Kuwait seeks to draw a roadmap for digital future, says Al-Nahedh
Microsoft, CAIT host second ‘Smart Government Summit’ in Kuwait
Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Affairs Mazen Al-Nahedh stressed the importance of supporting the partnership between the government of Kuwait and international information technology companies and adopting applications in line with the requirements of the New Kuwait vision.
Delivering a speech at the opening of the second ‘Smart Government Summit’ in Kuwait hosted by Microsoft in partnership with the Central Agency for Information Technology (CAIT) to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its founding in the country, Al-Nahedh said Monday that the summit aims to accelerate the adoption of Smart technologies to promote digital government transformation and launch several initiatives with government agencies.
“We are meeting today to draw a roadmap for the digital future of Kuwait. We have always supported the partnership between the Kuwait government and international information technology companies which resulted in the establishment and development of many technological infrastructure projects and targeted initiatives for Kuwait to reach an economy and society based on knowledge and smart technology such as the cloud, artificial intelligence, data and robots and others,” Al-Nahedh said.
He added, “We always strive for transformation towards a comprehensive digitization.” He expressed his happiness at leading the country’s ambition in this path and expanding at the regional and global levels to achieve its vision of developing human capital capabilities in the field of digital economy and within the framework of its efforts to implement a comprehensive digital transformation process.
He explained that the world is changing very quickly and that digital transformation is part of this change, stressing that the information technology will continue to accelerate the wheel of transformation through access and the establishment of supportive infrastructures that keep pace with modern technology.
He pointed out that the digital transformation process increases investment returns and contributes to promoting a diversified and sustainable national economy, leading to building a society based on knowledge economy to achieve prosperity and wellbeing for all.
Acting Director General of the Central Agency for Information Technology Dr Ammar Al-Husseini said that Kuwait has made significant steps towards smart transformation by adopting smart and advanced technologies to contribute to enhancing the competitiveness of government institutions, raising its efficiency and increasing its productivity. This also has helped accelerate the digital transformation agenda which is a fundamental pillar of Kuwait Vision 2035.
Digital transformation
Al-Husseini said during the past few months, the CAIT in partnership with Microsoft, launched important initiatives to support the acceleration of the digital transformation agenda in the government sector, including Center of Excellence for Digital Productivity to enhance productivity and institutional effectiveness through optimization of digital technologies, take advantage of Microsoft 365 programs and the application ‘The Hub’, the digital platform that provides a new experience for exchanging information and request for digital services within government agencies.
Ihab Fouda, general manager of the government sector at Microsoft Middle East and Africa, affirmed in a similar speech the company’s commitment to the Kuwaiti government, institutions and people by providing safe technology and smart solutions to enable institutions and companies in various sectors.
Fouda said that the activities of the summit witnessed the official launch of the joint cooperation between the Kuwait’s Ministry of Oil and Microsoft as a digital environmental initiative which aims to create a joint dialogue platform to discuss and crystallize the roadmap for a digital project and an advanced and a sustainable oil sector program which will help preserve petroleum wealth and maintain environmental sustainability through artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
Undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil Sheikh Dr Nimr Fahd Al-Malik Al-Sabah said in his speech that the launch of the environmental digital initiative is of great importance in encouraging the use of technology and artificial intelligence to accelerate digital transformation in the oil sector and enhance Kuwait’s path towards sustainable development of the petroleum sector. Sheikh Nimr Al-Sabah stressed the need to develop a roadmap for sustainability and identify the necessary steps for the oil sector in particular and the government.