Towards a New Dawn
In general, e-Government involves a three-step evolution process –
• Offering a Web presence with basic information, including legislation and placing basic utility tax forms online.
• Enabling transaction capabilities for individuals and businesses.
• Providing integrated information and transactions, with collaboration among multiple agencies.

The kingdom’s e-Government portal took a major step towards the third stage with the announcement of the National Contact Centre, a strategic move to enhance communication between the public, government departments and authorities. The 24X7 contact centre once fully operational, will provide a vast range of services for all government departments including information on the location of various offices, documentation requirements, government procedures, laws and visa regulations among many others. The centres will serve the additional purpose of being nodal points providing e-Government solutions to people who have no access to computers. It aims to educate people, across the economic spectrum, to integrate technology into their daily routine towards a better lifestyle.

Mr. Mohammed Al Qaed, CEO of e-Government Authority said, “The development of a National Contact Centre is a revolutionary step towards improving communication within the Kingdom of Bahrain. Coordinated and supervised by the e-Government Authority, the National Contact Centre is a collaborative effort of the government which supports and underlines our commitment of providing integrated government services under one umbrella, using modern technology.”

The initial contract to design and build the centre has been awarded to BDO Jawad Habib, a leading firm of public accountants and management consultants who in turn will be collaborating with UK-based contact centre specialists, Analysys Mason.

2009 promises to be the year of e-governance. Fully functional call centres, electronic kiosks and an SMS complaint system are in the pipeline. Such offerings will not only improve relationships between the government and citizens of the country but will also increase participation in state activities. They will encourage compliance with laws by making it easier for citizens to comply.

On the socio-economic front, the project has opened up a vista of employment opportunities. Concerted efforts are in place towards the employment of educated youth, especially Bahraini women towards staffing the National Contact Centre.

A proactive media campaign towards educating the populace on the services offered has substantively increased the daily hit count on www.bahrain.bh. The simplicity of the new name makes it easier to remember.

The efforts of the e-Government received well-deserved recognition recently as it won the prestigious Arab GoldenChip Award in a ceremony during the MENA ICT week held in Lebanon. The Arab Golden Chip Award organized by the Union of Arab ICT Associations recognises superlative web integration efforts in six broad categories - best online application in government, best online application in banking, best online application in commerce, best software product for export, best hardware product, and best Arabic content project. Bahrain participated under the category of best online application in government, and was successful against other shortlisted countries’ including Syria and the UAE. The award was presented to Isa Abdulrahman, director of marketing and awareness, e-Government Authority.

HE Shaikh Ahmed bin Atiyat Allah Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s Minister of Cabinet Affairs, dedicated the success of the e-Government portal to HH Sheikh Mohammad bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Supreme ICT Committee and thanked him for his continuing support to the program.

Measuring the benefits of public service modernisation has to be undertaken over a period of time. Managing the transformation of efficiency into effectiveness involves flexible organisational behaviour and relationship management with citizens. Pursuant to this aim, the government has embarked on a journey that will usher a new dawn in state transparency and accountability. Bureaucratic red-tape will soon be a thing of the past. Interaction between the state and its citizens will never be the same again.
Visit www.bahrain.bh for more information.