Kingdom of Bahrain - Manama: The eGovernment Authority announced opening of nominations for the 2010 eGovernment Excellence Award. The award is being held for the third consecutive year under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Supreme Committee for Information and Communication Technology.
In this regard Mr. Mohammed Ali Al Qaed the Chief Executive Officer of the eGovernment Authority, said: "The eGovernment Excellence Award aims to encourage and enhance the technological practices in all the ministries, sectors of the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Gulf States. The Award seeks to encourage excellence in the field of ICT and upgrading projects in this field which would contribute to spreading a culture of innovation, quality and commitment to improve government performance ". Mr. Al Qaed also said that the Award also highlights the role of technology and its importance in the development of various sectors of society.
With an aim to increase participation and a sense of competition among governmental entities and private sector organizations, the eGovernment Authority has prepared workshops for ministries, and government institutions. These workshops will familiarize them with the participation mechanism and help evaluate their projects before submission for nomination.
Al Qaed affirmed that eGovernment Excellence Award also aims to stimulate the spirit of fair competition among participants and provide and develop the best eprojects. He said: "The winning participants of this award will run for the eGovernment Excellence Award at the level of the Arabian Gulf as final qualifiers, in order to exchange and promote experiences in the field of information and communication technology among the GCC States.” He noted that the award will open the way for participations from not only the Kingdom of Bahrain but also other GCC countries.
The award is allocated to a number of categories divided into three sections, which include: 6 categories for the ministries and governmental entities (Best eContent, Best eService, Best eMaturity, Best eProject, eEconomy award and eEducation award). It contains 3 categories for the Private Sector (Best ICT Solutions Provider, eEconomy award and eEducation award), as well as two categories for individuals (eCitizen award, Best eConcept).
The nominations for the eGovernment Excellence Award 2010 are open till 30th, April, 2010. On receiving the nominations from the ministries, companies and individuals, a specialized team and an arbitration committee will be formed comprising local and foreign experts to oversee and ensure the accuracy of the application of the criteria established for each award according to its category. Names of finalists and winners will be announced during the Bahrain International eGovernment Forum 2010, being held from 17 to 19 May 2010.
The eGovernment Excellence Award aims to achieve various goals in the field of eGovernment, and to appreciate the distinguished performance in the field of information and communication technology in the Kingdom of Bahrain and further strengthen the efforts being made. The award is also an ideal opportunity for participating countries to measure the elements of quality and assess the levels of efficiency of eGovernment services provided to the public in their own countries. Additionally, this will help raise the status of the GCC States among the world's advanced countries in the field of eGovernment and improve their global rankings. For further information on Excellence Awards or to participate for nomination, please visit the eGovernment Excellence Award official website: www.egovawards.bh.