In addition to the minister, the inauguration was attended by the eGovernment Authority CEO and Silah Gulf Chairman Mohammed Ali Al Qaed, Shura Member Munira Bin Hindi, Silah Gulf, Bahrain Deaf Society, and civil society institutions concerned with special need individuals, along with a group of hearing-impaired who hold membership in such societies.
In a speech delivered at the inaugural ceremony, His Excellence cited the importance of cooperation among the various institutions and the support given to the integration of special need individuals in all walks-of-life in order to improve services targeting this group and successfully integrating it within the society. He recapped their rights to accomplish the highest extents of independence as their capabilities would permit and allow for an active participation in societal activities in a way that would help attain the future aspirations of Bahrain in line with Bahrain’s 2030 Economic Vision and within the framework of Bahrain’s wide-ranging development.
“We are celebrating the inauguration of the visual contact service for the hearing-impaired at the National Contact Center (NCC), which provides a channel to deploy the services of eGovernment Authority and other ministries, in partnership with civil society institutions, and in cooperation with the Bahrain Deaf Society so as to stride-out forward towards investing the new techniques in build-up the efforts of various societal groups, including special need individuals, to enable them to join other users of the eGovernment services, and consequently, the service can be enjoyed by all groups of society,” the Minister said.
“This inauguration reflects our objectives for assurance of active deployment of the center’s services and its comprehensive reach to all groups of the society. We are proud of the achievements made today and the services offered by the center, as it has so far launched 32 services, spanning the various needs of citizens, expatriates, and visitors of Bahrain. In the very near future, we will be announcing the activation of new host of services in addition to current services,” Al Qaed said, while expressing his delight at the launch.
Using the ‘Visual Contact Service’ allows the ministries to benefit from the same channel to communicate with their deaf clients.
“One of the society’s current objectives is to utilize the techniques to assist the hearing-impaired and implement the integration, we are looking forward to deaf benefiting from all ministry services,” Bahrain Deaf Society Chairman Mahdi Naemi said, and also thanked eGA and Silah Gulf for their efforts.
“I congratulate myself, my fellow deaf peers and the organizers for launching the visual contact service. We are very proud and pleased with such a considerate launch. I also thank Bahrain Deaf Society and the eGovernment Authority for this service which tremendously helps us in solving many of our daily life and work obstacles,” Ghanim Mohammed, a hearing-impaired individual, said.
Attendees also included Rodha Al Jufairi and Huda Al Mutawa, who were the hearing-impaired interpreters in the launching ceremony.
The hearing-impaired are capable of using the service in two different ways. The first can be via Skype; free-of-charge and available for download on PCs, mobile phones and tablets such as iPad; or by using the 3G video connect technique, available in smart phones such as Nokia and Galaxy. Currently, there are five basic services available to hearing-impaired callers. These services will be expanded on gradual basis.