The Ministry of Health’s website evolved from being awareness-focused into a platform where nationals and residents could conduct transactions during the pandemic. No longer just a source of information, it now offers a wide range of services, marking a major digital transformation milestone for the Kingdom.

The Ministry of Health’s website www.moh.gov.bh stands out with its rich content and range of important eServices. The site is also up-to-date, ensuring that nationals and residents receive access to the latest versions of essential eServices such as e-doctors, home delivery of medicine via pharmacies, and vaccination appointments.

Areas of future improvement that will further enhance users experience down the line is to make the -roadmap more comprehensive with a clearer timeline.

With the many units that fall under the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning (Works Affairs) requiring immediate response the technical integration of the Ministry’s Internal Follow Up system with the National Suggestions & Complaint application Tawasul enabled a huge reduction in time, effort, and costs relating to any new requests, complaints, enquiries and suggestions raised by individuals about issues falling under Works Affairs (Roads, Sanitary and Buildings) and the administration internally link it to the main official Tawasul system for smoother tracking and followup. The service is particularly helpful in enhancing communications between Works Affairs and its clients. It has the potential to impact a large number of individuals in society, consolidating issues and complaints raised through multiple channels into one integrated and unified portal. This gives the Ministry a means through which to reflect on its response rate, speed, and performance.

The Ministry achieved a successful and comprehensive integration of all complaint sources, including social media, traditional media, walk-in with the Tawasul system, making it all part of one convenient portal. It utilizes technology to seamlessly align the whole ministry and related sectors with Tawasul.

The Southern Governorate is considered one of the largest governorates in the Kingdom of Bahrain consisting of various cultures and members of society.

Therefore, one of the main objectives of this initiative is to offer numerous communication channels with the governorates community.

This application showcases the conduction of a virtual Majlis between the governor of the Southern Governorate, using video conferencing features adapting new technologies such as Teams and Zoom platforms. They are also supported by multiple social media channels allowing for greater interaction opportunities with the beneficiaries.

Under the umbrella of the Ministry of Interior, Customs Affairs helps keep the Kingdom secure by monitoring goods from abroad, among other solutions such as import and export services.

With an aim of having greater interaction with the public, Customs Affairs has opened multiple online communication channels to ensure efficient, increased, and continuous communication with their beneficiaries.

Their online communication strategy shows great potential in increasing awareness of their services among beneficiaries, making their approach more consumer centric. They are also open to adopting new initiatives that support their goals.

Works Affairs has undertaken a range of outreach initiatives, utilizing a range of social media tools to open reliable two-way communication channels. It has formal procedures to govern processes related to communications which ensures that the service is provided to suitable levels.

Works Affairs entry is notable for having many strengths, including the utilization of social media channels to reach its beneficiaries, being proactive in adapting new platforms and ensuring early adoption, and encouraging beneficiaries to participate in the decision-making process. This is in addition to using new social media features such as Twitter polls and actively seeking global recognition and awards for its social media participation in the Kingdom and abroad.

The Geographic Security system (GSS) is integrated with several organizations and subsystems that automate the Control Room in the Ministry of Interior (999).

It is directly in line with the Ministry of Interior's strategy and the government's work program, which explicitly covers maintaining social security and stability, developing process, and increasing the pace of the digital transformation of services.

GSS has several strengths, mainly its comprehensive and uniquely new integration, its application of the latest face recognition technology in automating the revoking of data, and its closed and secure network. It also saves time, cost, and effort while having the potential to implement future enhancements such as recognition of car registrations.

The eShabab app provides access to a variety of sports and youth-related content, as well some of the services provided by Ministry of Youth & Sports Affairs. The app enables users to register and pay for youth activities, courses and programs offered by clubs and centers based on the user’s geographical location. It makes reaching youth easier especially with the registration profile with all necessary details being available through the app.

The eShabab application excels in attracting its precise target audience and for its accessibility by being available for both Android and iOS platforms. It has generated high number of downloads and good levels of engagement with its users, which include new and active participants.

There is room for improvement in a couple of areas for the app, namely through introduction of chatbots and a rating system.

The BenefitPay App has impacted every home and business in the Kingdom, allowing the public to complete banking and e-commerce transactions, and businesses to utilize them when delivering services. It has streamlined the process of money transfers and bill payments, among many other services, covering all types of individual and business bank accounts. It is no exaggeration to say that it has become part of the lifestyle in Bahrain.

The app played a major role during coronavirus pandemic, making the shift to contactless payments an easy process even for less technology savvy individuals. This helped ensure the sustainability and continuation of businesses, helping the public reduce cost, time, and effort. The app is continuously being updated, its services upgraded, and its user interface and experience enhanced.

BenefitPay stands out for securing the coveted reputation of being the ‘national wallet’ in Bahrain, including within its services all the Kingdom’s banks and many of its merchants for a superior user experience. It has continued to grow, implementing many improvements and additions of new features in response to its customers’ feedback, while retaining its reputation for being a reliable app.

These excellent eServices created and released during the pandemic had a major impact on its targeted users, minimizing interruption to the learning system. It offered great return on investment (ROI) by eliminating printing and other costs in a significant way. The system uses Cloud technology and micro-services architecture that position it as high ranking when it comes to scalability, security, and availability. However, further efforts are needed to capture data and continue improving the system. There should also be greater focus on the future enhancements and a proper roadmap with a timeline to achieve its goals.

Bahrain Airport Services (BAS) was established at a time when there was a need for an independent ground handling services agent for BahrainInternational Airport (BIA). BAS secured itself an important strategic role in the operation of BIA, which was the first airport in the GCC. It has established a strong reputation, winning international accreditations and recognitions of its success.

Shaheen is a well-conceived project aimed at resolving process inefficiencies and reducing security concerns related to the accessing of Airport facilities.

Shaheen has a well-defined objective and vision, showcasing how strong change management can lead to the successful adaptation of the system after going live.

Boulevard 360° idea utilizes an augmented reality environment where engineers can visualize the underground area of a particular road without the need for road drawings. The proposal is envisioned to reduce unnecessary demolitions and damages, improve access times when searching for drawings, and reduce cost. The system will provide an augmented reality feature allowing users to view 3D implementation, data visualization, and data acquisition, amongst many other features.

Boulevard 360° is notable for its intelligent application of augmented reality. It serves as a solution that can improve roads and civil works, while also enhancing cooperation between various relevant entities such as the Ministry of Works, the Electricity and Water Authority, ICT companies and others.

Further improvements can be made by enhancing its access to the public, providing detailed costs of implementation, and linking how it serves the SDGs and other Government priorities.

The applicant proposes the idea to digitally transfer physical litigants' offices to a virtual platform, namely via chatbot. Litigants include people involved in lawsuits. The virtual litigants chatbot will provide eservices to litigants, ensuring business continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The service will provide users with guidance and advice on the procedures and processes of submitting lawsuits, including information about the required documents, appeals processes, and judicial requests, among many other services. Information can also be provided about ongoing cases in several languages. The service will utilize artificial intelligence to improve its effectiveness and efficiency.

The Litigants Chatbot stands out for its many qualities, which include its use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), accommodation of many beneficiaries, availability to users within the Kingdom and abroad, and its direct link to SDGs and the Government’s priorities.

There is room for further improvement, which can be achieved by integrating the chatbot with other government eServices and processes. It can also be used as a benchmark for similar systems and provides additional features such as the option for users to save chats and access them at a later date.

GOV4GOOD is an idea crowdsourcing portal through which the government will encourage Bahrain’s citizens to bring innovative solutions to public sector issues. The proposal aims to engage the public and encourage them to suggest solutions and ideas to improve policies, procedures, processes, and services. The best solutions may be awarded and recognized. The proposal will unify government entities’ efforts, allowing them to post challenges in a single platform, and the public to respond accordingly.

Gov4Good’s main strengths lie in its unique concept, ‘idea crowdsourcing’, and its application of web 2.0. It fosters innovation and creativity among the public.

The portal can be further improved by including public awareness features, considering fairness, and linking it to how it serves SDGs and other Government priorities.

Highest volume of transactions on bahrian.bh and different eGovernment channels during one year

Highest amount during one year on bahrain.bh and different eGovernment channels.