Impact of the eGovernment Program Initiatives

Following the release of the Digital Government Strategy, a large number of 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 initiatives 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.
Currently, the government is focusing on delivering high impact projects, linking all constituents and diffusing technology on societal norms.

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

Business Licensing Information System

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

Sijilat 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. Sijilat represents a major transformational mindset change, deliver innovative, pro-enterprise and customer-centric licensing solution, through an extensive collaboration rather than working alone.

The Sijilat 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

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

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, the government initiated various capacity building initiatives 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:

  • Capacity building infrastructure development
  • Qudurat training program targeted to citizens
  • eGovernment and ICT-specialized programs for government employees
  • Support and train youth in the field of eContent management

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)

Business Need

In order to achieve the objective of improving service delivery through seamless integration and connected governance, a Kingdom-wide strategy and holistic guiding plans were initiated to design and develop the 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

Business Need

The Government of Bahrain 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. A new batch of mobile applications was developed, to serve citizens and residents along with government entities and private sector organizations.

Solution Overview

With the mobile & smart devices technology being incredibly popular, the government of Bahrain 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 the leading platforms, namely iOS and Android.

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

Content Last Updated: 22 Aug, 2023

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