UAE: General Information Authority applies "Cloud Computing" in launching government shared services
On Monday it will witness the activities of the forum's second and last day. The GIA had previously extended invitations to all directors general, chief executive officers, eServices directors, information technology (IT) directors, the staff of IT departments and those in charge of eServices at government bodies to attend the forum and get familiarized with the new government shared services, which represent the landmarks of a genuine process for paving the way to eGovernment at the federal level.
The GIA was keen that the forum is held on two days, with the first day being dedicated to the staff of Dubai-based federal bodies and the second to the federal staff based in Abu Dhabi. The first day forum was held in The Palace Hotel in Dubai while the second day forum will be held in Khalifa University.
Salem Al Shair, Director General of the General Information Authority delivered an introductory speech in the forum, during which he urged all federal government bodies to exert joint efforts in the upcoming period to contribute to developing government work in line with the requirements of the knowledge-based society and economy and the UAE Vision 2021 launched by our prudent leadership.
Referring to the shared services that the GIA would provide to the government bodies, Al Shair said: "This bouquet of services comes within the concept of "cloud computing", which ensures the distribution of services by a centralized body tasked with overcoming the development and support difficulties, contracting overseas bodies and managing all IT and communication aspects." Al Shair noted the economic, administrative and technical dimensions of "cloud computing" technologies in addition to the economic dimension as embodied in creating financial abundance under a global tendency to control expenses in government work. She said: "In the battle for overcoming the effects of the financial crisis, minimizing costs is one of the most effective weapons and one of the most significant proofs on employing the faculties of creation and innovation. Add to this, every effort that leads the government's costs and financial burdens to be brought to a minimum in these circumstances actually reflects a strong sense of nationalism and a sense of belonging that deserves to be highly appreciated." The GIA Director also said that the GIA's use of the "cloud services" methodology comes as part of a modern tendency at the level of advanced countries, noting that countries like the United States and advanced European countries started applying "cloud computing" at the government level or through partnership between the public and private sectors.
As for GIA's services that fall within the cloud-computing concept, Al Shair said: "The GIA is in the process of developing a combination of nearly 20 shared services but will launch these services according to a plan that spans for approximately 2 years." He added: "We have, however, started with a bouquet of 10 services, these being Hosting, eIdentity, Federated Active Directory, Corporate/Intranet Portal, Email, Malaffate (Document Management), Meeting Management, Resource Management, Servicedesk and Database." The cloud computing technology is an up-to-date concept based on providing software, infrastructures and applications as services rendered to users through the Internet. This technology offers the possibility of making substantial savings in expenses through bringing duplication and loss to a minimum and enabling government bodies to obtain the services they need from taking the responsibilities of licences, infrastructures and huge numbers of resources.
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Quelle/Source: WAM - Emirates News Agency, 11.04.2010
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