Collaboration with Countries within the Region

Collaboration with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

The Kingdom of Bahrain is in constant collaboration with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Members in defining the GCC eGovernment Strategy with an implementation plan that is being monitored regularly. Bahrain is an active member in the GCC eGovernment Executive Committee sharing knowledge and challenges related to various fields. There are a number of Committees formed to implement this Strategies varies from Ministerial Level, Chief Executive, Governance, Directors and Project Teams to work on a Specific Initiative. The outcomes are being discussed in the Council Meetings based on Decision Level Requirements. There is also a cooperation to develop the national and regional statistics among the GCC Countries through the GCC Stats Committee which established with members from the Accountable Organizations for Statistics and Information.
Bahrain’s Digital Strategy is already aligned with the Regional eGovernment Strategy among the GCC countries, and it went through 3 waves of Implementation. The GCC eGovernment Strategy is formed with a set of Initiatives that is being prioritized on yearly basis matching the global trends and directions in the region. The Kingdom of Bahrain’s submitted several initiatives to the GCC including a model for measuring eGovernment guiding strategy implementation. The strategy also included other initiatives prepared by member states, such as a periodic report on the achievements of eGovernment, including the provision of eServices through multiple channels, in addition to improving the quality of Arabic content available on the Internet.

Collaboration in Statistical Information

The Kingdom of Bahrain represented by the Information & eGovernment Authority collaborates with the Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf (GCC-Stat) to leverage the power of statistical information to support decision making, research and dialogue within the kingdom and withing other GCC countries.
Bahrain is a member of the GCC-STAT joint specialized teams in the fields of Education, GIS, Economy, CPI, International Trade, Foreign Investment, Labour, health, Energy, and statistical work.
The Kingdom of Bahrain hosted a workshop in cooperation with GCC-STAT to develop labour statistics in Bahrain. The workshop discussed the GCC strategies and policies of labour statistics, administrative records as a source of labour statistics and the key types of administrative records used in labour statistics in the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The Kingdom also hosted the eighth meeting of the working group concerned with monitoring the positions and efforts of the GCC countries to achieve the fourth sustainable Development Goal. Bahrain also participated in GCC-STAT meetings related to:

Experiences of the GCC countries in the field of eCommerce.
The inflation in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
Gross domestic product of the GCC countries.
The current situation of the performance of the GCC countries in the food security report for the year 2022.
Launching the tourism statistics platform for GCC countries.

Communication & Information Technology Regulatory Authority (Kuwait)

The Kingdom of Bahrain, represented by the Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Communication & Information Technology Regulatory Authority in Kuwait to share knowledge and experiences in the Cloud Computing field and it is intended to facilitate government processes, increase efficiency, and contribute to speeding the implementation of projects while maintaining Security, Data Sharing and confidentiality of Information and Data. The Kingdom is considered to be the first Arab country in the region who has taken steps towards going to cloud for government services.

Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO)

Bahrain has several international and regional partnership and cooperation in the field of eGovernment and digital technologies. Bahrain is one of the founding members of the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) along with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan and Pakistan. The DCO is driven by a vision to realize a digital future for all by empowering women, youth, entrepreneurs, growing the digital economy, and Leapfrogging with Innovation. Moreover, the Kingdom has collaborated with the Istanbul Development Agency as it aims to nurture the launch of Bahraini startups in Turkey and vice versa. It has also partnered with the Kerala Startup Mission through the Government of Kerala, India bringing together both startup ecosystems to facilitate collaboration in the exchange of ideas, exploring innovative projects, and supporting ICT and FinTech startups. The partnership with the Government of Karnataka, India promotes collaboration in artificial intelligence (AI), FinTech and other emerging technologies.
The kingdom is also a member in the GCC eGovernment Executive Committee in which they discuss the progress of the GCC eGovernment Strategy Guide, including the communication plans with relevant entities and stakeholders to raise awareness of eServices and the Strategy Guide. In addition, the eServices' implementation by the GCC joint technical team.