IfG.CC - The Institute for eGovernment

The survey was conducted between January and April 2014 by the Arab Advisors Group, which provides reliable research, analysis and forecasts of Arab communications, media, technology and financial markets.

The Arab Advisors Group conservatively estimates the number of these e-commerce users to be around 180,000.

The survey, which covered 11,000 randomly selected households across the sultanate, found that more than 90 per cent of them possess at least one mobile phone or smartphone, more than 80 per cent own at least one computer, and about 80 per cent of households in Oman have Internet access.

Oman has revealed its ambitious plans for a new 100,000-person “smart” city outside its capital, Muscat.

The city, dubbed Sultan Haitham City will be set across 14.8 square kilometers (5.7 square miles), roughly equal in size to Beverly Hills, California.

The plan was shared exclusively with CNN by US architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). The city includes 20,000 homes, a university, schools, health facilities, and mosques. It is due to be built on a largely undeveloped site in Al-Seeb, several kilometers west of Muscat.

Located in Al-Seeb, a district of Muscat, the new city will comprise over 2.9 million square meters of public space, 20,000 new homes of different scales and types, and smart urban mobility spanning 14.8 million square meters.

SOM’s vision also transforms an existing 7.5-kilometre-long dry river – a wadi – that runs through the site. Harnessing natural water from flooding, the wadi is reinvented into a spectacular public green park that provides an interconnected network of open spaces and shaded plazas to encourage outdoor activity and social exchange.

Sultan Haitham City will provide homes for 100,000 people.

Oman has announced the construction of a new city named Sultan Haitham City in the Wilayat of A’Seeb in Muscat, Oman News Agency (ONA) reported.

Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq presided over the inauguration ceremony of the future smart city at Al Baraka Palace on May 31.

A range of government initiatives are driving ICT adoption in Oman, as the sultanate works to connect all homes and businesses to the national broadband network by 2040.

Sector growth is being driven in part by government efforts to promote connectivity, a key element of the broader Digital Oman Strategy (eOman) launched in 2003, which is focused on developing IT skills, digital literacy and e-government services.

More and more companies are starting to use the fast and easy e-services provided by the Invest Easy online portal (investeasy.gov.om).

The new secure portal enables investors to complete their company registration process online in less than three minutes. In addition to starting a new company, the portal also enables existing businesses to manage their interactions with the government.

In the first stage of this initiative, which is expected to be implemented in two months, ROP will generate a civil ID number at the airport immigration and send it along with all other details of the expatriate to the ministry online.

Oman Arab Bank in cooperation with the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism has launched a new service through its digital channels. The new development will allow entities in the tourism industry to directly pay their fees to the Ministry’s account.

Khalid Khalaf Al Awfi, Assistant General Manager for Financial & Administrative Affairs, at the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism said, “The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism continuously seeks to facilitate and develop procedures for investors within the tourism and hotel establishments by digitising relevant processes, together with private sector institutions. Through our partnership with Oman Arab Bank, we will see the provision of a suitable technical solution that links the payment of tourism fees via the Bank’s digital platforms, which is also in line with national e-government strategy.”

"The process of enrolling on line or even through Short Message Service (SMS) has already begun and the response has been tremendous," Khalid Al Zedjali, Deputy Director General for Higher Education Admissions Centre (HEAC) at the Higher Education Ministry, told Gulf News yesterday.

Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org) is a global group of professional services firms and a provider of professional and education services. It opened its 86th global office in Salalah recently and is planning a new office in Duqm in 2017. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, founder and chairman of TAG-Org, is known as a strong promoter of intellectual property in the Arab region.

In an interview with Muscat Daily during his recent visit to Oman, Abu-Ghazaleh spoke about his outlook for economic growth in the GCC, the importance of digital education and promoting a culture of knowledge-creation in the region.

The reports states that GCC states in particular 'have sharply improved their overall performance' and continued to make investments in the ICT sector in a bid to diversify their economies.

Qatar is the highest ranked GCC state coming in the 23rd position globally, ahead of UAE (25th), Bahrain (29th) and Saudi Arabia (31st).

IDA International, the execution arm of IDA for public service ICT collaboration between Singapore and countries around the world, shared Singapore’s change management strategies in adopting and implementing e-governance.

n Information Technology Authority (ITA) specialist said Oman’s plan for e-government is being held back by lack of coordination among entities, at an IT forum recently.

Abdulaziz al Kharusi, director general of e-services was speaking at the IT Forum 2016, organised by International Data Corporation (IDC) in partnership with ITA and e.oman.

Dr Salim Sultan al Ruzaiqi, chief executive officer of ITA, Omar bin Salim al Shanfari, deputy CEO for operations at ITA and Fatma bint Salim al Riyami, project director of the Award presided over the press conference.

Last year Oman relaxed its visa rules to attract more tourists by granting Visa on arrival (unsponsored tourist visa) for the Citizens of India, China and Russia who reside in or who hold an entry visa to one of these countries – United States of America, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom and Schengen States to enter the Sultanate of Oman. To further facilitate the process, the Royal Oman Police (ROP) has announced that effective March 21, 2018, visas will only be granted electronically via the URL: https://evisa.rop.gov.om and there will be no more hand-processed visas at the airport effective that date.

Oman’s ranking has improved in the eGovernment Survey 2018 published by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). Oman ranked 63 out of 193 countries.

Compared to the 2016 scores, Oman has improved on all three indices and is ranked sixth among the Arab countries and second in the Online Services Index. Oman made great improvement in the eParticipation index by 33 positions to be ranked 43rd.

As smart cities become a reality in the GCC, smart buildings are increasingly becoming more prevalent because of the optimised efficiency and convenience they offer, for both operators and tenants.

However, wider adoption of smart building technology should stimulate corporations and governments to ensure that they are adequately prepared for potential cyber risks, stated in a comprehensive report titled ‘Cybersmart Buildings’ co-authored by Booz Allen Hamilton and Johnson Controls.

Royal Oman Police is the first by 71% in terms of e-services usage

According to a survey conducted by the Information Technology Authority (ITA) on the individuals’ satisfaction with eGovernment services in Oman, 81% use the government eServices. The survey, which was conducted in the period from 1 to 24 March 2018, focused on measuring the satisfaction of individuals with eGovernment services of Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Royal Oman Police, and Ministry of Health. The survey targeted citizens and residents aged 18 and above.

H. E. Salem Khamis Al Shair Al Suwaidi, Deputy Director General, TRA - Information and eGovernment Sector welcomed the Omani delegation headed by Dr. Salim Al Ruzaiqi, Chief Executive Officer, Information Technology Authority, Oman.