Mohammed bin Nasser Al Khusaibi, ITA chairman and secretary-general of the Ministry of National Economy, signed the agreement on behalf of ITA.
Ahmed Suhail Bahwan represented GBM while NCS was represented by Lum Hon Fyec, chief of global business, at the signing ceremony.
This e-government services portal is expected to be completed in a period of nine months and will enable the government to roll out e-services to the people.
The Ubar Portal is designated to be the main gateway to electronic services offered by the government and has been named after the ancient Omani city of Ubar, the ‘Atlantis of the desert’, which was the main trading gateway into the Arabian peninsula.
Through the Ubar portal, citizens will get access to a range of government information and services online whether provided directly via the portal or indirectly via other government portals, and websites.
The services include e-tendering, e-taxation, services of municipalities, Ministry of Manpower, and will provide online services like suppliers invoices; enquiries of payments from the Ministry of Finance; national registry services; e-visa, etc.
“Apart from the above services more services will be added to the Ubar portal in phases as we progress,” said Khusaibi in exclusive comments to Times Business.
Ubar portal will be the focal point of the Digital Oman Strategy laid out by the government which aims “to transform the Sultanate of Oman into a sustainable knowledge society by leveraging information and communication technologies to enhance government services, enrich businesses and empower individuals.
Access will not be limited to internet web access but extended to cover various access channels such as mobile phones and personal digital assistants. Other access channels will be added in later phases.
“This Ubar portal is intended to become the main entry point for existing government services and it is a very important and crucial project. This key initiative is being implemented through a number of phases mapping the overall development of the e-government initiative,” said Khusaibi.
Ubar portal is one of the main components of the e-government strategy.
Others including the security network; the national network; e-payment and e-legislation will form the main package of the e-government, Khusaibi noted.
On his part, Dr Salim Al Ruzaiqi, ITA CEO said: “A number of supporting components and services will be implemented with the Ubar portal that will enable a smoother and more comprehensive online service delivery like the e-Forms that enables downloading as well as online filling of government service application forms.”
NCS Group, the largest ICT service provider for the Singapore government of has been tasked with the design, delivery, implementation and maintenance of the Ubar portal over a five year period.
Speaking on the occasion, Lum Hon Fye stated: “This is a very strategic project for NCS in the Middle East based on our experience in the e-service with the community at large. We are happy to be part of the team that is going to deliver the project and we are fully committed.”
Autor(en)/Author(s): Visvas Paul D. Karra
Quelle/Source: Times of Oman, 04.07.2007
