Cloud computing is the way forward: iGA Bahrain

Manama : Bahrain leads the way in cloud computing in the region and will continue to do so with its ‘Cloud First’ policy, said Mohamed Ali Al Qaed, Chief Executive of Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA).

Al Qaed was speaking yesterday at the Amazon Web Service Summit in the presence of Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology, high ranking government officials, VIPs and IT professionals. 

With cloud computing at the core of discussions, seminars and workshops, the event was held for a full day, from 9:00am to 7:30pm. The summit was held at the Four Seasons Bahrain Bay, under the Patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and Chairman of the Kingdom’s Economic Development Board (EDB).

“We are proud to be the first country in the Mideast to have the ‘Cloud First’ policy. Businesses and IT teams here have the priority for cloud before considering any other options,” said Al Qaed. 

He said that benefit of cloud computing were that it saves time and money. “Cloud computing promotes efficiency, we are able to do more with the resources we have,” he said. 

During the event, a message from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was delivered by the Director General of the First Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa: “The capacity attendance of this event, the first Amazon Web Services (AWS) Summit in the Middle East, is testament to how we view the role of cloud computing in transforming the way public and private sectors use technology,” it said. “For the Kingdom, the expansion of regional cloud capacity builds on our efforts over the past fifteen years to transform the role of the public sector from the central driver of development to a regulator and active partner with the private sector in growing the economy. We are using technology to foster entrepreneurship, drive innovation and accelerate economic diversification,”  the message said.

Speaking at the event, HRH Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa noted that the growing ICT sector remains a key component of the Kingdom’s diversification efforts, and that the sector’s expansion supports other economic sectors such as business tourism. The Deputy Prime Minister praised the EDB’s role in advancing the development of Bahrain’s ICT sector, noting that the launch of Bahrain’s Technology Week reflects the EDB’s commitment to supporting sustainable development. 

In a statement released yesterday, AWS announced that it plans to open a Bahrain based infrastructure region in the Middle East by early 2019.