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His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-SabahKUWAIT: Organized by NoufEXPO, the 8th eGovernment Forum (EGOV8), which kicks off tomorrow, will be a remarkable technological event that comes after disruption due to the challenges and difficulties of COVID19. EGOV8 convenes during the next two days under the generous auspices of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.
Dr Rana Al-Fares, Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, will represent His Highness during the opening ceremony. NoufEXPO highly values the support of His Highness the Prime Minister, and wishes Dr Fares all the best in carrying out her responsibilities in leading the Ministry of State for Communications and Information Technology, established for the first time in Kuwait's history.
Dr Fares said on this occasion, "I realize the extent of effort required. The tasks are large, and the challenge is not easy, especially since I realize that the ICT sector has an important role to play in activating the digital transformation paths of the state and society in Kuwait.
There is also a big role for ICT in rationalizing the state's expenditure by harnessing technology in the provision of advanced electronic services and protecting society and its institutions and interests through cybersecurity capabilities that have become a national mission. We will move ahead benefiting from what we have now while building together for a better future, benefiting from the achievements of ICT globally as we empower the Kuwaiti youth capabilities to carry out the responsibility."
Vital projects
In his turn, Eng Salem Al-Othainah, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Communications and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA), said, "We highly welcome the blessed step taken by the political leadership to establish the Ministry of State for Communications and Information Technology. We look forward to working hand in hand with the Minister to achieve this step's aspirations.
We hope that her blessed efforts will help implement many vital projects that CITRA has completed their preparatory steps. We, particularly, note the National Center for Cyber Security that we aspire to establish as an independent body to ensure its success in carrying out its tasks, according to CITRA's strategy that the Kuwaiti government approved. Similar countries' experiences and best global practices support CITRA's conclusion. Cybersecurity is a key building block in building sophisticated e-government services."
Othainah elaborated that we hope the new ministry would unify government information centers' efforts to energize the development of integrated e-services that spare citizens and residents the burden of visiting government agencies. It is worth mentioning that CITRA is the strategic partner of NoufEXPO in organizing EGOV8.
Ahmad Al-Manfouhi, General Director of Kuwait Municipality, expressed his happiness in dedicating a panel discussion on the Unified Permits System, a joint initiative between Kuwait Municipality and the Federation of Kuwaiti Engineering Offices and Consultant Houses. Manfouhi said, "The importance of this system is to provide an electronic service to issue all permits electronically by government agencies according to their competence when embarking on plans to implement construction and industrial projects in Kuwait.
We are looking to build a unified electronic portal that beneficiaries can visit to issue their permits from their offices or homes' comfort. The process includes getting initial advice, submitting applications, sending or completing documents, follow-up procedures, solving obstacles, if any, and ending up with the issuance of permits electronically.
The project includes, of course, an electronic platform with all the requirements of security and privacy." Manfouhi added that Kuwait Municipality is also pursuing this project's implementation with confidence, relying on a professional team that successfully managed to implement a nationwide GIS system.
Private sector's involvement
Eng Badr Al-Salman, the President of the Federation of Kuwaiti Engineering Offices and Consultant Houses, also welcomed the cooperation between the Federation and Kuwait Municipality to plan for the Unified Permits Project. He said, "The Federation's initiative comes from the government's direction to encourage the private sector's involvement in vital projects.
Kuwaiti consultant houses are qualified to carry out the necessary advisory role and act as a mediator between the beneficiaries and the concerned government agencies. We are confident that the members of the Federation can provide this service efficiently. They have the right experience and understand both the requirements of project owners and government department procedures."
EGOV8 mainly focuses on developing integrated e-government services and government process re-engineering that constitute a mandatory requirement for developing those services. It will also consider the long-term impact of COVID19 on government agencies, such as remote work and workforce development and evaluation. The event will feature a special workshop on how enterprises can build their strategies, objectives, and KPIs while associating them with executing their projects to have live dashboards that show their performance levels 24/7. Finally, cybersecurity will be a crucial topic of EGOV8.
NoufEXPO concluded its press release by thanking all EGOV8 participating organizations, namely the strategic partners of the General Authority for Communications and Information Technology (CITRA) and the Federation of Kuwaiti Engineering Offices and Consultant Houses.
NoufEXPO extended special thanks and welcomed: the Strategic sponsor, Alghanim Industries, the Platinum sponsors Zain, Kuwait Finance House (KFH), Cisco Systems Inc, Huawei, Gulf Cable and Electrical Industries Company, SAP, and Diyar United Company, The Golden sponsors Fortinet, Techno-Management, and Xerox, and Alanba Newspaper which is the exclusive media sponsor of EGOV8. Finally, NoufEXPO extended special thanks to EGOV8 attendees, speakers, experts, and participants from inside and outside Kuwait, wishing them all a successful and enjoyable event.
