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Manama, October 20 (BNA) His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Higher Committee for Information and Communication Technology, chaired the nineteenth meeting of the Committee.
The meeting, which was held by default, was attended by Deputy Prime Minister His Highness Sheikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa and Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa.
The meeting reviewed the progress of work on the national strategy for the digital economy in light of the decisions of the Executive Committee to approve the required budget and the formation of a follow-up working group headed by the Ministry of Finance and National Economy. .
The ministry presented a report on defining strategic objectives for the development of a medium-term plan to make Bahrain a regional leader in the digital economy through capacity building, infrastructure development, legislation, education and training.
Other strategic goals include encouraging innovation to advance modern technology and its uses to support economic growth in financial, health, industrial services, transportation, logistics, oil and gas, and training.
The Committee approved the work plan and a proposal to appoint an international consultant to prepare the strategy. It also approved the proposed training program for strategic planning for information technology in the public sector, which was prepared by the Information and eGovernment Authority.
The program aims to build the capabilities of information technology officials in public sector institutions to enable them to develop and implement information technology strategies according to the needs of their institutions and in line with the government’s strategy and the national program for digital transformation.
The program includes training participants to follow methodologies and use tools to design and develop strategies to increase their readiness to keep pace with change and achieve qualitative addition to government information technology projects.
The program consists of about 100 training hours and a program to prepare trainers in the same field.
The committee also approved the digital transformation plan for the services of ministries and authorities in Bahrain in light of its follow-up to its decision regarding accelerating government agencies in preparing their plans for electronic transformation.
The committee reviewed the state of electronic transformation of government services and the services that have been completed, including 578 government services out of 1,581, while 66 different government electronic services were completed in 202, and financial transactions grew by 80% to reach about 2.7 million. The total financial transactions amounted to about 353 million dinars until last September. It was the result of providing alternative payment channels and launching electronic invoices.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum directed the Information and eGovernment Authority to complete the study of the remaining government services within the e-transformation program.
The authority must also propose implementation plans for them according to their importance and priority within a specific timetable in coordination with the Services Development Committee.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum also directed the provision of any new government services electronically, in line with the latest technical developments.
The CEO of the Information and eGovernment Authority briefed the committee on the preparations for the celebration of the e-Government Excellence Award in its eleventh edition under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa on October 27.