Muscat, Nov 7 - The process of fourth Industrial Revolution has “already begun” in Oman in terms of digital readiness, according to Hassan Fida al Lawati, Director-General of Digital Society Development, Information Development Authority (ITA). The 4th industrial revolution stresses on technology in every aspect. According to Al Lawati, there are four main steps in the process —awareness, training, deployment and innovation. “We have gone through awareness and training. I think we are at the beginning stages of deployment.” He said there are some small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that have begun to be established in 3D printing and block chain, but they are in the initial stages.
Government transactions have gone digital. Ten years ago, the scenario was different, but today there are many services that can be done online. For example, the renewal of car registration.
“Car registration can be done from the comfort of your home. Some insurance companies provide their services online. Another example is the commercial registration through the Invest Easy portal,” said Al Lawati.
You can complete many Ministry of Manpower-related procedures online. Citizen engagement has begun to make a difference. The entities are working along with feedback of users. “This is how technology works.”
The journey to train the public and spread awareness began ten years ago for ITA through its Community Knowledge Centres. ITA has moved away from this phase because the objective has been accomplished. Many of these centres are run by entrepreneurs as training centres.
“In 2008, we had 19 centres spread across the country. At that time, there was a need for digital literacy. There were housewives who wanted to learn to help their children conduct research on the Internet. There were others who wanted to learn to interact with technology,” he explained.
These centres began to target these segments, not just housewives, but men and women from fields that did not use technology at that time. They include taxi drivers, fishermen, farmers and students. ‘Centres of Knowledge’ came up to fill the gap.
“It was successful. We trained over 30,000 people. We had many success stories. Some of the farmers began to use technological tools to understand the latest methods to enhance productivity,” he said.
After 2011, smartphones became more common and the affordability of mobile service packages encouraged people to use online services more. Life became easy.
Meanwhile, eight to nine Knowledge Centres were turned into training centres. “Some former trainees converted them into training institutes. We were able to guarantee sustainability of these centres. When we need to provide training, we outsource it to these entrepreneurs.” The ITA team, which was involved with the Knowledge Centres, turned its focus on e-lifestyle. Today craftsmen are trained to market their products on social media.
Lakshmi Kothaneth
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