Dubai eGovernment to host 2nd Middle East eGovernment Summit in Dubai

The Summit will allow local and regional experts the opportunity to share their experiences in the successful implementation of eGovernment initiatives, from concept to delivery.

Local speakers will include Mahmood Al Bastaki, Acting Director, eServices, Dubai eGovernment who will deliver the opening address, Rehab Lootah, eServices Provisioning Manager, Dubai eGovernment and Mahmood Amir Mawani Abdullah, Project Director, Federal eGovernment.

"The Middle East eGovernment Summit is being organised to discuss and address the growing demands for eBusiness solutions from Government and other public sector organisations in the Middle East," said Mahmood Al Bastaki. "The focus will be on strategic and technological solutions for the successful implementation of government-to-government, government-to-customer and government-to-business operations."

"Now in its second year, the Summit has become a vital forum in which to evaluate developments in the field of e-governance, as well as to share experiences and success stories from governments that have already made considerable progress in the delivery of online services to society and businesses," added Al Bastaki.

Key topics to be discussed at the summit will be the implementation of eHealth; Dubai's track record of rapid delivery of e-government services; the relationship between Internet penetration and the liberalised communications market and incentives offered to the public to utilise online services.

The summit will be attended by IT personnel from Government departments, IT directors, Chief Executive Officers, Chief Financial Offices and HR personnel.

More than 1600 government services are currently offered through electronic channels by various Dubai Government departments, with a strategic target of delivering 90 per cent of public services electronically by 2007.

"The presence of foreign experts at the Summit, including those from Europe, will enable the participants to measure their progress against developed countries. The case studies presented by these speakers will provide experiential evidence for some of the region's e-Governments, enabling them to pinpoint where services can be improved," added Al Bastaki.

"It is a well-known fact that Dubai is the leader when it comes to the delivery of
e-Government services. Many other countries in the Middle East are still lagging behind, and the shared knowledge provided at the forum will ultimately help speed up the implementation of e-governance in the region.