Digital policies to enhance Bahrain government performance announced

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The Chief Executive of the Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA) Mohammed Ali Al-Qaed announced details of the new digital policies adopted by the Council of Ministers under the chairmanship of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister which aim to enhance the provision of e-services and facilitate their use by various sectors to encourage creativity and business development in accordance with the best international standards and indicators.

This announcement came during a press conference held by the iGA in cooperation with the National Contact Centre. Al-Qaed explained how new digital policies relate to government performance and reflect them at the level of public government services by reviewing a set of items, principles, and goals that fall under those policies, which include open data policy, e-participation, digital services first policy, digital government as a right policy, and single data entry policy.

Mr Al-Qaed said that all these policies were developed in coordination with the Ministry of Finance and National Economy, the Economic Development Board, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, the Legislation and Legal Opinion Commission, the Central Bank of Bahrain, and the National Communication Centre. He pointed out that the participation of these various entities has contributed to covering many aspects necessary in order to formulate advanced policies that lead to achieving their desired goals, such as encouraging innovation, attracting investments, ensuring the security and privacy of user information, and increasing customer satisfaction with government services.

He added that the iGA is keen to achieve more progress in the United Nations e-government index, so it formed a committee to study the readiness of the Kingdom of Bahrain in the United Nations e-participation index report, the next version of which will be issued next year. These digital policies have been introduced and linked to the report's indicators, in order to make progress in it.

Al-Qaed explained that these policies are based on the government's confidence in spreading a government approach based on comprehensive digital orientation for all sectors in the Kingdom, in line with the latest global trends. He added that the iGA is working in cooperation with various authorities in the Kingdom to develop implementation plans for these policies, stressing that the importance of community awareness of them, so that future trends are based on the provision of services in accordance with these policies based on cooperation between government agencies and the beneficiaries of their services.

Deputy Chief Executive of Electronic Transformation Dr Zakaria Ahmed Al Khaja spoke about the open data policy, explaining that it urges government agencies to make their data available through the Bahrain Open Data Platform and update them periodically. The government of the Kingdom of Bahrain considers data sharing with the public a crucial step towards enhancing transparency and accountability with regard to governance. He pointed out that to this end, the government strives to disseminate open data in order to encourage cooperation and involvement of all segments of the public, which will result in innovative solutions that seize opportunities and overcome the challenges facing everyone in order to improve the quality of life.

Dr Al-Khaja also touched on digital policies, which include the digital services policy first, the digital government policy as a right guaranteed to all, and the single data entry policy. He pointed out that through these three policies, the government seeks to achieve higher levels of transparency, openness and inclusiveness in government operations, establish a data-based culture within government agencies, as well as encourage the integrated government approach and encourage participation in the design of public service delivery and the development of policies.

Dr Al Khaja reviewed the e-participation policy, which highlights the government's commitment to providing traditional means of participation electronically and enhancing social media channels, in addition to achieving a quantum leap in the use of e-participation. He added that the iGA, during its policies, has been keen to learn about the Gulf and international experiences, to obtain the best terms and principles presented, and employ them in line with the e-transformation movement in the Kingdom of Bahrain

Over recent years, the expectations of different audiences about the quality of public services have doubled, with technical innovations increasingly permeating most details of their daily lives day by day which prompted the government to promote modern technologies as an essential component of any services it plans to develop, implement, and launch so that these services keep these services in line with the needs of the public and meet their requirements efficiently. The comprehensive e-government initiatives implemented by the Kingdom over the past decades have helped to empower government agencies and direct them towards improving the levels of effectiveness of their operations and the efficiency of service delivery.