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Microsoft to continue aiding UAE's e-government plan
Microsoft will continue participating in the development and enhancement of the UAE's e-government objectives, company officials said.
- By Ahmed A. Elewa, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:22 January 29, 2008
Abu Dhabi: Microsoft will continue participating in the development and enhancement of the UAE's e-government objectives, company officials said.
After the Ministry of Economy announced the launch of its new portal, other ministers also held negotiations with Microsoft to develop their respective ministry portals.
"We had meetings with seven ministers, including the ministers of Cabinet Affairs, Environment, Education, Government Sector Development and Culture, during which we discussed the next phase of providing more online services in the UAE," said Charbel Fakhoury, general manager of Microsoft Gulf.
"There are other ministries that have launched successful portals such as Labour and Education, and what is admirable in the UAE is the target orientation, as the country has set a 50 per cent conversion target this year, and more in the years to come. Such clarity helps in the execution," he said.
Agreements
The company also entered into an agreement with Dubai School of Government (DSG), where it will help government modernisation programmes, as the DSG announced that it will launch an information-sharing web portal to enable effective cross-government collaboration.
Other agreements include a collaborative learning solution for the Sultanate of Oman. Qatar has also signed agreements for training programmes, while Kuwait reviewed with Microsoft a strategy in the field of education as well.
"All the Arab countries attended Microsoft's Government Leaders Forum, and we signed agreements and discussed cooperation with other countries, such as Jordan and Tunisia," Fakhoury said.
The focus of the forum, held on Monday, was mostly on e-government, education and health.
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