Day two commenced with the presentation on ‘Next Generation GCC eGovernment Road Map’ by Dr. Usman Zafar, Country Manager MENA Services for the e-Society. It focused on the latest e-Government developments & initiatives and highlighted how nations are preparing their communities, businesses and managements using e-Government for the future.
Usman Zafar discussed the eGov challenges in the Middle East starting with the UN’s eGovernment development index that aims to benchmark the capacity and readiness of various nations. According to the report, UAE ranked 28th in the eGovernment development index with Dubai government’s achievements and sustainable performance. He emphasized on the collaborative efforts that have been developing new frameworks for promoting integrated services in the region. He also threw light on the key challenges viz; scattered information, law enforcement data exchanges, etc and paving a roadmap for integrating and analyzing the information. He discussed the 4 pillars of eServices that comprises integrated eServices, Coherence of eServices, Impact orientation, and transparency and Collaboration of eService delivery. He presented his idea in ‘Strategy of Adoption’, where we have our own data and information sharing systems and where no need arises to go out of the system, b highlighting some of the prominent organizations that have adopted these strategies of adoption in thinking out of the box. He also elaborated on the basic and modular systems, and the eminence 0f social media investment in optimizing market presence and in having a collaborative eGovernment system. He also emphasized on the possibility of a world tomorrow that would go non-portal with mobile domination.
He also focused on the Access management and Account management, content management, employee conduct, security, privacy, public conduct, and legal issues in the Emirates eGovernment and discussed new terminologies in eGovernment like social media governance, ROI cycle.
He also presented informative videos from some prominent organizations that have made social media the medium for reaching out to the people in a global market. He elaborated on the emerging and outgrowing use of mobile applications in reaching the target group and its objective in providing value-added services with smart phone applications.
He focused on Áugmented Reality’- a new idea in eGovernment that has been applying in its various new initiatives for easy browsing and gathering of information.
The presentation was followed by a Panel discussion on ‘Next-Generation GCC e-Government Road Map’ chaired by Yaqoob Dur Mohammed Al Bulushi, Director General of Infrastructure, Information Technology Authority, Oman, Dr. Usman Zafar, Country Manager MENA Services for the e-Society and Paul Waller, Former Director, Delivery Innovation Team, City of London, UK. The panel focused on a wide range of issues such as the next generation models of e-Government ROI, e-Readiness, workforce development, m-Government, integrated services, change management, online service delivery, redesigning e-Government business and citizen services, GCC infrastructure and security issues and much more.
Kamali initiated the discussion by talking about the one-stop-shop that provides a complete transactional user friendliness and easier access and strategies in overcoming these challenges of ePayment gateways.
“We use the term eOman which is a comprehensive term in eServices that allows the citizens to use these services efficiently, and we are also giving free devices to the citizens to encourage them to come and use these services. Our focus is not only limited to the government but a bigger framework that targets a bigger idea. eOman is similar to the concept of info society that shares the same idea in gathering and integrating people to use eServices,” Yaqoob Bulushi said.
Bulushi also elaborated on the 700 links of government agencies in Oman that facilitates the communication between various sectors and which ensures the continuity and sustainability of these integrative initiatives. He added that ‘Integration’ is the key in attaining all the eTransaction goals in the government and business organizations. Focusing on ePayment, he said that it is an important component in achieving smooth functioning of all eServices and discussed the various challenges that the ministries and government are facing. He also emphasized on the need to have a proper hierarchical system in organizations of technical and operative team that can enhance the effective performance of the UAE and GCC countries. The panel also discussed the challenges faced by various banks in the GCC in terms of credit cards (visa and master cards) and other wire transfers and the various old legacy systems that are still persistent in the banking and financial organizations in the GCC that still need to be addressed.
Paul Waller initiated the discussion with his opinion on the 4th generation eGovernment development. He elaborated on the governance hierarchy and pattern in the UK and the role of policy makers with special emphasis on UK’s new models in eGovernment policies. He shared a very different perspective regarding the role of government in moving out of the framework of providing eTransaction and ePayment. Kamali travelled back to the time when eGovernment was initiated in the region that crossed many hurdles and obstacles from the governments to come out polished and perfect. He said that there must be a proper definition and transparency in these policies.
Dr. Zafar discussed about his participation in 5 Pivotal eGovernment projects and the existence of a digital divide in the emirates and GCC. He focused on the challenges faced by the CIOs in moving beyond the legacy systems in the hardware and applications.
The participants interacted with the panel on the role of government in providing eServices to the citizens and strategies in attracting more and more people to come forward and use the eSevices available at large; A citizens’ point of view in Increasing efficiency and reducing costs and human capital development; gap between GCC and other region; Penetration of government organizations in the social media in creating a strong infrastructure; the advantages and disadvantages in having Young leaders and cadres in senior leadership positions; Best practices in formulating effective policies; benchmarks of basic standards and procedures of enterprise-architecture; PPPs; Customer Services authentication;
The coffee break & networking session was followed by a ‘Successful eGov case study’ by Ashok Kumar Hota, Senior Technical Director (Scientist-F), National Informatics Centre. Govt. of India that focused on India’s eGovernemnt ventures, the various challenges and opportunities that it encounters in providing services to a largely populated nation and the nation’s key strategies for empowerment through information and achievement of transparency in public services.
In his presentation he discussed the facebook application designed by Delhi police that has established a new dimension in social networking and government patterns. Focusing on his organization he elaborated on the framework of his organization that provides direct benefit transfer to the citizens and also focused on process flow of DBT, process Re-engineering schemes, Digitized Signature, pre-requisites for direct benefit transfers, guidelines issued for DBT roll-out, IT enabled post offices and much more. In his second presentation, he focused on the eTaal (Electronic Transaction Aggregation and Analysis Layer) that defines the rhythm of the services provided to the citizens in India. He also focused on the four criteria associated with eTaal and all the statutory and non-statutory services provided by the government. He also presented the service chart of India that covered all the services transaction percentages carried out in India.
In his third presentation he focused on the journey of GePNIC which is a conceptual portal for all subsidies and rolled out across the country. He also talked about the vision of ‘One Portal for the Whole Country’ that will bring a dynamic change in the IT and its service models. He also elaborated on the Procurement functionalities in tender bidding and the workflow of the eProcurement system.
The case study presentation was followed by a Q&A session with Audience headed by Ashok Kumar Hota, and Krishna Iyer, Vice President, IT Matrix. Iyer discussed the process re-engineering methodology that is a key to IT and elaborated and many highlight points from Hota’s case study. Kamali added to the panel discussion by bringing on once again the problems and challenges in legacy systems that was directed to Hota’s National Information Security project that is a complete transition from the old legacy systems.
Participants engaged in interactive sessions regarding the; eProcurement systems and its early and later stages; the Phasing patterns of tender bidding; open sources and large transactions; Challenges from the security point of view; Infrastructure audit’s availability in the portal; IT Outsourcing; qualifying and de-qualifying tender vendors and applicants; Tejuri’s working patterns and transparency;
A delegate from Nigeria discussed the ePayment systems in Africa and the data systems existing in the country and the data centers geographical hindrances. He stated that the graph of ePayment and mobile applications in Africa is growing daily by penetrating seventy percent of the overall population.
Attended by more than 500 delegates and sponsored by Dubai Courts, King Saud University, Emirates Identity Authority, Rolta, Awqaf, Thomson Reuters, Digital Flow Information Technologies, Sejel Naseej,, Dar Alataa Company International, d.erp, and Al Riyadh Newspaper- there were some sharp questions and some lively discussions among the conference participants at each session, which all took place within a positive framework.
The day ended with an interesting insight by Kamali and Iyer on the innovative ‘Dabbawaala’ of Mumbai, India success story that is an epitome of innovation and an example for people across the world.