IfG.CC - The Institute for eGovernment

During the meeting, the council affirmed that the coming year will see the launch of the work at the Supreme Judicial Council’s headquarters and the building of the Supreme Court. It will also witness expansion of courts, conducting reviews for some legislations that will contribute to more flexibility in the litigation procedures. The application of the e-systems at the courts will be a milestone and an important pioneering step towards e-government. The council reviewed the major achievements made during the past year including the opening of the Supreme Judicial Institute which will meet the needs of the justice sector in terms of judges, lawyers, secretaries, notaries public and other legal experts.

The project will provide an efficient system for businessmen, visitors and tourists, and simplify procedures for issuance of visas and residence permits to foreigners. It will ensure easier entry and exit through check points and help sharing of information with respective departments.

The portal is aimed to help in providing many electronic services to its personnel. It will also be available to the civil society of citizens, residents, visitors, interested persons, as well as government and private institutions, through the Internet.

A consortium of international consultants has announced the launch of work on a detailed masterplan and design of the Salalah Smart City project on behalf of the Omani Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning.

Leading the consortium is leading multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy firm F&M Middle East, which has tied up with international architecture and design firm Sasaki (for the master-planning components), mobility planning and infrastructure design firm MIC-HUB (for mobility aspects), and UK-based multidisciplinary engineering firm Cundall (for infrastructure and environmental elements).

Oman ranks 48th out of a total of 134 countries in the Networked Readiness Index

The second edition of the Digital Indicators Report issued by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology stated that the Sultanate of Oman has made strides in laying the foundations of digital society and preparing the telecommunications and information technology sector to be modern and feasible for various economic and social aspects as well as responsive to the requirements of sustainable development.

This is obvious by establishing many projects, which contributed to building a digital infrastructure that enabled all individuals and sectors to access various services.

Mohammed Saidan, Head of Network Section at the Office of the Dhofar Governor and Minister’s Office, termed this to be an e-focus effort by the government to get the different departments functioning within an electronic framework that should make for more transparent and focused government services and facilities to people in the area. “One way or the other, everyone is connected electronically. Some kind of training will pave the way for greater e-government services,” he said. Saidan, however, admitted that this was not as easy task, due to many complexities, most important of all, data security. “The government functionaries have to go (through) rigorous training to understand the process and then they will be in a position to deliver the services to the people.”

The project mainly seeks to establish a comprehensive electronic system to manage the works of the national manpower and to meet the needs of the market in an easy technical way in co-operation with the different institutions. It is worth mentioning that the General Authority of Manpower Register was established by the Royal Decree No 98/2011 to issue a clear database of national manpower and to reinforce the planning of developing the human resources.

Companies wishing to submit tenders for projects announced by Muscat Municipality can now access online, instead of going to their offices to do so.

Called Isnad (Arabic for ‘support’), the e-tendering system has been launched in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology and the Tender Board, and is expected to provide multiple benefits in terms of facilitating and simplifying tendering.

The government sector entities will compete in 9 categories, whereas the private sector's big organizations will compete in two categories, namely: Best Public Mobile eService and Best Public eService. Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are to compete, for the first time, in two categories: Best eSolution and Public Mobile E-Service.

The event was held under the patronage of HE Sheikh Al Fadhl Bin Mohammed Al Harthy, Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers and Dr Salim Sultan Al Ruzaiqi, CEO of ITA, in the presence of ministers, their excellencies and other government officials from IT departments.

Unified procurement of hardware and software for implementation of the eGovernment strategy guidelines was among the issues discussed at a regional meeting, here on Sunday.

Hosted by the Sultanate represented in the Information Technology Authority (ITA), the 20th meeting of the GCC eGovernment Executive Committee, began yesterday.

Digital or printed mail can be received or redirected, whenever or wherever, without fear of losing mail. 2,000 subscriptions, mostly Omanis, were made on the first day of the exhibition which indicates the Omani society's awareness of technology. Susan Moores, Media & Communication Specialist at ITA, says, “the most interesting benefits of it are the FollowMe service, where you can get your mail forwarded or sent to wherever you move. Your ePost ID is for life.

The idea of the system focused on finding database for all students at the private higher education institutions to be linked by a website that includes a number of e-services of which the student can implement and to be dealt with by the institution and the Ministry with the possibility of setting up a tracking system for the student’s transaction by a phone as the student can receive a notification regarding his/her transaction.

The regulatory framework for smart cities is likely to be ready by the end of this year, according to a top official. Speaking to the Observer recently, Omar al Ismaili, CEO of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), said, "There is no limit on how this concept of smart cities will evolve. It is based on guidelines, including that from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the ISO standard. There is a national effort regarding the smart city and this is a good example of a collaborative regulation." It has been prepared in cooperation with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (MoUHP) and the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (MoTCIT).

Oman Vision 2040 identifies smart cities as a strategic national initiative that acts as a source of economic growth, creating jobs and a tool to diversify the economy.

There is also good improvement in terms of online citizen and business services indices, which show that the Omani Government and the Information Technology Authority (ITA) policies are yielding results. The ranking for e-Services this year is at 35 compared to its position of 55 in the 2010 Report.

The regulatory authorities have made it mandatory for telecommunication service providers to offer telecommunication service through wireless local loops (WLLs) in less populated remote areas.

Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel) offers telecommunication service to 20,000 people living in different interior places spread across the country.

“We are in greater need than ever before for providing the remotest areas in the Sultanate with premium mobile phone and internet services, in addition to eliminating digital illiteracy so as to enable all individuals of the society to acquire electronic services and benefit from the better services offered in such fields as health care, education, as well as means of obtaining information and knowledge,” said Salim Al Ruzaiki, chief executive officer of Information Technology Authority (ITA). He was addressing a function to mark the World Telecommunication and Information Society day here.

In a statement, Dr. Rawiyah said that approving the management system of special documents at the Higher Education Ministry is an important step to find e-system for documents and archives at the level of the Sultanate.

Building on the 2012 edition’s success, the Information Technology Authority has said that this year, besides government and private sectors, SMEs too can participate with their innovate projects and e-services.

The number of awards this time would be in 12 categories – nine for the government sector, two for big companies in the private sector and one for SMEs, ITA chief executive officer Dr Salim Sultan Al Ruzaiqi said.