally for online service delivery, behind the US in sixth position and ahead of Australia at eighth. It was also the only country in the Middle East apart from Israel to rank "very high" on the e-Government Development Index.

The kingdom stands second only to Israel in West Asia, ahead of Cyprus and Turkey.

The UN Global E-Government Readiness Report 2004 was prepared by its Economics and Social Affairs Department.

The deal – with Trend Micro, one of the world's leading Internet security providers – was formalized at a ceremony in the capital on April 28.

The UAE ranked first in GCC in the online service index (OSI) issued by UN within the e-Government Development Index (EGDI), while Bahrain clinched the second spot. Saudi Arabia came third in the index followed by Kuwait and Oman in 4th and 5th place respectively.

The UAE topped the OSI for Western Asia region and ranked eighth globally in EGDI. The Gulf country has also been ranked 4th in Asia in this indicator.

Along with Singapore and Spain, it will receive an e-Government Special Award for making significant progress in improving its e-service delivery and strengthening citizen engagement through e-participation.

The e-Government Special Awards will recognise the success of each world region by distinguishing the top ranked countries from Africa (Tunisia), the Americas (US), Asia (Republic of Korea), Europe (the UK) and Oceania (Australia).

United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang and incumbent UN General Assembly President Incumbent Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser co-patronised the ceremony. Over 500 representatives countries vying for the award, ministers and officials in charge of e-Government programmes attended.

The forum, held under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad, was attended by over 700 participants representing 97 states. It was the first such event taking place in the Middle East making Bahrain the fourth country in the world to host the forum outside the UN premises in New York.