“It is expected that this year’s forum will be the largest and most comprehensive since its debut six years ago,” eGovernment Authority CEO Mohammed Ali AlQaed told a Press conference on Tuesday.
The Forum is organized by the eGovernment Authority in collaboration with the Bahrain Internet Society (BIS) and the Project Management Institute, Arabian Gulf Chapter (PMI-AGC).
The forum is characterized by a fresh and more comprehensible feature by including the international expert Robert Tercek who will be participating for the first time in the official opening ceremony as a keynote speaker, addressing the most up-to-date trends in the field of technology at the international level.
The forum will also coincide with the announcement of the eGovernment Excellence Award 2013, where the winners will be announced and awarded by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed. Additionally, Bahrain IT Expo 2013 will also be held, attracting numerous leading local and international companies to reveal the latest advancements in the information and communication technology sector.
The eGovernment Authority CEO affirmed that this year’s forum will seek to cement the partnership between the public and private sectors as well as civil society institutions in the Kingdom. It will also enhance the scope and areas of mutual benefit and joint cooperation in support of the initiatives aiming at fostering these sectors and contributing to the development of the technical and information aspects according to the latest technology at the global level in order to find solutions and develop information technology in service of economic development programs.
“Year after year, the event was able to strengthen its position regionally and globally. We expect that this year’s forum will be the largest and most comprehensive since its debut six years ago, due to the magnitude of events, sessions and workshops offered by the international elite ICT and eGovernment specialists,” AlQaed, said.
“The concept of this year is centered on the utilization of inspiring innovative ideas and highlighting the productive technological concepts,” he added.
AlQaed said that the new eGovernment National Strategy 2016, which was announced in last year’s forum, re-affirmed the encouragement of innovation and efficient participation of the public, as well as business entrepreneurship; requiring the collaboration of all relevant entities and innovative concepts which contribute to shaping the objectives of the strategy.
AlQaed said that the Authority was committed to consolidating cooperation with the concerned entities in the implementation of the strategy elements and ensuring the realization of the contemplated vision, along with periodical revision of all steps that are carried out to ensure its effective and accurate implementation.
“We take pride in the consecutive successes of the annual forum, which has become a significant ICT and eGovernment event. This year, the forum will include six main topics discussed by more than 20 recognized speakers and nearly 700 internationally praised delegates from every region in the globe,” forum’s Organizing Committee Chairman and BIS Chairman Nawaf Abdulrahman, said.
“The forum will constitute of a platform for the participants to address the latest technological practices and trends through featuring numerous up-to-date topics and workshops that embrace Innovation and Open Data, Mobile Trends, Cloud Computing and Shared Services, Social Networks, and eGovernment,” Abdulrahman, added.
“Six workshops will be presented in cooperation with a number of specialized NGOs in the field of technological skills management, entrepreneurship in the field of ICT and Information Security, as well as strategic planning of means of communication, applications and eGovernance.”
The chairman invited ICT specialists, from private and governmental sector, along with stakeholders, to register in the forum’s sessions and associated workshops in order to benefit from the international expertise attending the forum.
Forum’s Sponsorship Committee Chairman and PMI-AGC Corporate Liaison Director Ahmed Naeemi said that the forum’s opening ceremony will draw the participation of more than 700 delegates from Bahrain and abroad, in addition to senior public sector officers and business leaders. Also, the forum’s two-day sessions will attract more than 500 local and international participants. It is expected that a group of companies and corporations will take part in the forum’s IT Expo which is to be opened for the public and visitors including businessmen and specialists in technology.
Naeemi praised the partnership existing between eGA, PMI-AGC and BIS for holding such key event as well as the support provided by Tamkeen who is a strategic partner. Tamkeen specifically subsidizes the attendance of Bahraini Individuals (employees, jobseekers, business owners, tertiary level students) by 80%, while the remaining 20% is either borne by the individual or the employer, in addition Tamkeen fosters the participating companies in Bahrain’s IT Expo by covering 80% of the registration and exhibition stand fees – doing so as an initiative to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through the Growth Assistance Scheme (GAS). He also appreciated the forum’s diamond sponsorship offered by the Consultative Council (Shura council), Almoayyed Computers and Affno Middle East.