BizBahrain May-June 2017

Government
Hotel Revenues increase
during Bahrain GP
Shaikh Khaled bin Humood Al Khalifa
CEO, BTEA
Under the leadership of Bahrain
Tourism and Exhibitions Authority
(BTEA), CEO, H.E. Shaikh Khaled bin
Humood Al Khalifa, the BTEA revealed
that hotel revenues reached BD3.7 Million
during the Formula One weekend, with
12,000 hotel rooms booked during the
event and total occupancy rate of five star
hotels reaching up to 89%.
Migration of Government
Emails to the national private
Cloud
Mohammed Ali AlQaed
CEO, BTEA
Information & eGovernment Authority
(iGA) Chief Executive Mr. Mohammed
Ali AlQaed announced the launch of the
National Private Cloud (NPC) that aims
at migrating government emails to the
national cloud. The project, in partnership
with Microsoft Bahrain, develops an
online platform that encompasses
every government entity under a unified
umbrella and infrastructure.
The announcement was made
during a press conference that included
the attendance of Microsoft Bahrain
and Oman General Manager Mr.
Sherif Tawfik, iGA General Manager of
Information Technology Shaikh Salman
“We are pleased with the positive
results achieved by the tourism sector
during the Formula One season. We hope
that the coming F1 season brings further
success; reflecting the Kingdom’s positive
image internationally and contributing
to the development of the local economy,"
commented Shaikh Khaled.
BTEA also invited more than 25
members from its representative offices
located across the world in further to
learn about the Kingdom, its thriving
tourism industry and to further promote
the importance of the Bahrain Grand Prix
in attracting enthusiasts to this exciting
sporting event held at the Bahrain
International Circuit.
On the sidelines of the event, BTEA
organized ‘Hurafuna’ Handicrafts Festival
held at Bab Al Bahrain. The festival offered
residents and visitors an opportunity
to learn about the handicrafts of the
Kingdom giving the local craftsmen a
platform to sell their distinctive products
and present them to the public.
bin Mohammed AlKhalifa, Microsoft
Public Sector Business Development
Manager Hamad AlSaie, together
with representatives from over 30
governmental entities.
AlQaed explained that this project is
considered as one of the most prominent
national projects which have been
developed in response to the directives
of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin
Mubarak AlKhalifa, Deputy Prime Minister
and Chairman of the Supreme Committee
for Information and Communication
Technology (SCICT). The directives stress
the reformulating of government policies
related to hosting government services
and aligning them with new emerging
global trends in cloud computing which
have proven in reducing expenditures
and budgets of the IT sector as a result
of economy challenges and the rise
in IT costs. The CE also added that the
migration of government emails to the
NPC is expected to reduce the IT budget
30%-50% of the budget allocated annually
in the public organizations for this project
at the very least and moreover, strengthen
the efficiency of the ICT sector’s
infrastructure. The implementation of
iGA’s private cloud services was partially
carried-out by Microsoft’s local partner
AlMoayyed Computers.
iGA migrates 10 Government
Websites to the Cloud
Considered the first-of-its-kind project
in the country, the Information &
eGovernment Authority (iGA) will begin
the migration of ten government websites
as a trial of Cloud Computing - developed
by Amazon Web Services (AWS). The
trial phase is intended to complete the
process of full migration during one
year. This came about following the
signing agreement with the technology
investment firm C5 Capital.
The websites comprise the Ministry
of Justice & Islamic Affairs; Ministry
of Health; Central Bank of Bahrain;
National Oil & Gas Authority; Survey &
Land Registration Bureau; Ministry of
Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban
Planning; Ministry of Transportations &
Telecommunication; Public Prosecution;
Capital Governorate and the Northern
Area Municipality.
The process of migrating to cloud
computing considered the latest and
fastest technologies in storing and
protecting information. This facilitates the
obtaining of the information conveniently,
with ease, effectiveness, flexibility and
ability to expand and store big data
contrary to allowing the government IT
sector to develop its infrastructure and
continue to supervise data; ensuring its
protection via the cloud computing system
- such aspect is what large companies like
AWS as well as Apple currently work by.
The Information & eGovernment
Authority, in collaboration with C5 Capital,
will work on starting the migration
process of the 10 websites to the cloud
platform as a pilot stage by assigning
a working team to carry-out such task
under the direct supervision of the
authority. Furthermore, completing all
the preparations in the first phase while
ensuring the maintenance of all data
and information during the transporting
process.
May-June 2017
63