Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain – A number of strategic procurement requests were discussed at the 64th Information and Communication Technology Governance Committee (ICTGC) meeting, held virtually and chaired by Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) Chief Executive, Mohammed Ali Al Qaed.
Al Qaed welcomed the attendees, thanking them for their efforts and contributions. Items on the agenda included the Industrial Accounting System at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, which aims to improve the efficiency of services related to accounts and invoices. The initiative comes as preparation for an expected increase in the number of industrial lands to be allocated as part of the Bahrain Economic Recovery Plan.
The committee also discussed an Urban Planning and Development Authority project related to modeling and simulation tools for the planning of new cities. It involves using specialized software to conduct coastal studies for newly established cities. This approach relies on two-dimensional modeling techniques to understand water dynamics and simulate the water's ecosystem.
The committee also addressed a Bahrain Polytechnic project for advancing educational technologies by equipping classrooms and lecture halls with state-of-the-art interactive display devices. The initiative is to provide sophisticated, high-performance computer systems that cater to the needs of modern education and tools prevalent in the jobs market, in line with the expected growth in student numbers over the coming years.
In addition, the Committee covered several procurement requests related to upgrading Information Technology (IT) services at other government entities.
In line with its continuous efforts to optimize the efficiency of procurement procedures, the Committee has review policies related to ICT procurement requests submitted by government entities, aiming at streamlining governance processes, reducing waiting times and ensuring optimum utilization of available resources. The meeting concluded with a review of implemented decisions from previous meetings.
Also in attendance were iGA Deputy CE of Electronic Transformation and Vice Chairman of the Committee, Dr. Zakariya AlKhajah; Deputy CE of Operations and Governance, Dr. Khalid Ahmed Almutawa; Ministry of Health Assistant Undersecretary for Public Health, Dr. Ijlal Faisal Ali Al-Alawi; Ministry of Finance and National Economy Director of Financial Systems Development, Abdullah Ahmed Dhaif; University of Bahrain Dean of the College of Information Technology, Dr. Hessa Jassim Al Junaid; and Director of Services & Information Technology at Office of the Prime Minister, Ahmed Abdulnabi Al Qayem. Dr. Ali Al-Soufi, the Information Technology Advisor, and the supporting team of the Information and Communications Technology Governance Committee were also present.