Doha – Qatar

The Ministry of Transport and Communications (MOTC) has announced the entities that won Qatar Digital Government Excellence Awards at a ceremony MOTC organized and was attended by HE the Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim Saif Al-Sulaiti and several senior officials from the government sector.

The event also featured the graduation of new batches of Qatar Digital Government Training Program (QDGTP), stemming from Qatar Digital Government Strategy. HE the Minister honored the second batch, 17 graduates, of the Chief Technology Officers (CTO) Training Program and the third batch, 28 graduates, of the IT Talent Program.

Qatar Digital Government Excellence Awards is one of the QDG program initiatives to value and recognize the efforts of government entities and organizations in developing and launching digital services and making them accessible for beneficiaries. The initiative also encourages all entities to advance with providing innovative digital solutions, thus supporting the country’s vision toward building a knowledge-based economy, in accordance with Qatar National Vision 2030.

There are 7 categories for the Awards: Best Digital Service, Best Open Government Service, Best Innovative Service, Best Government Entity in Digital Transformation, Best Mobile Application, Best Governmental Portal or Website and Best Specialized Portal.

Entries were evaluated and best initiatives selected by a neutral jury comprising local and international experts in the field of e-government and according to various criteria, such as creativity in providing the services, benefits to users and to what extent they achieved their desired goals. Based on the evaluations, two awards are provided under each category: First place (Gold) and Second place (Silver).

The Best Digital Service award is given to the public-facing digital service by submitting an end-to-end digital service delivered in the most distinctive way with the highest level of quality. In this category, the Public Works Authority “Ashghal” won the silver award for its Moazanah System, whereas the Ministry of Education and Higher Education won the golden one for the Registration and Transfer of Students of Government Schools. In the Best Open Government Service category, awarded to the best digital platform or service that offers open data and/or e-participation to the public, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment won the silver award for Qatar's National Address "Unwani", whereas the Ministry of Transport and Communications received the golden award for Qatar Open Data Portal.

In the Best Innovative Service category, awarded to the best innovative service that demonstrates innovative thinking and/or process improvement, the General Customs Authority won silver award for its Customs Declaration for Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing System, whereas Qatar Leadership Centre won the golden award for its QSurvey System. In the category of Best Government Entity in Digital Transformation, awarded to the best performance in the overall digital transformation of a government entity according to its progress and adherence to Qatar Digital Transformation Strategy, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry won the silver award, whereas the Ministry of Culture and Sports won the golden one. In the Best Mobile Application category, awarded to the best digital government application for smart services in terms of content, service offering, usage, design, functionality, accessibility, and user experience, the Ministry of Justice won silver award for SAK mobile app, whereas the Ministry of Interior won golden award for Metrash2 mobile app.

In the category of Best Government Portal or Website, awarded to the best portal or website in terms of content, service offering, usage, design, functionality, accessibility and user experience, Qatar Public Prosecution won silver for its e-Services Portal, whereas the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs, won gold for its portal. Finally, in the category of Best Specialized Portal, awarded to the best successful portal that is built to achieve specific purpose, target specific audience, empower social responsibility, community needs, well-being, and support or improve the community standard of living, Mada (Assistive Technology Center) won silver, for Mada Innovation Program, whereas the Ministry of Public Health won gold for MyHealth Patient Portal.

In his remarks during the event, HE the Minister, Al-Sulaiti, said, “Digital government is the future of government services in Qatar and we will continue this transformation successfully through the support and contribution from all stakeholders and government entities, as well as through our commitment to qualify professionals in the ICT domain to the best quality.”

He added: “Out of our interest in backing the digital transformation in Qatar according to the objectives of the QDG Strategy and in appreciation of all efforts and milestones that came true in reality, we launched Qatar Digital Government Excellence Awards to foster a culture of excellence and positive competition amongst government entities in the field of digital transformation and digital services by harnessing the advanced ICTs for providing the best services to all segments of the public.”

HE the Minister pointed out that Qatar eGovernment Steering Committee, chaired by MOTC, has, since formed, been encouraging all government entities to introduce digital services plans and oversee their execution to achieve the objectives of QDG Strategy. The Ministry, he said, continues working closely with more than 40 government entities pertaining preparing and executing digital service plans.

“The human element is the most important in the digital transformation ecosystem, and from the perspective of developing and qualifying Qatari youth to empower them to deploy innovative technology solutions and support our digital transformation plans, MOTC launched QDGTP, which to date has trained over 3000 government employees in IT through conducting more than 500 training courses and specialized training programs and around 40,000 training hours, in addition to granting more than 800 international certifications to program trainees,” he further clarified.

Graduating the second batch of the CTO Training Program takes the total number of its graduates to 41 while the total number of IT Talent Program graduates has now reached 82.