Rajiha bint Abdul Amir bin Ali, undersecretary for development affairs at the Ministry of National Economy, made a presentation of the strategy, its contents and its major projects.
She said information and communication technology changed economies and societies around the world and the way governments performed their duties and served their citizens. She said the state’s effectiveness in dealing with the challenges of transformation to the digital society determined its status.
She said Oman, with its achievements over three decades, possessed ambitious plans to benefit from the huge opportunities available for IT and the study of the national strategy was considered the first step in utilising these opportunities if detailed recommendations and working plans in the study were implemented.
Rajiha said the e-government was considered a basic element for digital society and it would be useless if citizens were unable to benefit from its services.
She said the company appointed to carry out the study made adequate recommendations, which allowed the Sultanate to get transformed into an e-government and digital society.
The opportunities outlined in the study included modernising government services made to the citizens and businesses, enhancing knowledge-based industries, creating a better competitive environment, providing job opportunities for Omani youth, rendering better healthcare, improving education opportunities, supporting tourism and social development, facilitating realisation of Oman’s economy future vision plan 2020 and making the Sultanate more attractive to foreign investment.
The undersecretary for development affairs said the digital vision set for the Sultanate called for the use of information and communication technology in services provision, making data available for public and private sectors and adoption of computerisation as the main method for rendering service.
She added results expected to be achieved after eight years from strategy implementation would include processing 30 per cent of government transactions via a one-stop shop, offering five Omani information and communication technology products in international markets, creating 10,000 job opportunities in the sector, creating websites for all government units, electronic processing of all transactions pertaining to four government services and significant direct foreign investments by three foreign companies in the information and communication technology sector and availability of 3,000 new job opportunities in the sector.
She said the most important recommendations in the study was that the government was to seek implementation of the strategy as soon as possible.
Other recommendations included upgrading current information technology system, encouraging a shift from cash to electronic payments, installing a government e-payment portal to be set up and initially operated by a private management and the use of personal identity smart cards linked to the new civil register for payment purposes.
The study recommends that the Central Bank of Oman expedite installing an electronic system for money transfer capable of performing one-time regular cash transfer operations.
The undersecretary for development affairs at the Ministry of National Economy said she recommended phased implementation of the e-government strategy.
She said developments in information and communication technology created a digital divide in the world and the Sultanate faced a decisive challenge in its history and added that steps to be made in the coming years would determine the Sultanate’s position among other countries and the opportunities that would be available for its citizens in this regard.
She said the Sultanate was well-placed to gain much by establishing and activating the proposed structures for strategy implementation, defining the role of Oman Telecommunication Company (Omantel), extending fast communication services to remote areas, developing experiments in the sector and maintaining a follow-up and accountability system to assess expected return from expenditure. She concluded her presentation by affirming that the opportunity was at hand now and must be seized.
The Sultanate’s government formed in 1998 a national committee for information technology under the chairmanship of the minister of national economy and deputy chairman of the Financial Affairs and Energy Resources Council, with ministers as members.
The committee set up an information technology task force from a number of government units and a technical secretariat was appointed at the Ministry of National Economy to assist the task force in its work.
Quelle: Times of Oman
