With Oman undoubtedly at the forefront of Digital Transformation, Intelligent CIO discusses the country’s digital development with Vlad Postelnicu, Director Alliances and Strategic Partnerships, Software AG, and Firas Saifan, Managing Director, Technologies Strategies Middle East (TSME).
What has been the impact of Digital Transformation in Oman?
Oman has been at the forefront of Digital Transformation as one of the key initiatives for the country in line with its Vision 2040 and e.Oman 2030 (Digital Oman Strategy) that lays emphasis on Digital Transformation and innovation to boost the economy and prosperity of the society. The e.oman strategy focuses on IT industrial development in order to enable the society and individuals and enhance eGovernment and eServices in the next five years.
These are further divided into achievable strategic pillars to advance the digital society and fabric of Oman thereby enabling Smart government and services, creating a vibrant digital and ICT led ecosystem, governance, standards and policies to guide this new framework.
The impact of the country’s decision to scale digitalisation has been incremental particularly in the governmental sector where the vision is to enhance end-user experiences and a welcoming response by residents in adopting these technologies.
Oman is rapidly upgrading citizen services and driving business transformation. Several digitisation efforts are being led by the Ministry of Technology and Communication (MCT) to digitalise the government of Oman and its agencies for direct impact and to boost end-user services making them seamless, effective and efficient.
In line with Oman’s public services digital 2022 plan to digitalise 59 public services across different government institutions, several technological changes are being led by MCT and are gradually being rolled out through automation to simplify processes for citizens, residents, tourists and the larger community. Making strong headway, the digital roadmap will help deliver the country’s commitment to boost Oman’s economy.
Over the past years we have seen a significant increase in transformation projects across Oman, both in the government and private sector. With immense utilisation of IoT and integration to support the multitude of existing and emerging use cases, Software AG has been at the forefront of governmental transformations in the country closely in sync with MCT’s digital agenda. We are working closely with some Omani entities that rely particularly on integration, API Management and process automation technologies from Software AG.
Speaking of other verticals, in the banking sector for instance, there is increased adoption of open banking models as banks and financial institutions find new ways to drive easier, seamless and value-added banking experiences to deliver new and compelling customer experiences.
We have witnessed a surge in our open banking solutions as financial institutions ramp up to keep pace with customer expectation to streamline existing services and support new services. In the telcom space on the other side, IoT continues to take strong hold as providers play a vital role in continually creating new value through integration.
Overall across verticals in the country, business transformation is becoming a compelling need, particularly in process analysis and process mining as the core of any transformation. A strong understanding of current processes, policies and mode of operating is vital prior to the commencement of any business transformation.
We have witnessed this strongly in the country thereby leading to increased operational efficiencies across our clients through a clear roadmap of priorities in place. This has been an on-going exercise by Software AG for all our customers to continually evolve towards their business objectives.
The above are only some of the key initiatives and areas where Oman is accelerating innovation to drive the digital future of the country in order to enhance the lives of residents and visitors and elevate public sector services. Together, as Software AG and TSME, we ensure our commitment and will continue to align closely with the authorities in Oman and MCT’s view to implement and launch smart technology solutions across all key verticals.
How has Digital Transformation prepared Oman for the present and the future?
With Digital Transformation at its helm, Oman has come a long way in offering increased productivity and efficiency as a nation as government entities continue to embrace newer technologies to fulfil their national commitments.
With MCT taking the lead in Oman’s governmental digitalisation agenda, the country has been fast able to manifest its plans and strategies of preparing itself into a digital-future nation through several use cases.
Here are a few key areas that showcase how it is fast preparing the country for the future:
- Inter-collaboration between government entities: Enabling sharing of data, resources and information to better serve citizens, residents and the larger communities
- Agility and speed through innovation: With automation comes more efficient end-user services, better preparing citizens and residents alike for a digital nation.
- Seamless and personalised services: Leading to consistent and safe end-user services.
- Improved cost efficiencies: Cost savings as a result of automation can directly impact the consumer in the form of lower service prices.
Moreover, with elevated use of new technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Blockchain and the comprehensive use of data analysis, different forms of innovation strategies are rapidly gaining momentum within the public service offerings for improved efficiencies, seamless experiences and qualitative improvements. Several new generation public services with citizen experiences at the core are being witnessed in addition to vast rationalisation of the IT landscape.
Software AG and TSME have embarked on a market development programme for the Sultanate of Oman to scale up the nation’s digital agenda. Furthermore, TSME’s strong know-how of Software AG technologies, localised expertise and proximity, deep insights and accurate understanding of the market in Digital Transformation are collectively ideal requirements to develop and deliver successful digitalisation initiatives for the country.