Impact of the eGovernment Program Initiatives Listen to this page using ReadSpeaker

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Introduction

Following the release of the National eGovernment Strategy (PDF, 6.9MB, 20 pages), a large number of eGovernment program initiatives were executed to benefit every sector and society segment in the Kingdom of Bahrain – citizens, residents and visitors; government entities and their employees; as well as small, medium and large business enterprises and their employees.

The acceptance of such valuable launched initiatives by both government agencies and individuals conveyed massive difference on the daily lives of citizens and residents subsequent to the delivery of effective services which enhance business operations, government efficiency, and the community.
Now that eGovernment is maturing, the field moves from technology adoption to delivering high impact projects, linking all constituents and diffusing technology on societal norms.

This page summarizes the impact of various eGovernment initiatives which have made great strides in improving and supporting country’s national economy.

Business Licensing Information System

Name of Initiative
Year of Initiation
Addressed Sectors
Partners (if any)

2013

Public services

Private sector

Business Need

In line with the directives of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and Prime Minister on facilitating the procedures for exercising trade and economic businesses in the Kingdom in conformity with the Economic Vision 2030 adopted by the government; it was decided to initiate a unified and comprehensive guide for establishing businesses in Bahrain in cooperation with the eGovernment Authority, the Economic Development Board  and other relevant government agencies. 

Solution Overview

Business Licensing Information System (BLIS)  is a virtual one-stop solution available through multiple channels offering an integrated ‘Whole of Government’ service where users - citizens, investors, Commercial Registration (CR) applicants and holders, as well as professional bodies - can use a single streamlined form to apply, update, renew and terminate multiple licenses concurrently. BLIS represents a major transformational mindset change, deliver innovative, pro-enterprise and customer-centric licensing solution, through an extensive collaboration rather than working alone.

The BLIS project is a ‘Whole of Government’ effort in innovation, and mindset change to foster a pro-enterprise environment and improve customer service for the Kingdom’s businesses. The solution allows start-up entrepreneurs to apply for licenses with far greater speed and convenience, without having to be suffocated by red tape, and be able to start the business and generate revenue earlier. 

Key Objectives

The objective of the project is to position the Kingdom as the best place to start a business by fostering a pro-enterprise environment; making the application of business licenses customer-friendly, efficient, more affordable and hassle-free.

Impact

  • Defined and delivered a new level of excellence, for the convenience and benefit of the business community
  • Simplified and shorten the processes for CR and licensing
  • Ensured better allocation of staff and resources
  • Improved efficiency and productivity in government entities
  • Reduced the initial and subsequent cost to the entities for each license

National Suggestions & Complaints System

Name of Initiative
Year of Initiation
Addressed Sectors
Partners (if any)

2013

Social services and public administration

Government entities

Business Need

From customer and government perspective, the following challenges led to the introduction of the National Suggestions & Complaints System ‘Tawasul’:

Challenges faced by customers:

  • Difficulty in tracking status of requests, complaints and suggestions
  • Limited service window availability
  • Few communication channels and inability to provide feedback
  • General distrust from citizens in terms of government response or action

Challenges faced by government entities:

  • No unified system for government complaints, suggestions and enquiries
  • No standardized processes and lack of automation
  • No proper documentation process and methodology; different departments handle cases independently
  • Lack of measuring the impacts of complaints received, overall Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and measuring tools

Hence, Tawasul was introduced by the Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) in close coordination with several government entities to allow the public to freely share their feedback on the quality of government services by submitting complaints of any shortcomings or failures; which in return will allow government entities to address and resolve the issues raised by the citizens and residents.

Solution Overview

The system is designed to increase government performance and maintain transparency; it also acts as a unified platform for interaction between all government bodies and the public. Suggestions and complaints submitted via the system are swiftly addressed and utilized to generate mechanisms and policies to prevent similar problems from recurring in the future.

Available 24/7, the system is established to handle all complaints, suggestions and enquiries relevant to the concerned entity with the aim of promptly meeting customer expectations by inspiring them with confidence. With this aim in mind, each case is submitted to the concerned department within the entity in order to proceed according to the agreed Service Level Agreement.

Tawasul has been designed as an ‘intelligent system’ that offers a tracking mechanism to monitor the progress of each complaint. Furthermore, it has a responsive system that sends text messages and emails to users allowing them to track their complaints. Each complaint is allocated with a reference number and stored in a database accessible to all ministers; this method allows government entities to monitor the performance of staff in addressing the complaints and suggestions submitted.

The system also allows decision-makers within a governmental entity to analyze, improve and amend the process of addressing a complaint. The versatility of the system reflects the government’s keenness to involve the public and receive enquiries.

Key Objectives

Technical objective:

  • User-friendly interface
  • Responsive design
  • Tailor-made process using Business Process Re-engineering (BPR)

Project business objective:

  • Easy integration with government entities applications
  • Custom dashboards
  • Predictive analysis

Impact

The impact of the National Suggestions & Complaints System can be identified based on three perspectives; the customer, national leadership, as well as ministries and governmental entities
Customer:

  • Single entry point
  • Anytime and place access
  • Multi-channel support
  • Timely notification
  • End-to-end case tracking using the National Authentication Framework (eKey) 
  • Customer feedback option
  • Availability of FAQ

National leadership:

  • Overall dashboard including all government entities
  • Track ministry performance against Service Level Agreement (SLA)
  • Custom reports

Ministries and governmental entities:

  • Management of integrated complaints 
  • Automated escalation based on SLA
  • Integration with the National Contact centre
  • Performance dashboard
  • Custom reports
  • Internal alerts and notification
  • Secured interface 

Qudurat Program

Name of Initiative
Year of Initiation
Addressed Sectors
Partners (if any)

2009

Social services and public administration

Non-Government Organizations, Bahrain Institute of Public Administration (BIPA)  and private sector

Business Need

The eGovernment strategy places paramount importance on the capacity building in an effort to harness the power of ICT for technological and socio-economic development. This capacity building is required in multiple areas which include improved governance, citizen participation, leadership, mission, strategy, human resource development, administration, financial management, program development, program implementation, fundraising, income generation, diversity, partnerships, collaborations, evaluation, advocacy, policy change, marketing, positioning, and planning, only to name the least.

Based on the study conducted by the authority, it was identified that gaps exist in the ICT literacy rate of public as well as government employees.

Solution Overview

Aimed at enhancing the use of IT specifically in the government sector and its services, iGA initiated various capacity building initiatives in 2009 including the setting-up of adequate information technology infrastructure for learning IT skills and training citizens and government staff in ICT domains. The initiatives include various tailor-made projects like:

Key Objectives

  • Improved eLiteracy of Bahraini citizens
  • Efficiency in public services
  • Higher uptake of eServices
  • Train and equip Bahraini youth in ICT and eGovernment disciplines such as eContent management
  • Improve ICT skills of government employees 

Impact

  • 15,000+ citizens are trained in basic ICT skills
  • 150+ government employees are trained annually in advanced eGovernment and ICT skills
  • 10+ computer labs are established across the Kingdom granting access to the ICT infrastructure facilities to the citizens & residents of Bahrain. 

National Enterprise Architecture Framework (NEAF)

Name of Initiative
Year of Initiation
Addressed Sectors
Partners (if any)

2009

Public administration

Government entities and private sector

Business Need

In order to achieve the objective of improving service delivery through seamless integration and connected governance, eGA realized the need for a Kingdom-wide strategy and holistic guiding plans; hence, decided to design and develop a National Enterprise Architecture Framework (NEAF).

Solution Overview

NEAF is an aggregation of models and meta-models, governance and compliance mechanisms, technology standards and guidelines put together to guide effective development and implementation of Enterprise Architecture (EA) by numerous government entities across the country.

Key Objectives

  • Efficiency in public sector
  • Simplify and speed-up service deployment to citizens
  • Achieve cost benefits of consolidation and standardization Diversity of service delivery channels
  • Ease and improved integration amongst various ministries and governmental authorities

Impact

  • Fully integrated services to citizens
  • Reduced costs per service
  • Initiatives aligned with the eGovernment vision
  • Cross leveraging of best practices
  • Trust relationship for data sharing

Mobile Apps

Name of Initiative
Year of Initiation
Addressed Sectors
Partners (if any)

2009

Social services

All government entities and private sector

Business Need

Bahrain’s Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) has noticed the increasing demand as well as usage of Smart devices and their applications globally and locally. Such observation triggered a unique opportunity of engaging the public through a new channel that utilizes unique characteristics. It was included in the National eGovernment Strategy to capitalize this opportunity in order to deliver public services; thus, a plan of action was to enrich the channel with a new batch of mobile applications, which will serve citizens and residents along with government entities and private sector organizations.

Solution Overview

At the beginning, the launched national mobile portal was specifically customized for mobile phones to support Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). It provided a mobile version of the eGovernment portal and acted as a one-stop-source of information, which was cost-effective to the government and assisted in delivering timely information to citizens. Later on, in addition to the WAP, all mobile portal services were transformed to be utilized through simple SMS pull and push communication to avail eGovernment services through their preferred telecommunication carrier using SMS short codes reserved for the eGovernment. With technology being incredibly popular, iGA opted to make applications to conform to the huge variety of devices and gadgets. This required real-time business analysis, study of various platforms and market shares in order to launch the mobile apps. Currently, the authority delivers its mobile app services in three leading platforms, namely iOS, Android and Windows. The top five apps include:

Key Objectives

  • Facilitated-use of mobile services for customers, lead to more frequent and larger utilization base
  • Added-value of service through mobile-centric functionalities (i.e. location-based and identification-based)

Impact

The impact caused on government entities include (not exhaustive):

  • High quality service delivery
  • Set branding and built loyalty
  • Reduced channel traffic in physical counters
  • Improved access promotes equality
  • Reduction of front-office operations
  • Leverage hardware features to deliver innovated services

The impact on customers include (not exhaustive):

  • Availability of services anywhere and anytime
  • User-friendly and easy-to-use services
  • Receive electronic notifications and SMS or email reminders
  • Convenience to customers
     


Page Last Updated: 31 Aug, 2023