As part of the multiple diverse activities within the Bahrain International eGovernment Forum 2013, the first day sessions were commenced with high-demand from participating society segments. Inaugurated by HH Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Supreme Committee for Information and Communication Technology (SCICT) on 8th April, the forum is being held at the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain Hotel & Spa and will continue to run until today.
The annual forum, which offers attendees the opportunity to exchange information, experiences and expertise in the ICT field, addressed the most up-to-date technological developments by focusing on three key topics and programs.
The first topic, entitled ‘Innovation and Open Data’ and moderated by Kim Andreasson, included speakers such as keynote speaker Robert Tercek from the United States stated that everything around us can be turned into information and that everything physical turns into information formats, such transformation occurred rapidly and was informed by one of the experts that 90% of the information was initiated three years ago. Daniel Castro also from the United States discussed the public policy principles for data innovation; Dr. Samantha Liscio from Canada shared Ontario’s experience in the Open Data highlighting the successful stories and challenges; and Dr. Vladimir Drozhzhinov from Russia presenting the way to proceed from electronic government to open government.
The second, entitled ‘Mobile Trends’ and moderated by Alexander Felsenberg, included speakers such as Ralph Simon from the United States discussed what is coming next in mobile, what is suitable for use and revenue growth in Bahrain; Gary Schwartz intertwiningly from the UK and US shared how connected screens are changing the way we move, meet and buy; Dr. Ruhiya Seward from UNDP discussed mobile and social innovations for governance, human empowerment and the role of ICTs for development; along with Maximiliano Firtman from Argentina who exposed why thinking on mobile is the most important thing for your services and content, how to do it and what to expect from the future.
The third, entitled ‘Cloud Computing and Shared Services’ and moderated by Dr. Samantha Liscio, included speakers such as Kevin L. Jackson from the United States who presented the lessons learnt from government cloud deployment; Lutz Schubert from Germany covered the future of IT and how the path lead over clouds; Myeongki Baek from South Korea revealed eProcurement in South Korea; and Darius Bagdziunas from Lithuania presented government as a product and how the public service reform is arranged in the Republic of Georgia.
On Wednesday, other key topics will be covered such as Social Network, eGovernment and a debate of Insource Vs Outsource. As it being the last day, speakers will sum up the sessions with final recommendations and conclusions to close the sessions.
The forum, which previously promised a diversified global platform of topics, also included abundant practical workshops organized alongside the forum sessions so as to derive productive outcomes by exchanging ICT knowledge proficiencies.
The workshops, which began on the 8th, kicked-off with Ebtikar Society’s ‘ICT and Entrepreneurship’ workshop and was followed by Youth Tech’s ‘IT Talent Management’. The workshops continued on the 9th with AIESEC’s ‘eGovernance’ workshop, and ‘Mobile Applications Development’ by Bahrain Internet Society.
Concluding the workshops, will consume two final workshops – ‘The Social Media Strategic Planning Process’ by Social Media Club and ‘Information Risk Reality’ by Bahrain Information Technology Society.
Bahrain IT Expo was also one of event’s activities that offered an opportunity for companies to display and demonstrate their activities and services as they attract the interest of both private and public sectors. Furthermore, the eGovernment pavilion which comprised a number of governmental entities that are in collaboration with the eGovernment program showcased the newly-launched services. The eGovernment Authority showcased its recently promoted Search Engine, mobile apps and the eKey which also enabled customers of the eGovernment to register to the system.