In addition to his success in leading the eGovernment Authority to setup an example for the GCC eGovernments and around the world and his efforts to raise Bahrain’s rank to 13th globally, the third Asian and the first Arab country in the Middle East in the field of eGovernment.
This comes after the increase of the electronic services in the Kingdom of Bahrain from only 7% in 2008 to 47% for individuals and 85% for the business sector and 92% for government sector in 2010. The increase is an outcome of the intensive media and awareness campaigns by the eGovernment Authority and receiving the opinions of the people and applies them on the ground.
Al Qaed was honoured with the prestigious award at the grand ceremony held in Slovenia in the presence of senior officials in the field of information technology in the public, private and eGovernment sectors. This Award was given for the first time in 2006 to President of Slovenia Janez Drnovsek, and in 2007 to Maria Rodriguez, Senior European Policy Makers and Special Adviser to the heads of the European States. It was also given in 2008 to Jerome Glenn Director of the Millennium Project, and in 2009 to Mauritshuis Bater’s Senior European Policy Adviser in the field of information technology and telecommunications. The award was blocked in 2010 for failure of any participant to meet the eligibility criteria of the award, until it was given to Mohamed Al Qaed in 2011 at a grand ceremony which was specially held on this occasion. Al Qaed is the first Bahraini and Arab individual to receive this award.
Mohammed Al Qaed expressed his thanks and gratitude to the organizers of the European 12th (Bled Forum) for receiving this prestigious international award, and congratulated Bahrain’s wise leadership for providing strong support forward to reach all these achievements through the support and ongoing follow-up to boost comprehensive development in Bahrain.
Al Qaed also presented a paper during the conference on Bahrain’s eGovernment project, the stages it went through since inception, the development and implementation of eGovernment strategy and its objectives successfully overcoming the challenges faced by Bahrain during implementation. In addition to Bahrain’s efforts in marketing and outreach, which played an important role in the success of the eGovernment, also received special recognition from the conference participants.
Al Qaed also met with the Slovenian Minister of Education, and highlighted Bahrain’s achievements in the use of information technology in the field of education through the project of His Majesty the King for the future schools. Al Qaed also met with a large number of European officials and senior speakers at the Conference, in addition to holding many television and press interviews to present Bahrain’s milestone fulfillments in the area of eGovernment, information technology and communications.
It is worth mentioning that holding the European 12th (Bled Forum) in Slovenia held to study government future development challenges by using information and communication technology, especially in the Western Balkans. Speakers were invited from official and private authorities who have had successful experiences, such as the Kingdom of Bahrain as well as other leading States and institutions.