The second Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) E-Government Competition and Conference, which began here on Sunday, aims to facilitate the exchange of expertise among the GCC states and promote positive relations between them, said a Kuwaiti official.

Addressing the conference's opening session, Abdullatif Al-Suraie, the Director General of the Central Agency for Information Technology (CAIT), said that this second forum was complementary to the first event, which took place in Oman in 2009, affirming the desire of the GCC member states to upgrade their e-government services. He also hailed the competition and awarding of prizes as being necessary to enhance competition among the GCC states' e-government programs on the bases of impartial and internatio
nal criteria.

Meanwhile on the sidelines of the conference, Qusai Al-Shatti, the CAIT's Deputy Director General of IT, told KUNA that the department is planning several IT projects, as part of the state's major development plan. The department's plans envisage a project on regulating standards, the launch of the second phase of the e-gateway initiative and a project concerning rapid reaction in electronic emergencies.

Asked about the implementation of security precautions vis-a-vis technological hazards and threats, Al-Shatti asserted that the CAIT regularly offers guidance to users about the proper usage of IT, through awareness programs or information exchange with government departments. He added, however, that there are currently no threats to the security precautions that have been taken in this sector.

The senior CAIT official further revealed that six prizes have been awarded to the institute's winning projects, including those concerning services offered to individuals and establishments and the website of Al-Waqf administration of the Awqaf General Secretariat. - KUNA