The meeting was jointly organized by South-South News, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (HABITAT) along with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Attendance included senior officials from organizations and agencies of the United Nations, accompanied by a number of ambassadors from South Asia. Keynote speakers during the highly important meeting included Ambassador Francis Lorenzo, Honorary President of South-South News, ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré, Nicolas Pron, UNICEF’s Executive Board Secretary, Cheick Sidi Diarra, together with the Under Secretary General of the UN Office’s High Representative for the Least Developed Countries. John Tintori, Chair of Kanbar Institute of Film and Television at the New York University along with Al Qaed. Furthermore, the meeting was held in the presence of ambassadors of the South Asian countries and representatives of UNICEF, HABITAT and UNDP – in order to share the outcome of the meeting and discover how ICT innovations can help achieve sustainable urban developments.
Participants discussed the eGovernment plans relating to the usage of technology to achieve sustainable urbanization and support urban life-cycle. Notably, the Kingdom of Bahrain was the only state to contribute in setting eGovernment plans and its participation came in response to the United Nations’ invitation in recognition of the achievements attained by the Kingdom in this field with the aim to share Bahrain’s rich and successful experience and further enrich the experiences of the South Asian countries.
“Information and communication technology is one of the tools that help nations reach their required goals, develop existing infrastructure and meet the necessities in various fields,” Al Qaed said, and y stressed on the importance of setting clear plans and mechanisms in accordance with the country’s needs and requirements – based on a realistic timeframe, definite budget and make use of available resources – with leadership guidance and government support for ICT initiatives.
In his speech, the CEO also shared Bahrain’s experience in the eGovernment field by covering the stages of the eGovernment Authority’s development since its establishment up to where it stands today – by highlighting key milestones, initiatives and challenges faced through its journey and providing outlines of the new National eGovernment Strategy for the years 2012 – 2016.