Manama: The Kingdom of Bahrain has emerged as the launching pad for the United Nations Department of Economics and Social Affairs (UNDESA) Arabic version of the UN eGovernment Survey 2014.
Supported by Bahrain Government, the initiative of translating the UN eGov Survey into Arabic language was spearheaded by the eGovernment Authority.
The launching of the Arabic version was attended by the Mohammed Ali Al Qaed eGovernment Authority Bahrain’s CEO, Vincenzo Aquaro, Chief of eGovernment Branch Department of Economic and Social Affairs United Nations and Richard Kerby, Senior Inter-Regional Advisor on eGovernment at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, along with senior officers from eGA and media representatives.
The Survey was originally released in English language in June 2014. It is the only report in the world that assesses the egovernment development status of the 193 United Nations Member States and effectively evaluates the great strides taken in Online Service Index (OSI), Telecommunications Infrastructure Index, Human Capital Index (HCI) and eParticipation Index (EPI) with a focus on addressing emerging trends and challenges.
The eGovernment Authority CEO Mohammed Ali Al Qaed welcomed the UN guests and praised the role played by the United Nations in developing the concept of eGovernment and its true applications across the globe.
“This is more evident that countries from all over the world have capitalized on observing data and findings on the eGovernment from the survey, which have made an effective contribution to the improved delivery of public services and capacity-building by utilizing state-of-the-art technologies and enhancing the capacities of public institutions, which has made possible to promote all tertiary sectors in line with the adoption of an innovative approach in public administration and improve the quality of public service delivery,” AlQaed said.
Al Qaed was pleased to note that Bahrain was selected by the UN to become a platform to launch the Arabic version of the Survey with greater emphasis on eGovernment and its pivotal role in boosting development and bolstering competitiveness. He pointed out this version goes in line with the role played by Bahrain in enhancing the Arabic econtent as per the directives and the unlimited support of our wise leadership.
“The availability of the content of the Survey in Arabic language reflects the keenness of the United Nations in developing the rankings of the member states in the next report as a tool designed to measure the performance of States in eGovernment, seen as an initiative in the eGA’s objectives to ensure the delivery of support and assistance for States in developing public services through the optimal utilization of technology,” AlQaed added.
Al Qaed also stated that the announcement of the UNDESA on the launch of the Arabic version of this global survey from Manama reaffirms the UN’s confidence in Bahrain’s development process and performance in eGovernment, and we in turn our constant efforts are made to sustain cooperation . He also mentioned that the UN will organize a visit to the Kingdom for delegates representing the United Nations Member States to benefit from Bahrain’s experience in eGovernment. All visiting countries and delegations expressed their wishes to visit Bahrain again in order to maximize benefits from Bahrain’s successful experience in eGovernment Indexes 2014.
Al Qaed added that this launch is a part of a rich history of cooperation with the UN started when Bahrain was elected as member of the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development Forum (UN GAID) during the fifth GAID Global Forum held in December 2010 on the basis of its successful experience in areas covering ICT and eservices. Besides Bahrain’s participation in various events, workshops along with UN visits organized to Bahrain, and Bahrain’s hosting to the meeting of UN GAID members held in 2010, maintained through the global workshop organized by Bahrain for international experts to discuss the outlook of the survey 2014, then attending the closed meeting held in New York. In addition to Bahrain hosting the United Nations Public Service Forum 2013 was held in for the first time in the Middle East.
“Bahrain has a successful and feasible experience to follow due to its valuable asset coupled with its proven track records of achievements and clarity of vision and mission, in addition to the support of the Bahrain’s wise leadership, in line with an established framework to capitalize on the available resources under the supervision of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the Supreme Committee for Information and Communication Technology,” Al Qaed added.
Vincenzo Aquaro, Chief of eGovernment Branch DPADM Department of Economic and Social Affairs United Nations thanked the Government of Bahrain, represented by eGovernment Authority for translating the 2014 UN eGovernment Survey into Arabic.
Aquaro mentioned that this year’s survey theme is addressing the challenges faced our societies, and the UN eGov survey is considered to be a powerful tool for development in addition to protecting the environment and promoting social and economic programs. He also added that the survey must be placed in the context of the sustainable development plans of each country.
Richard Kerby, Senior Inter-Regional Advisor on eGovernment at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, highlighted in his presentation the methodologies of this year’s survey and changes occurred on the indexes. He mentioned that Bahrain has remarkably improved this year in comparison to 2012 survey’s in the Telecommunications and Human Capital Indexes, and he expected further advancements for Bahrain in the coming survey.
Kerby praised the GCC efforts in the eGovernment field, as a result, GCC surpassed the worldwide average in the online services index and eparticipation, and also exceeded the European average in the eGovernment.
Kerby highlighted the main successful factors of Bahrain’s achievement this year, which involved the support of leadership in implementing the appropriate strategies to develop the government services by providing it electronically through various channels.