MUSCAT: Eng Said bin Hamoud al Maawali, Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, affirmed the Ministry’s commitment to implementing a number of strategic initiatives, outlined by His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik in his Royal speech on Tuesday. Those initiatives pertain to the materialization of the Digital Economy and the achievement of Carbon Neutrality.
In a statement to ONA, he said the National Program for the Digital Economy launched by the Ministry includes a set of main pillars and medium- and long-term targets based on the national directions of “Oman Vision 2040” in an effort to achieve it through a set of executive roadmaps outlined by the Implementation Follow-up Unit of Vision 2040.
The program is based on several main principles for its implementation, most notably the creation of national industries in the digital economy, enhancing local added value, creating sustainable and income-generating opportunities, creating a strategic partnership with private sector institutions, and digitally empowering the economic sectors mentioned in the tenth five-year plan.
The main deliverables of the program are based on three pillars. The first pillar calls for the acceleration of government digital transformation to create a flexible and innovative government apparatus that works to improve the digital user experience and provide smart and distinguished services and proactive measures.
Under the second pillar, the program will work to strengthen the digital society by empowering and developing skills and competencies to ensure that they keep pace with the requirements of the technical future. With regard to the third pillar, the program will focus on enabling the digitization of businesses in the economic and strategic sectors and rehabilitating the advanced infrastructure that supports the digital economy.
The Minister noted that the National Program for the Digital Economy enshrines a set of executive programs for implementation of the main pillars: the government digital transformation program, the e-commerce program, the technical infrastructure program, the digital industry program, and the cybersecurity program.
The program will focus on a group of opportunities available in the digital economy in the Sultanate of Oman, which revolve around data center services, cloud services, cybersecurity services, enabling the use of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies such as artificial intelligence in the economic and strategic sectors, developing digital content, and attracting foreign technical investments to the Sultanate of Oman. .
Oman, he further added, is keeping pace with global developments in the field of I artificial intelligence through a number of practices and projects. The country is also updating the necessary policies and legislations to help harness the capabilities of AI, notably through the implementation of an executive program for AI and advanced technologies at the national level with performance indicators. The Ministry is keen to encourage the use of AI to address potential challenges in every sector, he said.
At the same time, the Ministry aims to ascertain the potential for adverse impacts of AI on future employment in cooperation with relevant stakeholders.
Commenting on the Net Neutrality program, he said the Ministry and its partners aim to redouble efforts in implementing carbon emission reduction initiatives, notably projects to achieve Net Zero in the transport sector by 2050. This is sought to be achieve by supporting the utilization of clean technology, driving sustainable development, and promoting a diverse mix of clean energy sources and green mobility (ONA).
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