IfG.CC - The Institute for eGovernment

The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union.

In an interview with Times of Oman, John Dalli, who was in Oman to participate in the recently held Oman Health Summit said, “All of us (countries) are faced with the same problem – aging populations, accessibility and sustainability. So the common solutions are heavier investment in prevention, decentralising healthcare pushing cure away from the tertiary into the primary sector with interoperable facilities and investment in technology, especially eHealth.”

Delegates to the recent Comex 2015 were treated to two very informative presentations courtesy of Nortal, the leading Open Source software provider for mission critical solutions in the fields of Government, Healthcare, Industry and TIME (Telecom, Internet, Media and Entertainment. With an active office branch in Muscat, Nortal had a strong presence at the conference and exhibition which saw many industry experts, solution providers and end users convene to explore the theme 'Disruptive technologies for fast tracking National Growth'.

Assessment

On the coming stages of the Award, Fatma Al Riyamia, Director of Operational Excellence, says: "The award committee has already started assessing the submitted projects using different means including Site Visit Review from professional assessors who will communicate their findings to the Jury panel to assist in their evaluation, Public voting for certain projects in which public can vote for these projects from 27th to 29th October through www.ita.gov.om/hmaward and 5 lucky winners will receive OMR 100. The assessment methods also includes eMystery shopping which is an internet-oriented sightless shopping service aimed to assess applications from different aspects, as well as eHealth Checks that aim to analyze and assess websites and online services through regular audits. These methods serve as pre-evaluation that will definitely support the Jury in their task,"

With the closing of entries for the fourth edition, the awards will include 58 projects from 27 government entities and seven from an equal number of private organisations. This is in addition to five projects from SMEs participating for the first time, according to ITA officials.

However, the largest part of the technological potential have not been fully exploited hitherto, with the majority of the people confining their use of technology to entertainment purposes, though I am not sure whether this trend exists only in the developing countries or it is commonplace in advanced nation as well. But I know for certain that such misuse or non-use of technology is there at least in my social surroundings by which I mean my own household and workplace. Some people at offices are not making the most of electronic services and they are dealing with technology as a mere luxury, thereby missing the chance of accomplishing the work in a faster and more effective manner.

He added that the broad band networks have become as important as roads and electricity networks in many countries and they are seen as part of the basic infrastructure in modern society because of the great role played by broad band and pushing forward the wheel of economic and social development, support of competitive capability and economic sectors, increase living standards, in addition to the development of applications and general services that are linked to broad band like e-government, e-health, education and trade services.

Fatma al Riyami, Project Manager for the Sultan Qaboos Award for Excellence in eGovernment, gave the welcoming address.

Following the opening remarks, Dr Bader Salim al Manthari, Executive — Information Security at ITA, and Giridhar Mechiri, an ITA Consultant, and members of the Award Evaluation Criteria Committee, gave a comprehensive presentation covering all aspects of the award.

Oman’s Bank Muscat launched bio-metric identification system with the help of Royal Oman Police (ROP).

The biometric system compatible with the Sultanate’s national identification card (NID) is the first of its kind in the banking sector in Oman.

The unique biometric identification system available across the bank’s network of 139 branches provides the latest solution in national identity for banking services. Aimed at improving efficiency and speed of transaction processing, the NID enables accurate data capture during banking transactions, especially when opening new accounts.

Oman’s first mobile wallet launched by Bank Muscat, the flagship financial services provider in the sultanate, has evoked a strong response.

The innovative bm Wallet marks yet another secure and convenient payment channel, reiterating the bank’s strong lead in rolling out electronic payment facility as part of the country’s e-Government initiative.

Developments linked to e-Government in Oman is the motivation behind our innovative initiatives.

For the past several years, Oman has been experiencing strong growth of mobile broadband, but has been lagging behind other regional countries in terms of fixed broadband availability. In October 2013, the Council of Ministers announced their decision to establish a new company to provide broadband infrastructure and services to all residents in the Sultanate. This new company, Oman Broadband Company (OBC), started operations in January this year.

Said al Mandhari, CEO, OBC, spoke exclusively to the Observer in detail about the overall contribution of broadband to the national economies, along with the structure and vision of OBC.

A new safe and secure system for mobile payment clearing and switching (MpClear) to enhance the payment infrastructure was launched on Sunday, according to the Central Bank of Oman.

The Sultanate becomes the first among Gulf Cooperation Council countries to have in place such a system guided by the CBO.

Lt.Col Ali bin Saif Al Marboey, assistant director general of civil status, said that this decision was taken due to the increasing pressure of work since the start of this year.

The Civil Status Department has also been activated in the wilayats of Ibri and Buraimi, apart from the wilayats of Seeb, Sohar, Rustaq, Nizwa, Salalah and Sur.

The Sultanate’s delegation gave a presentation on the central electronic emplyment system being used by the ministry in the Sultanate which has won several local, regional and international awards.

Since 2002 many state services have been made available online, with a focus on health, education and social services and on improving and speeding up interaction between the private and public sectors.

Comex 2017, the 27th edition of Oman’s prominent event for IT, Telecom and Technology this year will focus on ‘To Digital Life” that impacts the future of both business and personal spheres.

This seminal ICT (Information and Communications Technology) event is being held for the first time in Oman in collaboration with Smart City Summit-Oman, with a strategic partnership between the Smart Cities Council and the Information Technology Authority (ITA), as well as Oman Broadband and Omran.

Omani companies HMR Consultants and TRM Engineering Consultants will offer their expertise in local environment and traffic standards

A consortium of international consultants has been appointed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning to design the master plan of the Salalah Smart City project.

Leading the consortium is the engineering consultancy firm F&M Middle East, with Cundall – a London based company with infrastructural strategic vision, MIC-HUB – a Milan based company well versed in transportation and mobility in diverse urban settings, Cavendish Maxwell – a Dubai/Muscat based company with knowledge of marketing and feasibility studies, and Skyne – a Dubai based branding company. Omani companies HMR Consultants and TRM Engineering Consultants will offer their expertise in local environment and traffic standards, while Milcris Oman will provide cost consultancy expertise.

The Council on Wednesday issued a statement on various issues discussed at the meetings held till the middle of January.