Ashraf Abo Arafe
The Information Technology Authority (ITA) organized the sixth edition of the Sultan Qaboos Award for e-Government Services in 2018 in the Great Hall of the Cultural Center at Sultan Qaboos University in which 64 projects from various institutions in the Sultanate competed, including 47 government projects, 9 projects from private institutions and 8 projects from institutions under the patronage of Darwish bin Ismail Al Balushi, Minister Responsible for Finance.
The Ministry of Information won the award of the best government institution for electronic transformation and received by the Minister of Information Dr. Abdel Moneim bin Mansour Al-Hosni, the Ministry of Manpower has been awarded the “Best Communication” project and has won the “Sharak Project” for Best Practice in Community e-Participation. It won the “Data Project” Award for Best Open Data Initiative. “E-Business Services” is the best e-government service supporting the business sector. 
The Royal Oman Police (OMAN) has been awarded the “Best Practices for Smart Devices in the Public Sector” Integrative government culminated in Oman Airports Company for “e-Airport Data Services Project” award for the best electronic service in the private sector has been withheld award in the best application of smart devices in the private sector category for lack of the required criteria are met.
As part of SME projects, the “Knowledge Sharing Platform” and “Global Computer” have won the “Suhara Al Shamil” project as the best e-service in small and medium enterprises.
“Winning an award bearing the name of Sultan Qaboos bin Said, Sultan of Oman, is an honor and a medal that we bear on our chests as journalists and employees of the Ministry of Information to reach this level and in the future to higher levels,” said Dr. Abdel Moneim bin Mansour Al-Hosni, Oman’s Minister of Information.
He added in a statement to journalists that the arrival of the Ministry of Information electronic system and services provided to the public as well as the introduction of professionals in the ministry, or in various media institutions is a major achievement at this stage, stressing that the ministry’s continuity to develop this electronic system more in various categories.
This year’s award was hosted by Algerian researcher Dr. Belkacem Heba, a global researcher in microtechnology and the Internet. He delivered a speech entitled “New Technologies and Opportunities for Emerging Companies” for college and university students.
This year’s award included competition in 10 categories after the introduction of three new categories of awards, including two new categories of government institutions: the Best Open Data Initiative category and the best application category for smart devices in the public sector.
International arbitrators have been selected based on the high level of competence and experience they have gained in judging international awards in the field of e-government or in the field of e-government application. The jury of this year’s award included 11 arbitrators.
The committee conducted five days of independent evaluation and based on the criteria adopted for the award in its various categories by selecting the winning projects out of 64 projects that competed for the award from various institutions in the Sultanate.
The arbitrators expressed their satisfaction with the level of competing projects, particularly their responsiveness to the IT-supported approach to enhancing integration of government systems through the central integration platform.
