Manama: Bahrain’s eGovernment Excellence Award 2012 aiming at enhancing the digital culture and increasing the number of beneficiaries of technological applications, both locally and globally, has been launched.

“Nomination is open to all innovative participants - individuals, government and private sectors and NGO’s in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) field,” Mohammad Al Qaed, eGovernment Authority CEO, said.
The registration for the award will end on February 15.

Projects will be evaluated and announced by a jury comprising International and local ICT specialists and winners will be honoured at the opening ceremony of the Bahrain International eGovernment Forum 2012.

“We hope that the award attracts effective national eParticipations and contributes to the global efforts in the field of ICT,” Al Qaed said as the event is held for the fifth consecutive year. “The eGovernment Excellence Award is an ideal mean for innovators to extend their innovative local eProducts or eServices and participations in order to establish a solid base within a technological society and realize the purpose of the event,” he said.

The eGovernment Authority (eGA) will hold two specialized workshops on January 16 and 17 for ministries and governmental entities to shed light on the participation process, the criteria of nomination and evaluation according to established standards and guidelines.

The award consists of eleven categories divided into three entities – government, multisectors and individuals.

The government sector includes six categories - Best eContent, Best eService, eMaturity, Best eProject, eEconomy and eEducation while the Multi sector has four categories - Best ICT Solutions Provider, eEconomy, eEducation , eNGOs.

The individuals’ category offers awards in eCitizen and Best eConcept.

The winning eProjects will be approved and nominated to represent Bahrain and compete regionally at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) eGovernment Award to be launched at the end of the year.