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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

MoM, ROP sweep Sultan Qaboos Awards

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Muscat: The Ministry of Manpower (MoM) and the Royal Oman Police (ROP) were among the winners of the Sultan Qaboos Award for Excellence in eGovernment 2018. While the MoM won three awards, the ROP won two in the government category. In the private sector, Oman Airports received the award, while Edlal Platform and Global Computers won the SME award. The awards were announced on Tuesday at the award ceremony held at the Grand Hall of the Sultan Qaboos University Cultural Centre.


The event was held under the auspices of Darwish bin Ismaeel al Balushi, Minister Responsible for Financial Affairs. Dr Ahmed bin Mohammad al Futaisi, Minister of Transport and Communications, and Information Technology Authority’s (ITA) Chairman of Board of Directors were also present.

Winners in government sector are: Ministry of Manpower (Best Public Service – G2C Award); Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs (Best Public Service – e-Services for Business); ROP (Best Government App); Ministry of Manpower (Best Practice in Community eParticipation); ROP (Best Whole of Government Project – Bayan System); Ministry of Information (Best eTransformation Achievement); and Ministry of Manpower (Best Open Data Initiative – Data).


Private sector: Oman Airports’ Data eServices. The ‘Best Private App for Smart Devices’ award was withheld as no participating project met the criteria. Edlal eLearning Platform and Saharat a’shamil by Global Computers received the award for ‘Best SME eService’.


A total of 64 projects competed for the award, including 47 from the government, nine from the private sector and eight SMEs.

Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Futaisi, in his speech, said: “The improvement in government eServices in the Sultanate has been proved by achievements recognised at international and regional levels.” He said Oman has been ranked second in the Arab region on eServices Index, according to the UN’s 2018 eGovernment report. It is ranked fourth at the international level and first in the Arab region on the Cybersecurity Readiness Index.


Dr Belgacem Haba, guest of honour, an Algerian researcher and scientist in microelectronics and Internet, in his speech, focused on the Fourth Revolution, describing it as a “fusion of the cyber space with physical space”. “IoT, AI, machine-learning, 3D printing, virtual and augmented reality and other technologies are driving the revolution,” he said.


Vinod Nair


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