The government is making an all out effort to help citizens and residents to benefit from the new e-transaction law, said Central Informatics Organisation (CIO) Under-Secretary Mohammed Al Amer.
"The law is extremely important as it will go a long way in improving the efficiency of various government services," Mr Al Amer told the GDN.
"Bahrain is one of the few countries in the region to have such a comprehensive law on electronic public transactions."
Some government services are already available electronically, said Mr Al Amer.
These include e-visa, renewal of commercial registration, renewal of driving licence and payment of fines for traffic violations.
"Our target is to have 20 such services being offered to the public through e-transactions, " said Mr Al Amer.
"Our target date is April next year, and it would prove a major boon to our e-government initiative.
"The new law regulates the e-transactions between various government departments, and sets standards for the e-government infrastructure including electronic formatting of files."
The decree covers electronic signatures and other electronic-compatible dealings, except transactions in which the electronic style is inapplicable and require written records, said Mr Al Amer.
"It also sets the conditions and criteria that public bodies have to abide by such as the use of trustworthy information systems for storing, sending and receiving compressed electronic records.
"The decree also stipulates that the e-mail be used in sending electronic records, provided a protocol is followed in transferring certain types of mails."
Mr Al Amer said the decree has set procedures of appropriate control to preserve safety, security and the privacy of electronic records.
"It also places criteria for issuing e-certificates which can only be certified if issued by the CIO or a body legally delegated to do so," he noted.
"The decree indicates the requirements that employees in various government bodies should abide by when processing official papers electronically.
"This is mainly aimed at ensuring that all actions are being conducted through the official government electronic sources."
Autor(en)/Author(s): Soman Baby
Quelle/Source: Gulf Daily News, 02.07.2006
