eGovernment Excellence Award 2011 is launched

HH Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa,
Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of
the Supreme Committee for Information and
Communication Technology.

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, the eGovernment Excellence Award 2011 is launched for the 4th time in a row.

Mr. Mohammed Ali Al Qaed, CEO of the eGovernment announced that the Award aims to encourage excellence in the ICT field as well as promoting national electronic projects.

Registration for the eGovernment Excellence Award 2011 continues until 21st,April, 2011. Registered projects shall be evaluated by local and international ICT specialists. His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa will honor the winners of the award during the opening ceremony of the Bahrain International eGovernment Forum 2011.

Mr. Mohammed Al Qaed stated, "The Award aims to keep pace with global developments in the field of ICT through the creation of a competitive environment between public, private institutions and individuals, encourage innovation, creativity and excellence in the field of electronic production, through the use of means of modern technology, which are communication tools for the whole world."

Al Qaed emphasized that these innovations would directly contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the field of ICT, where these products provide greater chances for users to take advantage of the electronic services and access to information through available technologies.

In order to encourage participations, the eGovernment Authority will hold specialized workshops offered to the various ministries and governmental entities to familiarize them with the mechanism of how to participate in the eGovernment Excellence Award and present their projects in accordance with established standards and guidelines.

In light with the recent developments taking place in the digital arena in the Kingdom of Bahrain, the schedule this year for the award consists of two competing categories: the eEconomy Award and the eEducation Award which will be targeting the public and private sectors. The eGovernment Excellence Award 2011 will also open its door for the non-governmental entities to participate, in order to encourage the innovation and bring the award program in the forefront of innovative development. For more detailed description on the award categories, please visit the official website: www.egovawards.bh.

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

• The government sector includes 6 categories:
  
  1. Best eContent,
  2. Best eService,
  3. Best eMaturity, 
  4. Best eProject, 
  5. eEconomy and 
  6. eEducation

• The private sector includes 4 categories:
  1. Best ICT Solutions Provider, 
  2. Best eEconomy and eEducation, 
  3. Best eNGOs Non Government Organizations). 
  4. The individuals' category includes two branches: (eCitizen, Best eConcept).

The CEO of the eGovernment Authority pointed out that the eGovernment Excellence Award 2011 is an extension of the GCC eGovernment Excellence Award. The nominations for winning electronic projects shall be adopted on the basis of their qualifications when represented in the Bahrain Award to compete at the GCC level in the field of eGovernment, which will be held by the end of this year.

In collaboration with the eGovernment Authority Grant Thornton the leading consultancy firm in Finance and Business, is the official (knowledge partner) of the Bahrain eGovernment Excellence Award 2011. Through this partnership the Grant Thornton studies the standards of each category and adjusts it in line with International standards. It also will contribute to the development of the eContent of the official website (www.egovawards.bh), in addition to contributing to the identification criteria for selecting members of the Jury Committee for the Bahrain eGovernment Excellence Award 2011.

The eGovernment Excellence Award is one of the most important initiatives aimed at encouraging individuals and institutions to increase innovation in local eproducts, as well as upgrading electronic production, which would lead to increasing the beneficiaries of technological applications to access information and services, it will also contribute to raising the profile of the Kingdom of Bahrain and the rest of the GCC countries among advanced countries of the world in the field of eGovernment and improve their global rankings. For more information on the eGovernment Excellence Award 2011 or for registration, please visit the official website of the award www.egovawards.bh.

-ameinfo.com