Manama, Jan. 19 (BNA): The Information and e-Government Authority, CEO of the Information and e-Government Authority, Muhammad Ali al-Qaed, said that the Information and e-Government Authority has launched a set of government e-transformation initiatives and national projects during the year 2022.
The Information & eGovernment Authority also launched the enhancement of the government’s e-services framework in line with the objectives of the government’s action plan and the support of the National Strategy for Information and Communication Technology and the Digital Economy (2022-2026) as well as the economic recovery plan to achieve comprehensive national development. Under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
Al-Qaed said that with the continuous support and guidance of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, the intergovernmental body has implemented e-transformation plans in the Kingdom in partnership with public entities.
It was implemented through the continuous development of government services and the provision of a high-readiness information and communication technology infrastructure and electronic channels that benefit citizens and residents.
In addition, a number of key government services have been improved, which had a significant impact on the national achievements of comprehensive digital transformation, emphasizing the continuous efforts of the International Government Information Authority to raise the efficiency and effectiveness of the government sector and improve government procedures through modern technologies.
In a press conference, Al-Qaed praised the continuous support and follow-up by the Minister of Interior and Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Information and Communication Technology, Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, which greatly contributed to strengthening the Authority’s efforts in achieving digital transformation plans in the Kingdom.
The Information and eGovernment Authority continued its success by launching more than 50 new electronic services by improving its procedures.
The improvement is shown by achieving more than 3.7 million electronic transactions via electronic channels and significantly reducing the government cost of providing services by 96% on average, along with reducing effort and time.
Al-Qaed added that in 2022, the Information and e-Government Authority continued its efforts to accelerate the pace of digital transformation plans for government agencies and their electronic services provided, which led to achieving a series of major achievements, most notably more than 600 electronic services.
The achievements came within the high-priority government services in accordance with the decisions of the Government Services Development Committee, praising the coordination and joint efforts between the committee and government agencies, which had a significant impact on implementation plans.
Al-Qaed said that the year 2022 witnessed the launch of the merchant mobile application, which is the first integrated application of its kind in the region that serves companies in Bahrain.
The application allows business users to complete and follow-up transactions with various relevant government agencies through one easy and convenient platform, saving their time and effort.
He also confirmed that the authority will launch the BeAware Bahrain application, with a set of new features and key services.
This comes in line with government directives and will enhance the user experience of the application, being one of the most prominent national initiatives that reflect electronic transformation and the employment of artificial intelligence technologies.
New features will include showing the user digital government documents such as ID card, passport, birth certificate, driver’s license, and vehicle registration (My Cards), in addition to adding a feature related to my medical appointments and my health cards.
The My Health Cards feature includes details and information related to the COVID-19 vaccination history, in addition to a number of other additional features that individuals use on a daily basis and are a priority for them.
Executive Vice President of Electronic Transformation Dr. Zakaria Ahmed Al-Khaja highlighted the achievements of 2022 and the upcoming plans of the Information and eGovernment Authority for electronic transformation.
He stressed the keenness of the Information and e-Government Authority to make more efforts to achieve the desired aspirations in the transformation sector and focus on improving the quality of life for citizens and residents in the Kingdom and achieving sustainability of government services by transforming and making them available through various electronic channels. and mobile applications.
Regarding the achievements of the Information and e-Government Authority in 2022, Al-Khaja said that the statistics and indicators were very positive.
The efforts of the Information and eGovernment Authority team have contributed to the implementation of national initiatives in the field of digital transformation and the continuous development of electronic channels.
This was represented in increasing the number of electronic services to more than 450 electronic services through the national portal bahrain.bh, 19 electronic services through electronic self-service kiosks.
In addition to more than 125 electronic services through e-government mobile applications, which contributed to achieving more than 18 million visits to the national portal (22% increase) and an average of 89% of the uses of electronic services compared to traditional channels.
The number of electronic transactions exceeded 3.7 million transactions that were completed through the various electronic channels of the e-government program.
Al-Khaja pointed out that the continuous development of government systems and improvement procedures are among the Authority’s priorities that support the achievement of comprehensive digital transformation in the Kingdom.
The authority worked on implementing development processes represented in a comprehensive development of the national payment platform.
Hence, more new features and services have been added to enable the users to complete their payment process at their convenience by saving the card details securely in the app without having to re-enter them in each transaction. In addition to providing multiple payment methods through payment services such as ApplePay and BenefitPay.
The improvements show the development of the self-service kiosk to update the ID card chip and reduce it from what it was before if the new feature allows adding documents in advance in the national portal bahrain.bh and then availing the services of the kiosk.
It also has features to upgrade eKey account to advanced level through kiosk, reset password and update details.
Al-Khaja emphasized that the authority worked on implementing and launching projects and systems that support electronic transformation in cooperation and coordination with government agencies, including the electronic authorization system, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) platform, and the national system for deliveries and improvements to the government. Service Center Evaluation System (Taqeem).
With regard to the most prominent electronic services launched in 2022, the Ministry of Interior came to the fore with 20 electronic services, including 9 electronic services for Nationality, Passports and Residence Affairs, and seven electronic services for the Information and e-Government Authority (NPRA). Information and e-Government Authority).
In addition, the Ministry of Interior has launched three services for customs affairs and an electronic service for the General Directorate of Crime Detection and Criminal Evidence.
The health sector witnessed the launch of six new electronic services, the trade and business sector, and four electronic services, including two electronic services for the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIC) and one electronic service for each of the Labor Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) and the Social Insurance Authority. (SIO).
The housing and real estate sector witnessed the launch of four electronic services, two for each of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning and the Real Estate Regulatory Authority.
The justice sector benefited from the launch of 11 electronic services, including three electronic services for the Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments, and eight electronic services for the Legislation and Legal Opinion Authority.
The education sector received the launch of four electronic services affiliated to the Higher Education Council, while the labor and employment sector witnessed the launch of a new electronic service.