IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Bank Muscat, the flagship financial services provider in the sultanate, in line with its ‘Let’s Do More’ vision and commitment to innovation in banking service excellence, has stepped up the distribution of Chip and PIN debit cards to customers across the sultanate.

Adding convenience for customers to exchange the old debit card with the Chip and PIN card, select branches across the sultanate are open from 8am to 6pm on weekdays and from 9am to 1pm on Saturdays. Customers can visit these branches at their convenience to collect the new card.

The agreement to facilitate ‘Cyber Source’, one of the best Internet payment gateway systems in the world, for government entities was signed by AbdulRazak Ali Issa, chief executive of Bank Muscat, and Dr Salim al Ruzaiqi, chief executive officer of ITA, at Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM). ITA is mandated by the government to promote electronic payment solutions to government institutions.

Dr. Salim bin Sultan al-Ruzaiqi, CEO of the Information Technology Authority said that the organization of the seminar comes out of the importance of advising public organization of the e-government shift plan, which has been developed by ITA and approved by the Council of Ministers.

After the deal, Gemalto will be working with the government to introduce state-of-the-art secure travel documents. The e-Passport initiative is part of the government’s aim of providing enhanced services and protection to its citizens through the use of latest digital security technologies. As part of the deal, Gemalto’s ICAO compliant Sealys e-Passport documents and full Coesys solution suite will be used to enroll citizens and issue personalized, secure travel documents. The company will also be providing training, support and maintenance services.

Oman's e-Governance initiative encompasses the vision of transforming Oman into an advanced, world-class e-Government by seamlessly integrating all ministries and government entities to provide quicker and more effective public services online.

The event was held under the auspices of Shaikh al Fadhl bin Mohammed al Harthy, Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers, and Dr Salim Sultan al Ruzaiqi, CEO of ITA, as well in the presence of ministers and other officials. The highly ambitious plan consists of six main stages set according to policies and standards, within a specific time-frame, so as to ensure full transformation to eGovernmenance.

The Information Technology Authority (ITA) organised a two-day capacity building workshop earlier this week at Hormuz Grand Hotel to unveil the details of the fifth edition of the Sultan Qaboos Award for Excellence in eGovernment. The event was attended by Dr Salim bin Sultan al Ruzaiqi, CEO of ITA, and a number of representatives from various government entities, private sector and SME companies, a press release said.

At the event, Ruzaiqi said, “We are pleased to launch the Sultan Qaboos Award for Excellence in eGovernment to appreciate the efforts in the ICT sector for all government and private organisations including the SMEs.

During the panel discussion, Nasser bin Humaid al Khiyari, Director-General of Administrative and Financial Affairs at the Ministry of Information, Head of the e-Transformation Plan Implementation talked about several aspects related to e-transformation, terms, concepts of digital transformation, e-government and smart government.

Pakistani expatriates in Oman will no longer have to wait in queues at the embassy to get national cards issued or renewed.

With the introduction of an online system, the embassy has stopped manual issuance of NICOP (National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis), CNIC (Computerised National Identity Card) and POC (Pakistan Origin Card) with effect from October 1. The processing time of these cards which earlier took three months, now takes only two days.

The financial budget for 2014 and its various aspects were the main focus of the meeting. The board finalised the budget and directed that it be sent to the Ministry of Finance for final approval.

The symposium was organised by ITA as part of its efforts to promote e-Oman strategy and e-government services, determine national skills and capacity-building in the IT field and measure the level of preparation in terms of infrastructure.

In an effort to boost electronic services in the sultanate, the Information Technology Authority (ITA) organised a one-day workshop for government entities participating in the Sultan Qaboos Award for Excellence in eGovernment 2016.

The workshop reviewed the jury recommendations highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the participating projects. Participants from 28 government entities attended the workshop that was held in the Supreme Council for Planning with the participation of some officials from ITA and some jury members of 2016 award, stated a press release.

H E Dr Ali Talib al Hinai, Undersecretary for Planning Affairs in MoH, Dr Salim Sultan al Ruzaiqi, CEO of ITA and Fareed al Hinai, vice chairman, ICT Health signed the agreement at the ITA premises in Knowledge Oasis Muscat.

As part of its focus on e-governance, the Ministry of Manpower (MoM) is conducting a week-long survey at its headquarters to streamline services.

This survey is conducted every year to know about the departments most visited by employees and employers and how e-governance can reduce paper work.

“Our aim is to reach as many people as possible. We want to reduce the number of people visiting our headquarters in Muscat for availing services.

In two months’ time, the Ministry of Manpower (MoM) is planning to introduce an online system for registering work-related complaints.

“Our aim is to reduce the number of people visiting labour offices across the country to lodge complaints. The complaints can be related to workload, work conditions, pay and benefits, discipline, demotion, harassment, improper classification or denial of earned overtime or any type of problems at workplaces,” Saeed bin Nasser al Saadi, Advisor to H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Abdullah al Bakri, Minister of Manpower, told Muscat Daily.

The Ministry of Manpower (MoM) and Information Technology Authority (ITA) on Monday signed a RO3.75mn worth contract with Nortal for the development of work licences system.

The agreement was signed by H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Abdullah al Bakri, Minister of Manpower, Dr Salim bin Sultan al Ruzaiqi, CEO of ITA and Priit Alamäe, CEO of Nortal of Estonia, the contractor for the project, stated a press release. The agreement is for a period of two years with additional three years for the technical follow-up. H E Bakri said, “The agreement complements the e-government initiative implemented by the ministries and public organisations to turn e-government into reality.”

According to a Muscat Municipality spokesperson, the most popular of all the services is the Muscat Contact Center (1111), also called the interactive voice response. It provides information on the status of services applied for and documents required for municipal services.

“The 1111 service allows users to check the status of their applications and register civic-related complaints,” the spokesperson said.

The package includes different services, namely: transactions services via e-Certification, leases contracts' services, municipal licenses' services, employment services, e-Printing services, and suppliers' registration services.

Gemalto, a world leader in digital security, has opened a state-of-the-art Centre of Excellence for the ROP. The company has for the last decade worked on national eIDs and more recently, on ePassports.

Dedicated to knowledge transfer and sharing of best practices, the centre is designed to train ROP staff on technologies and processes associated to eIDs and ePassports for sultanate's citizens. It is equipped with the latest Gemalto technology and back-end systems needed to issue both types of documents.