Sultan Qaboos Award winners announced

06th, December 2016

MUSCAT: Winners of the Sultan Qaboos Award for Excellence in eGovernment 2016 were announced on Tuesday night at a ceremony held at Sultan Qaboos University Cultural Centre. The event was presided over by Dr Abdulmunim bin Mansour al Hasani, Minister of Information. In his welcome address, Dr Ahmed al Futaisi, Minister of Transport and Communications, highlighted the importance of the award for the march towards eOman.

 The Ministry of Manpower won three awards. Organised by the Information Technology Authority (ITA), the ceremony witnessed the announcement of winners in 13 categories: eight categories in government sector and three categories in private sector, including one for SMEs.

Winners in the government sector: The Best Public Service (G2C) Award went to the Ministry of Manpower’s Advanced Management System. The Best Public Service (G2E) Award was withheld by the jury committee.

The Best Mobile Service (G2C) Award was granted to Muscat Municipality for its Baladiyeti mobile app, while the Best Mobile Service Award (G2E) was withheld.

In the category, Best Whole of Government, award went to Manpower Integrated Service of the Ministry of Manpower. Award for ‘Best E-Participation for Decision Making’ was given to Solaf programme of the Public Authority for Consumer Protection. Invest Easy portal of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry won the ‘Best Service Supporting Doing Business’, while the Best e-Transformation Achievement went to ‘Manpower e-Transformation’ of the Ministry of Manpower.

The Best Private Sector Service Award was withheld by the jury committee. The Best Private Sector Mobile Service award was given to OmanTel Mobile Application for the Oman Telecommunication Company. For SMEs, Best SME Service Award was withheld as no project complied with the awards criteria.

The committee recommended granting of certificates of recognition to a number of participating projects. In the government sector, recognition was given to three projects: ROP Supporting eGov Progress for Royal Oman Police, MOCI e-Transformation for Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and ROP e-Transformation for Royal Oman Police.

In the private sector, recognition was granted to Oman Airport Mobile App Oman Airport Management Company and T-Oman service for Speed Data for Technology Company.

In his speech, Dr Hamdoun Toure, former Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the guest of honour at the ceremony, said: “Information and communication technology has been a driving force for the development of any nation and for the betterment of lives of the people of the world. It is even more so in this region at the time of low oil prices. In today’s world, it is safe to say that broadband is the new oil and it can be anywhere we want.”

Dr Salem Sultan al Ruzaiki, CEO ITA, says “This award has what is impressive about this award is that it created synergy between the government agencies.  We are seeing  a lot of synergy where government agencies are sharing data. It is not anymore just ‘me’ like we had in 2010. Now if we look at the winners they connect with more than three to four government agencies to provide the service. This is where we have been pushing as part of e transformation.”