Digital transformation of projects hampered by Finance, documentary cycle

Administrative obstacles compounded by slow contractual procedures by Public Tenders

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 10: The followup report for the first quarter of the annual 2022/2023 plan confirmed that the program for developing a coherent and transparent government related to digital transformation is constrained by obstacles from Ministry of Finance and the documentary cycle, reports AlJarida daily.

The report issued by the Development Plan Follow-up System at the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development indicated that the program includes 14 development and construction projects implemented by 12 government agencies.

The report indicated that the lack of budget and the slow documentary cycle hampered the completion of digital transformation projects, adding that the projects were governed by slow procedures.

The report pointed out that the project of the National Data Center for Business Continuity and Disaster Management, affiliated with the Central Agency for Information Technology, faces a financial challenge represented in the absence of a budget for the project, while the Gateway for Persons with Disabilities Project of the “Public Authority for Disability Authority” has not made any progress since 2020-2021, due to the existence of an administrative obstacle facing the implementation of the project compounded by slow contractual procedures by the Central Agency for Public Tenders.

The report explained that the matter is also related to the Islamic Affairs Portal project of the Ministry of Endowments, which reported insufficient budget for the project, and that the Ministry of Information, despite achieving a progress rate of 2.9 percent in the project of the broadcasting and archiving network, said the approval of the budget increase was the cause of delay.

The report stated that the percentage of completion of the mechanization and development project of the Ministry of Social Affairs was hampered due to the existence of an administrative challenge related to the delay in licensing

procedures and approvals required by the Ministry of Finance and hence there was no progress since the fourth quarter of the annual plan 2021/2022.

The report indicated that the e-government project to support the justice sector of the Ministry of Justice is

facing challenges due to insufficient budget and administrative challenges represented in the delay in issuing the necessary work visas.

The projects of the Ministry of Electricity and Water faced the same fate as the report stated that despite the

progress of the digital transformation project with a completion rate of 8%, the smart meter system project did not achieve any progress in the percentage of completion due to the presence of a challenge related to the governmental entities.