Towards a digital society

Digital transformation will be a large part of the progress that the Sultanate is going to witness over the coming years thanks to Oman Vision 2040 — an ambitious roadmap for transforming the country into a knowledge-based society under the leadership of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik.

And that the Sultanate attaches great importance to catching up with countries that have made remarkable advances in the techniques of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

According to a report issued by the London-based Oxford Insight, the Sultanate’s rating in the ‘Government Artificial Intelligence Readiness Index 2020’ has advanced by 11 places with its position, scaling up to the 48th rank globally, after it averaged 52.099 points.

The index set by Oxford Insight measures the extent to which governments are prepared to use artificial intelligence in providing public services to citizens.

Oman has achieved a great deal over at least the past two decades in terms of research engagement.

Since the beginning of January 2020, the world has been enduring the Covid-19 pandemic. The Omani government has made all the efforts, especially digital technology, to decrease the impact of this virus on its citizens and residents.

The national campaign Oman versus the coronavirus was launched to curb its spread through spreading awareness among citizens and residents using all available channels.

Oman has launched some of the most powerful technological solutions to track the movement and spread of the virus and ensure patient compliance with isolation measures.

In this regard is Tarassud Plus, a system consisting of a mobile application using artificial intelligence, with enhanced features that include up-to-date Covid-19 statistics, guidelines and the best practices to prevent its spread.

The application has been available in many languages including Arabic, English, Hindi, Bengali and Urdu, in an effort to cater to both citizens and residents in Oman. It has been downloaded tens of thousands of times.

About the application, Dr Adil al Wahaibi, Director of Surveillance in Oman’s Ministry of Health, said, “information is crucial if we are to effectively fight the coronavirus, and this kind of epidemiological data will help us better understand how it spreads, while limiting new infection.”

The application also enables access to medical hotlines and support staff so that patients can discuss their symptoms and be directed to facilities where they can access care. Once patients are diagnosed, a medical tracking bracelet connected to the application ensures that they stay at home for the duration of their quarantine or isolation.

The app shows in full transparency all related information including geographical spread of the pandemic. The ministry, in collaboration with Wareed.co, provides the delivery service for prescribed medicine to homes in order to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus and to facilitate the process for patients, especially elderly people and heart and diabetes patients, to ensure they get their medicine regularly.

The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology , in cooperation with the National Supreme Committee dealing with the situation arising out of the Covid-19, has rolled out work from home initiative since March 2020. This aimed at providing the government entities and staff all required infrastructure and tools to continue the government tasks.

In its circular, the ministry stressed on the “policy of using artificial intelligence systems for the units of the state’s administrative apparatus, as part of the ministry’s endeavour to provide support development of innovative solutions in all the economic sectors, keep pace with progress in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and achieve the goals of Oman Vision 2040.”

The ministry also formed the Technological Innovation Committee to oversee all IT initiatives to ensure diversity, strengthen the partnership between sectors to implement the new projects accurately and provide innovative IT solutions.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic and the consequent lockdown, students and teachers have been able to use the digital education platform, supervised by the Ministry of Education.

With a group of free applications designed specifically for schools to share documents, they were able to digitally attend class, submit assignments, take tests electronically and communicate with students. Through this platform, education in the Sultanate is moving towards a new phase, which mainly depends on distance learning.

The Royal Oman Police activated the use of the drones to ensure that people maintain the social distancing and stay safe. This helped the police to cover wide ranges in a relatively short time as drones give a wider view of the spaces around.

A similar use of this new technology is implemented by Muscat Municipality which has been using drones to sterilise the streets in Muscat governorate to contain the spread of this virus efficiently without exposing humans to the hazard of being infected.