Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology Holds Training Session on Digital Participation in the Government Sector
10 September 2024
The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (MTCIT), through the Directorate General of Digital Transformation and Sector Empowerment, held a training session on digital participation in the government sector. The event brought together representatives from various government institutions and information and communications technology specialists. This initiative is part of the Ministry's ongoing efforts to strengthen and promote digital participation and fully leverage advanced technologies, in line with the goals of the Government Digital Transformation Programme 2021-2025.
The two-day training session aimed to increase awareness of the Digital Participation Guidelines and offer practical training on its key principles. It also focused on strengthening the role of government institutions in using digital participation tools to enable effective and inclusive communication with the public.
Engineer AbdulAziz Abdulrahman Al Kharusi, Director General of Digital Transformation and Sector Empowerment at MTCIT, emphasised that digital participation is a key strategy for increasing community involvement in government decision-making. By engaging beneficiaries in discussions and gathering their feedback, this approach helps improve government services and ensures that policies and services better address the public's actual needs.
Additionally, digital participation fosters transparency and credibility, strengthens the relationship between the government and the community, builds trust in government institutions and improves the effectiveness of project and initiative execution. The Ministry remains dedicated to advancing digital participation tools and methods to fully utilize modern technologies and better meet citizens' expectations.
The session covered a detailed review of the digital participation policy and introduced the Digital Participation Guidelines. It focused on using digital tools and best practices for running participation activities. Positive government examples of digital participation were shared, including a success story from the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA). The TRA emphasised that the key to successful digital participation is giving people the right information, allowing them to ask informed questions and involving them in meaningful discussions about services, policies and improvements. The Authority also stressed the importance of using communication technology to involve people in government decisions about policies and public services.
The training session also discussed the main challenges faced when implementing digital participation in the government sector. These included difficulties in effective communication between government institutions and beneficiaries as well as issues with integrating digital tools. Solutions were proposed, such as improving ongoing staff training programmes and developing better communication strategies. Participants stressed the importance of continuing efforts to meet digital transformation goals and encourage meaningful community participation, ultimately leading to the benefits of digital participation and producing real positive results.
Digital participation offers several tangible benefits, including faster and easier collection of feedback from beneficiaries on challenges and needed solutions. It also boosts the return on investment in digital services by targeting the real needs of the public. By promoting interaction between government units and beneficiaries, whether individuals or organisations, digital participation increases public support for government projects and initiatives, encouraging commitment to their implementation. This, in turn, deepens the adoption of digital transformation by involving beneficiaries in policymaking and the design of new digital services.
In addition, digital participation helps create decision-making processes that are more collaborative and transparent between government units and the public, leading to more effective outcomes. It also promotes digital inclusivity, empowering beneficiaries to tackle future challenges as technology continues to evolve rapidly.