The whole Policies, Standards and Procedures project is divided into three phases. Overall, the eGovernment steering committee plans to develop about 80 different policies and standards. So far, 25 policies have been created in the first phase of the project but only three have been published. Publication of policies takes time, said Bin Ghannam, because it involves a series of iterations and deliberations before it can be finalised and approved. Like the first stage, Bin Ghannam reckons it will take approximately six months for the second phase to be completed.
“These policies and standards are being developed in a phased manner after extensive consultations with various subject matter specialists, government officials and considering industry best practices,” he said.
The policies, in general, will help speed up the implementation of e-government projects in a synchronised way, said Bin Ghannam.
“The purpose achieved by the standards and policies developed would be to attain consistency in initiation, specification, planning and implementation of various e-government projects,” he elaborated.
“These policies are based on best practices and are worldwide set of policies but they are customised for the federal government’s needs.”
Bin Ghannam stressed that the policies are designed only for the federal government’s various entities. Local governments are not mandated to abide by the new standards.
“There are initiatives within the UAE but these are local government initiatives. We have interactions with them but we don’t regulate them. They don’t have to follow the policies,” he said.
Autor: Caroline Denslow
Quelle: ITP.net, 17.07.2005
