The programme plans to train 2,015 government employees and 13,000 Bahraini nationals, where each trainee attends 24 hours of accredited training by the eGovernment Authority (two hours a day for 12 days), in computer basics including Windows, Microsoft Office, Internet applications and internet surfing and how to use the eGovernment portal Bahrain.bh to encourage citizens to do their governmental services online.
“This educates citizens how to benefit from services available through it effectively in order to save time and efforts. The course also aims at providing the citizens and employees of ministries and governmental entities with the ability to deal with the developments to create a sufficient base of trained personnel and build an integrated information society,” eGovernment Authority in a statement said.
“The Capacity Building project (Qudrat) which is launched in cooperation with Microsoft, is a continuous human investment in line with the continuous education. The return on investment for us is improving quality of work to obtain the customers satisfaction on the government services”, Mohammed Ali Al Qaed, CEO of the eGovernment Authority.
“The Capacity Building project for computer literacy aims to educate the citizens who had no opportunity due to their circumstances to study the basics of computer and internet, and train them on how to benefit from the eGovernment portal”. He confirmed that the project is one of the major projects within the eGovernment strategy which is aimed to train and develop government staff performance as well as citizens’ capacities in line with Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030 to build an information society and prepare qualified individuals who can achieve this vision,” he added.
Microsoft regional country Manager for Bahrain and Oman Tareq Hijazi reaffirmed Microsoft’s commitment to the Kingdom of Bahrain capacity building initiatives that put information technology at the heart of Economic reform agenda.
“We commend the eGovernment Authority for its leading role in expanding the reach of technology to a broader community. This commitment to digital literacy is fundamental to economic development and is in line with the visionary Bahrain 2030 strategy. At Microsoft we believe in the value that digital inclusion brings to individuals and societies at large”.
“The programme falls under the Microsoft Unlimited Potential Program, a Global Microsoft initiative that focuses on transforming education, fostering local innovation, and making technology more relevant, accessible and affordable,” he added.
The eGovernment Authority has signed two MoUs with the Bahrain Institute for Entrepreneurship and Technology and with Ascentech Telecom Institute to contribute as partners in the project of e-learning capabilities for the years 2011-2012.