More than 200 participants representing a wide range of public and private institutions, alongside international lecturers from Spain, Sweden and Malaysia, as well as a number of IT specialists from ITA took part in the symposium.
The agenda for the second day included three presentations. The first paper was delivered by Kim Andreasson, Managing Director of DAKA Advisory. He talked about best policy recommendations to enhance the performance of eGovernment services, eGovernment measurements and re-engineering to achieve excellence. Andreasson also highlighted the issue of building capacity to develop eGovernment strategies, involving benchmarking, and public sector awareness about statistical concepts.
Read more: OM: ITA meet seeks avenues for public participation in government
A number of people has been visiting the portal regularly and making use of the various services provided by the site which is powered by the ITA (Information Technology Authority). In January 2013 alone, 70,459 people visited the portal resulting in transactions through the e-payment gateway worth RO 467,856. These figures were 25,830 and 371,143 respectively in June 2012, according to the statistics provided by the ITA.
Read more: OM: Single window for e-govt services generates 5m worth business
CrimsonLogic, a leading provider of eGovernment solutions and services headquartered in Singapore, has announced that it has won a contract to plan, develop and launch Oman's first National Single Electronic Window (SEW) for the Directorate General of Customs (Royal Oman Police. Also as part of the project, the company will roll out an enhanced Integrated Customs Management System (ICMS) to replace the existing one.
Single Electronic Window is a platform that allows trading communities to lodge standardised information and documents with a single entry point to fulfil import, export and transit-related regulatory requirements. The Integrated Customs Management System (ICMS) will allow Directorate General of Customs to enhance customs administration in meeting current economic and globalisation trends and standards.
The reports states that GCC states in particular 'have sharply improved their overall performance' and continued to make investments in the ICT sector in a bid to diversify their economies.
Qatar is the highest ranked GCC state coming in the 23rd position globally, ahead of UAE (25th), Bahrain (29th) and Saudi Arabia (31st).