Sultanate Takes Part in WTISD
By staff - Sun May 22, 8:53 am
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Muscat , May 21 (ONA)— The Sultanate celebrated at Grand Hayatt Hotel, Muscat today the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD), which came this year under the theme: “Better life in Rural Communities with ICTs”.
The ceremony was patronized by Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed al Futaisi, Transport and Communications Minister in the presence of Eng. Ali bin Mas’ud al Sunaidi, Sports Affairs Minster and Chairman of Information Technology Authority’s (ITA) Board, a number of ministers, undersecretaries, governmental officials and ICT professionals.
In a statement, Dr. al Futaisi said that the ceremony aims at highlighting the importance of connecting telecommunication and technology services to rural areas in what is called the comprehensive service to cope with the age and achieve digital and knowledge based society, as well as, bringing these technologies and telecommunications to the rural areas.
He added that the Sultanate’s government exerts all possible efforts to bring these services to all regions in the Sultanate.
Dr. Salim bin Sultan al Ruzaiqi , ITA’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) said in his speech that the constant progress made by the Sultanate in the field of utilizing ICT may be summarized in a number of accredited international indicators.
Dr. al Ruzaiqi added that as per the annual report of the World Economic Forum in 2011 on the competitiveness in IT sector, the Sultanate came 41st on the world level in network readiness indicator out of 138 countries covered by the report. This means that the Sultanate advanced 9 positions compared to the previous year’s report in which the Sultanate was ranked 50th globally.
He pointed out that the Sultanate advanced to 13th on the world level in terms of governmental readiness indicator in ICT, or 6 points compared to the 19th place, which was achieved in the previous year.
ITA’s CEO affirmed that the Sultanate has made remarkable progress in the attention accorded by the government to ICT in its future vision. The Sultanate advanced 11 points compared to the ranking in the previous year. The Sultanate came 10th on the world level. The Sultanate also advanced three points in the interest of the government of IT sector as the Sultanate came 22nd on the world level.
On his part, Dr. Hamadoun Touré, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) gave a speech where he affirmed that IT and its electronic applied applications are major tools to improve management and rural services.
After this, Col. Mohsen bin Alawi al Hafeed, member of Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) delivered a speech where he affirmed that the Sultanate’s joining countries of the world in celebrating the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day affirms the role played by ICT in the rural communities’ life.
The Education Ministry gave a visual presentation on the Educational Portal project, which came first and received the UN Public Service Award in terms of improving the public services.
The Health Ministry also gave a visual presentation on Al Shifa System, which came first at the UN Award for Public Service 2010 in terms of introducing new concept and idea in governmental management.
It is worth mentioning that the Sultanate annually takes part in the celebrations to mark the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, which falls on May 17th every year.
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