International & GCC case studies presented on the 3rd day of the 12th GCC e-Government Forum

Organized by Datamatix, this forum serves as an ideal platform for knowledge sharing and interaction, enabling eGovernment professionals with a better perspective on eGovernment projects, their implementation and management. The case study presentations in the forum focuses on the latest developments & initiatives and emphasize on where global eGovernment projects are heading to and how a planned approach can ensure their success. It highlights how difference nations are preparing their communities, business and managements with the use of the latest technology that has been effectively put together by their eGovernment projects.

Dr. Niels Pagh Rasmussen, Division Head, National IT and Telecom Agency, Denmark presented a case study on 'Building service-oriented eGovernment architecture' which narrated the Danish initiatives leading the effort towards a service-oriented eGovernment architecture. Speaking about developing a suitable eGovernment strategy, he said 'The public sector must provide coherent services with citizens and businesses in the centre and eGovernment must result in improved service quality and the release of resources'.

Commenting on the future challenges Danish eGovernment projects, he added, 'In 2012 all relevant written communication between companies, citizens and the public sector should be electronic. This is optional for citizens but mandatory for companies - using structured XML. In 2008 a nationwide open internet infrastructure based around service oriented architecture and open web-service standards should be available for all Danish companies and public sector'.

Ms. Alison Macdonald, Director, the Digital Archiving Consultancy, UK presented a Case Study on UK Government Sector Records Management with useful elements at strategic, technical and operational levels. His session started with a comparative study UK government over the period of 50 years. He described the three important legislations; Data Preservation Act, Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Directive made by UK Government for implementing eGovernment services, had created a better impact in government transactions.


Dr. Ehab Moustafa, Managing Partner, HAYKALAH - Strategy Advisory & Business Innovation Consulting, in his session on 'Globalization and Governance', he pointed out that in the evolving complex and globalizing world, the old monolithic command-and-control state had been supplanted by arrangements that rely more on networks than hierarchy.

Analyzing the impacts of globalization in governance he said, 'As a result of globalization the context for most governments has been transformed so radically that their traditional structures and modes of operations are no longer relevant. Flexible structures and processes are increasingly favored over the more traditional and bureaucratic patterns. Citizen involvement has been given new emphasis through co-production of services that a coordinated customer focus is pursued to address individual needs and problems holistically and there is a desire to incorporate the views of citizen groups into the service delivery process'.

Mr. Ray Castelli, Senior Vice President, Global Solutions and Services, Quadrem presented a session on 'Improving Government Efficiency: An Examination of eProcurement Services'. He spoke about what eProcurement systems are, how regional governments are implementing these systems, and how other countries are exploiting eProcurement systems.

Dr. Hellmuth Broda, European Chief Technology Officer, Sun Microsystems Inc., Strategic Insight Office spoke on the 'National Master Plan for developing eGovernment Project across the GCC'. During his presentation he talked about the strategies to link all public organizations together via eGovernment and examined the reasons for the existence of 'information islands'. Mr. Faisal Al Mousa, General Director, Saudi EDI, KSA presented a G2G & G2B Case Study on the Saudi Electronic Data Interchange (SaudiEDI).

The final session of the day was addressed by Mr. Issam Mohamed Ali, Senior Solutions Manager, ITQAN - AL Bawardi who presented a case study on the solution developed for UAE's National Consultative Council. He explained in detail the two premier products; eDIWAN, a package of solutions built to accommodate government entities that is residing within the gulf region and eKAWADER, an HR and payroll application, developed and customized on Microsoft Great Plains to accommodate the requirements of all government entities, laws and corporations that are residing within the gulf region. In his presentation he said 'The solution objectives were to reduce manual workload and preserve corporate content, enhance HR, finance, purchasing core processes and manage the corporate website.'

Speaking about the forum, Ali Al Kamali, Managing Director of Datamatix said "The third day of the forum featured many interesting case studies from the GCC and abroad. They provided participants with a unique insight into successful e-Government implementations around the world. The best e-Governments around the world stress the value of citizen centric services for success."

The summit is being sponsored and supported by leading organizations like Cisco Systems, ZPF Information Technology, Datel, Computer Associates, Dubai eGovernment, Amricon, Tejari, Sun Microsystems, HP Invent, DTK Computer, Itqan, eCompany, Innokat, Hummingbird, Konica Minolta and Abu Dhabi Education Zone. The official carrier for the event is KLM SkyTeam.