Under the patronage of Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the Supreme Committee for Information and Communication Technology, the “Bahrain eContent Award” 2011 was launched on Saturday. The Bahrain eContent Award is co-organized by the eGovernment Authority (eGA) and Bahrain Internet Society (BIS).
The last date for submission of nominations will be Monday 28th February 2011.
The award aims to encourage the ICT field in the Kingdom of Bahrain by honoring innovative e-products within the ten categories, and also promoting these winners globally whereby the qualified winners will represent the Kingdom in the World Summit Award (WSA).
The organizing committee of the Bahrain eContent Award 2011 is formed and chaired by Nawaf Abdulrahman, from Bahrain Internet Society as Chairman and comprises of Mohammad Ziad Asfour, Vice-Chairman and Lulwa Sami representing the eGovernment Authority; Leena Alalawi and Ahmed Al-Noaimi representing Bahrain Internet Society and Ubaidly Al Ubaidly as the representative of the private sector.
The organizing Committee oversees the award processes which cover two phases prior to announcing the winners. The first phase includes the registration of participants, classification of presented e-products and ensuring that all entries comply with the terms and conditions of the competition. In the second phase, the Jury Committee evaluates participated e-products according to the criteria applied by the World Summit Award (WSA).
“The second launch of Bahrain eContent Award 2011 in Bahrain under the patronage of Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Supreme Committee for Information and Communication Technology aims at encouraging National innovative e-Content and stimulates the ICT community in Bahrain,” said the Chairman of the Bahrain eContent Award-2011 Organizing Committee Nawaf Abdulrahman.
“Besides, the Bahrain eContent Award has become an arena for all national participants to qualify winners to represent Bahrain and compete globally in the World Summit Award (WSA 2011). Moreover, the Bahrain eContent Award is a joint venture between the eGovernment Authority and Bahrain Internet Society (BIS) to reinforce the partnership between the public and private sectors and support the current leap of the ICT sector in Bahrain”.
“The initiative encourages the ICT industry and is an opportunity for all Bahraini businesses and individuals from both public and private sectors to register and be nominated for the award. Bahrain eContent Award 2011 contributes in promoting and supporting eContent creativity and innovation in Bahrain and provides eContent winners a valuable opportunity to qualify and represent the Kingdom of Bahrain in WSA 2011 and network with the regional and international ICT markets. Meanwhile he stated that the registration is open for all Bahraini individuals, government ministries and entities, private sector businesses and civil society institutions starting from today and will continue until 28 February 2011. More information about registration and terms of the competition can be found in the event official website (www.bea.bh),” he added.
“The Bahrain eContent Award, which is organized every two years, is a platform to showcase local specialized e-products and communicate with partners in the field,” Nawaf added.
As for the categories of the Award, Nawaf said that the award was divided into ten categories comprising i.e. e-Government, e-Entertainment, e-Health, e-Learning, e-Science, e-Inclusion, e-Business, e-Culture, e-Banking and e-Media.
“The jury Committee comprises independent local and international academicians and well known experts in web design and multimedia. The jury committee shall judge the e-products in line with the international standards adopted for the World Summit Award (WSA),” said Mohammad Ziad Asfour, Vice Chairman of the Bahrain eContent Award and Assistant Director of Marketing and Awareness Directorate, e-Government Authority.
“During the judging process, focus will be given to a number of criteria such as quality and comprehensiveness of content, ease of use in terms of functionality and navigation in addition to employing interactivity, multimedia and aesthetic value of audio-visual effects”.
Asfour confirmed that the evaluation process encompasses measuring the effectiveness and contribution of the participated e-product in developing and promoting the ICT community, pointing out that all participations will add to the e-Transformation process in the Kingdom of Bahrain.