ITA signs MoU with ANCE of Tunisia for cooperative efforts in Digital Certification

The event was held at ITA premises in KOM, Rusayl on the 14th of March 2009. Dr. Salim Al-Ruzaiqi, CEO of ITA and Mr. Sami Ghazali, CEO of ANCE sign the MoU.

After signing the MoU, Mr. Ghazali paid an official visit to H.E. Mohammed Nasser Al Khasibi, Secretary General, Ministry of National Economy and Chairman of ITA at his office in the ministry. The team also toured the secured Government Data Center facility at KOM, Rusayl.

The main objective of this MoU signed today is to strengthen the cooperation between the two countries in the field of security and validation of electronic exchanges and to exchange experience and expertise in the field of secure digital signatures and the role of a certification authority. The scope also covers exploring opportunities to create the favorable conditions to promote electronic signature validation through mutual cooperation.

Speaking about the MoU, Dr. Al-Ruzaiqi said:

"The Electronic Transactions Law of the country through the Royal Decree has given the responsibility to establish a Digital Certification System to ITA. Through this MoU we would like to have closer cooperation with the authorities involved in the Tunisian experience, who are the pioneers of such implementation in the Arab region. Establishment of a Digital Certification System is a very important component of activating the transactional electronic services in Oman and making them legally valid both for the public and private sectors. We intend to have two-day workshops with Tunisian experts, today and tomorrow to share their experience and expertise in the establishment of a framework to issue and manage digital signatures."

Mr. Ghazali on his part lauded the efforts made by Oman in the ICT sector and said, "The e-government initiatives of pioneered by the ITA are strategic in nature and they are commendable in the structure & framework. The pace of progress made in various e-government implementations is commendable. Through this MoU we would like to work with ITA to develop a high level framework of trust and security which will soon be put in place along with a road map to implement this framework. Once the Certification system is established, this will enable the adoption of the Electronic Transactions Law of Oman in more practical application with a high level of trust."

The ANCE is working to foster a climate of confidence and security for e-government services. Digital certification aims at enabling citizens to have on-line access to administrative services from their own homes and in full confidence through strong authentication and digital signature solutions.

The two-day workshop conducted by experts from ANCE aim to strengthen e-government services in Oman by enabling secure electronic transactions and exchanges involved in e-government, e-commerce, e-banking, e-finance or e-health projects by managing digital certificates (generation, revocation, publication and storage of certificates). A general framework for the establishment of the structure of the public key was presented. This includes legal, technical and organizational components of the public key infrastructure. This workshop also discuss the implementation of this infrastructure project in the short term and long-term.