Bahrain won wide recognition from leading Information and Communication Technology (ICT) experts for its eGovernment program at the 'World Summit on the Information Society Forum' (WSIS) held in Geneva, last week.

Bahrain had put up a good show showcasing its eGovernment expertise at the WSIS, one of the largest annual conferences held under the United Nations and various UN organizations.

The Kingdom was represented by the eGovernment Authority (eGA) CEO Mohammed Ali Al Qaed, who attended a major workshop held as part of the summit from May 16 to 20.

Speaking at the event, Al Qaed highlighted the social networks and the key steps taken by the Kingdom towards increasing and offering various channels for officials and citizens with an objective to boost transparency and interactivity in daily government work processes. This, he said, in turn will help in increasing Bahrain’s ranking in this arena.

Moreover, Al Qaed presented during his participation at the workshop the various means followed by the eGA towards  raising awareness and educating the citizens’ and maintaining their trust towards the usage eservices.

He also cited the current trends driven by the eGA such as the open data initiative aimed to achieve the set goals and support the private sector, the national economy and to overcome obstacles discussed during the workshop in line with 'Bahrain’s 2030 Economic Vision.'

Leading experts hailed Bahrain’s participation at the workshop and lauded the Kingdom for its achievements in the field of eGovernment, social networks, and mobile application as an ideal paradigm to be followed.

They have also emphasized on the valiant orientations as well as its leading role it plays in the regional level in line with the outlined advanced countries’ practice in this field.

Prof. Peter Bruck, the chairman of the World Summit Awards (WSA), in a presentation, emphasized on the Kingdom’s role in supporting eContent in a local, regional and international levels with regard to the Bahrain eContent Award organized every two years by the Kingdom.

He also commended eGA for its mobile portal initiative describing it as one the most important delivery channels which provides integrated eGovernment Services, which 'deserved to win the World Summit Award for mContent in 2010.'

Prof Bruck described the eGovernment Program in the Kingdom as one of the best excellence practices in this field.

He also thanked the Kingdom and His Highness Shaikh Mohammed Bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Supreme Committee for Information and Communication Technology for the efforts and the continuous support provided for investors to improve this field in the Kingdom.-TradeArabia News Service