Kingdom of Bahrain‐ Manama: The eGovernment Authority has recently held a two day explanatory workshop for government employees in relation to the Bahrain Excellence Award 2011, held under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed Bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the Supreme Committee for Information and Communication Technology, which aimed to introduce the participation process, its rules and criteria, as well as to encourage various government involvement.

Almost 50 employees from more than 24 governmental entities in the Kingdom of Bahrain have participated in this workshop. Furthermore, a brief was presented by (Grand Thorton), the Award Knowledge Partner about the participating methods, and instructions on how to apply according to the set standards.

“The workshop was conducted as the Kingdom of Bahrain seeks to locally encourage excellence and inspire innovation in electronic projects, in addition to developing the participating projects in the eGovernment Excellence Award 2011, through increasing the awareness in the importance getting involved in such activities” stated Dr. Zakerya Ahmed Al Khaja, Director of Policies and Business Processes Re‐engineering at the eGovernment Authority, as he stressed on the main objective; to provide better services with the highest level of quality to the citizens.

Besides the introduction on the eGovernment Excellence Award 2011, different topics were discussed during the workshop concerning the competing categories (Government, Multi and individual sectors). In this framework, another topic conferred was the latest innovations added to the award such as the creation of the (Multi Sector) category, where government and private sectors in eLearning and eEconomy can compete within. Alongside these discussions, was granting the Non‐Government Organizations (NGOs) a special award to honor their efforts and contributions in the development of the IT community.

The Award consists of 11 categories, divided into three sections, (Government sector), (Multi sector), and (Individuals sector).

Six categories are included in the Government: (Best eContent, Best eService, Best eMaturity, Best eProject, eEconomy and eEducation).

The Multi sector includes 4 categories: (Best ICT Solutions Provider, Best eEconomy and eEducation, Best eNGOs Non Government Organizations). The Individuals’ category includes two branches: (eCitizen, Best eConcept).

Last but not least, the eGovernment Excellence Award 2011 is an extension of the GCC eGovernment Excellence Award. The nominated winning well‐merited electronic projects will represent the Kingdom of Bahrain at the GCC level in the field of eGovernment, held by the end of this year.

For more information on the eGovernment Excellence Award 2011, or for participation, please visit the official award’s website: www.egovawards.bh.