The government has launched a massive advertising campaign to promote electronic government services.
The move is part of the e-government project, an ambitious plan aimed at transforming the country's administration from manual to electronic. As a result, online transactions are growing by 30 per cent every month, setting a model for countries where electronic government is still only a vision, a senior official said.
"Online transactions are increasing tremendously, although we are just at the beginning of the plan," said Ahmad Hamad Al Muhannadi, director of Qatar's e-government project.
"People need to change their mindsets about visiting government office counters to get their work done. This will take a long time and represents our biggest challenge."
The e-government is an electronic gateway that permits access to some government services provided by the ministries.
Applicants can log on to the e-government portal and obtain certificates, renew permits of various kinds or pay fines.
Long queues at government departments to renew a driving licence or obtain a building permit are a thing of the past, Al Muhannadi said.
"Today Qatar's residents can sit at home and pay their traffic fines or replace a lost health card via their personal computers."
Since the e-government service was launched in 2001, the number of users has been growing steadily, said Mai Al Mansour, administration and finance manager for the e-government.
"Today we witness a growth of 30 per cent in the number of users every month," she said.
Al Mansour is coordinating an advertising campaign across the country that targets residents, companies and tourists all potential users of the e-government service.
Major Abdul Rahman Al Malki, in charge of IT services at the Ministry of Interior and one of the collaborators in the project, said the e-government services are part of the country's strategic plan to reduce red tape and wastage of time at public offices and to optimise employee working hours.
"It is not just about printing online forms. It is an interactive system through which residents can process all kinds of papers through the net and get what they need," he said.
"For us it is a way to cut paperwork and focus on improving quality of services."
Al Muhannadi said that the Qatari e-government project is among the most advanced in the Gulf.
"Only Qatar and Dubai are implementing e-government, and the other Gulf countries are lagging far behind.
"In this regard Qatar is becoming a model for the region, as the online services we provide are very sophisticated," he said.
Although the infrastructure, technology and standards are in place, the challenge is to create greater public awareness about the benefits of e-government, Al Muhannadi said.
"The biggest challenge is education. People are used to dealing face to face with the employees at the counters. They are sceptical about entering their credit card numbers or private information on the internet," he said.
"But we are also working to ensure them that the system is safe and fool-proof."
Al Muhannadi said the Cabinet would soon approve a cyber law that will protect internet users from cyber crimes. The legislation will include punishments for hackers and violators of the e-government and internet services in general.
"People need to change their mindset about visiting government office counters to get their work done. This will take a long time and represents our biggest challenge."
Agenda
Slew of services to go online soon
- Currently Qatar's e-government offers online services such as visit visas, residence permits, health cards, driving licences, traffic violations, electricity and water bills, Zakat fund, Red Crescent, Qatari employment, student registration and birth certificates.
- They are planning to offer other services such as vehicle registration and renewals, approvals for private citizens and residents to import manpower, issuance and renewal of passports and ID cards, commercial registration, taxation and customs, issuance of work permits to foreigners, commercial permits and their annual renewal, certificates for food imports, industrial licensing, export exemptions and industrial registration.
- Qatar e-government will also offer a range of visit visa services for tourists and Gulf residents.
- The visas on offer are of six types, including business, work, official visit, heavy vehicle drivers, seamen and tourism.
Autor: Barbara Bibbo
Quelle: Gulf News, 07.05.2005
