Macki also revealed that the government would be making an official launch for the National Day celebrations in November, this year.
“Allowing and providing e-government service is an integral component of the Sultanate’s Information Technology Strategy, which was launched in May last year.
“E-government is conceived as a means of improving services to businesses and citizens, promoting economic and social development, and improving the effectiveness and efficiency of internal government operations,” Macki said.
He also noted that the government has issued tender for provision of consultancy services for developing e-legislation to support Oman digital society and e-government initiatives.
“This tender is currently being evaluated and it will be awarded next month (September),” Macki said.
He also noted that the Information Technology Technical Secretariat of the National Committee for Information Technology (ITTS) has taken the following steps to coordinate the strategy for implementation of e-government:
- Started implementing the International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL) — programme for high school teachers to be ready for the full scale implementation in high school (grade XI) for approximately 45,000 students as of the academic year 2004/2005.
- Issued the RFI for Arbar portal, which is the main gateway for electronic government services
- Working on implementing the following quick wins:
- Statistics on line with the Ministry of National Economy. The suggested timeframe: phase 1 to be completed within the coming two months
- E-tendering with the tender board. Suggested timeframe: to complete phase 1 within the coming two months
- National Registry System (NRS) for smart ID cards, which started operation as of January, this year.
- Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT)/Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), Central Bank of Oman. The contract is being negotiated with the selected bidder to be implemented in nine months.
- Geographical Information System Centralised Authority (GISCA), Ministry of National Economy. The project began in June, this year.
- One Stop Shop for companies’ registration at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry — Tender Board awarded the contract last week. This is a four-year project based on leasing and knowledge transfer.
- Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM) that began operations more than a year back.
- Statistics on line with the Ministry of National Economy. The suggested timeframe: phase 1 to be completed within the coming two months
Macki said that the ITTS will be defining other major national initiatives for bringing various on line services and they will be announced soon.
Referring to the other economic structural reforms that the government was planning, Macki said: “The government is actively moving ahead with the unbundling process within the electricity sector, which is now in its final phase. The activities hitherto carried out at the government level are being transferred to newly established specialised corporate entities to handle the purchase, transmission, distribution, billing and collection activities with respect to electricity supply.”
Macki also noted that in the future, the government would plan to privatise these entities in a time bound fashion.
“Complementing the above process is the establishment of a number of local independent power generation companies in the private sector with participation by major international companies specialising in power generation. The ultimate aim is to be able to meet the future power needs of the country in a planned manner, with emphasis on achieving efficiencies in cost and service capabilities.”
Macki stressed that it was also the intention of the government to follow the above process in other economic areas too, namely sewage and wastewater management, water supply, telecommunications, transport, etc., with respect to which considerable groundwork has been initiated.
“The government has also taken up the prestigious project of ‘The Wave’ with a view to boost the tourism industry, as well as to open up the real estate and property development industry. The expressions of interest received on this project, both from local and international parties, have been encouraging. While some progress has been made in terms of relaxation of immigration procedures to allow tourists and visitors into the country, the government is carefully reviewing some of the fundamental essentials to encourage and promote tourism and real estate industry.
“We are optimistic that we would be in a position to take up these issues constructively in the near future. Indeed the demands of these sectors can be numerous and varied, and the government needs to address these issues keeping in mind the safeguarding of and respecting the rich cultural heritage of Oman and the Omani people, as well as the environment.” Referring to the recent awarding of the second mobile licence, Macki said a number of further steps are being planned in this area and in the foreseeable future keeping in mind the global trends, to provide added value and competitive service efficiencies for the public in general.
Autor: Adarsh Madhavan
Quelle: Times of Oman, 03.08.2004
