Emerging Technologies

Digital transformation is a pillar of Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030, an ambitious national development plan focused on the principles of sustainability, competitiveness and fairness. Moreover, the Government’s Digital Government Strategy 2022 highlights the commitment to transforming its services through emerging technologies, helping to create a better life for citizens and residents.

The Kingdom has adopted a wide range of emerging technologies in furtherance of these important goals, establishing itself as a regional pioneer in the process. It has implemented several reforms to support technology-driven businesses and empower them to drive the economy, while the government steps into a regulatory role. As a result, the Kingdom has witnessed a surge in economic growth, job creation and human development, leading to a better life for citizens.

Forms of Emerging Technologies in Bahrain

Bahrain was the first country in the Gulf to liberalise its telecom sector, helping to shift the economy in a new direction. Today, Bahrain’s well-established Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure is among the most recognised in the region.

The Kingdom was ranked 1st in the Arab region on the ICT Development Index (IDI) by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) report, and 4th globally in Telecommunication Infrastructure Index (TII) as per the United Nation eGovernment Development Index. Bahrain ranked 4th globally in ‘Internet users’ category with 99% penetration, as per the Global Competitiveness Report by World Economic Forum (WEF)

Today, the Kingdom continues its growth trajectory, deploying modern technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to further develop government services. This has supported business continuity across the public sector, including the judicial sector, by helping to streamline procedures.

• Bahrain international conference for artificial intelligence in judiciary
• Courts and Cases Services.

The adoption of modern technologies also enabled the education sector to continue seamlessly during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic by offering the remote, cloud-based educational gateway, EDUNET. Meanwhile, the BeAware Bahrain app, developed in-house by the Information & eGovernemnt Authority (iGA), is a national success story that was launched in record time and plays a central role in efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus.