Salute the Sutanate of Oman - 38th National Day

Saluting the visionary leader

The National Day is a thanksgiving day for the noble head of state – His Majesty, for having given us a home for the past 14 years. It is a day of celebrating and reflection upon the progress of the nation in several dimensions.

In realising HM’s vision on harnessing technology and creating more ICT awareness, I have been fortunate to contribute my little might in IT Education and Awareness in the Sultanate through profession and my passion the “Digital Oman” column, the only ICT magazine of Oman, research papers, public presentations and several technology articles.

After His Majesty's speech in the Majlis , I am more motivated and committed to this mission and will make efforts to include many more local people into the online world. A project to teach Internet and Email to the Blind through an association is in the pipeline.

About Oman's progress in IT

We have witnessed the Sultanate make massive strides in the ICT sector since 1996 when we arrived first. IT in Oman was very nascent with few organisations having accounting and invoice systems alongside the Ministry of Finance pioneering IT with sophisticated mainframe systems. Corporate sector had started having networks and systems in place and only the elite could afford a PC and Internet connection.

From this humble beginning, Oman has scaled rapidly. We now have over 1,15,710 Internet subscribers, ePayment facility, eLaws, IT training and job opportunities, IT incubation and Innovation centers in the Sultanate. We also have an exclusive IT park –KOM housing multinational IT giants. The authority for IT has HM’s directives to implement the national IT strategy and lead the country’s transformation into a knowledge society.

Over 25 institutions offer IT studies and high level IT trainings. Public sector is keen on its online presence and is moving towards online services. The media has turned more tech-savvy with an online presence and the quality of websites has greatly improved. The momentum has just begun and Oman is carving a special niche for itself in eGovernment and the global IT map.

On this day we wish wishes of good health, happiness and a long life to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said and to all Omani people.

A more detailed update on eOman projects is presented in the Times of Oman - 38th national day supplement - Pg. 26 and 27.

Picture Courtesy: Mct-Enigma