The global technology leader brought key industry leaders and public sector stakeholders together to explore opportunities for innovation and technology adoption in the public sector
01 June, 2022; Kuwait City, Kuwait – Under the patronage of Her Excellency Dr. Rana Al Fares, Minister of State for Municipal Affairs and Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology Affairs Kuwait, Microsoft today hosted its first Smart Government Summit in partnership with the Central Agency for Information Technology (CAIT), to accelerate Kuwait’s transformation into a Smart Government. The event offered senior leaders in government the opportunity to connect with industry leaders across the technology sector to explore opportunities for innovation and digital transformation in the country’s public sector.
Held at the Jumeirah Messilah Hotel, the first edition of the Summit focused on the theme Technologies Shaping the Government Future and was attended by more than 150 senior leaders and IT professionals from government entities across Kuwait. The event was aimed at showcasing the latest cloud-powered technologies that can be leveraged to enable the Kuwait government to maximize future opportunities, overcome challenges and meet the ever-growing needs and expectations of citizens by accelerating the pace of e-services in the public sector.
Speaking during her keynote speech at the summit, Mrs Haya AlWadaani, Director General at CAIT, said: “Accelerating government’s transformation into a smart government is imperative in an era defined by digital technologies, where citizens and businesses have come to expect simple, secure, and accessible services. As an enabler of innovation with a key role to play in facilitating the creation of a sustainable, diversified economy, we have prioritized the adoption of technological solutions to help deliver reliable and trusted services that place people at the center of experiences.”
Ihab Foudeh, General Manager for Public Sector at Microsoft Middle East and Africa said: “Technology played a pivotal role in enabling governments, organizations, and industries to respond to the challenges of the pandemic and navigate an uncharted landscape. I’m happy to see that today, as organizations continue to realize the value of innovative technologies, we’re witnessing a rapid acceleration of technology adoption and digital transformation across Kuwait.”
During the event, Microsoft and CAIT further expanded their partnership to accelerate digital transformation with the launch of the ‘MASAR’ initiative. Under the new initiative, the two organizations will work together to build a digital transformation roadmap for Kuwait’s government, develop an implementation plan of digital transformation projects and adopt global best practice standards. The MASAR program will kick off with a number of workshops running over two days to assess the current state and value added from digital transformation, identify the priorities and needs of government entities for transformation, and form a committee to periodically follow up on progress made in the implementation of the roadmap.
Dr. Ammar Alhusaini, Deputy Director General at CAIT, added: “Our initiatives in partnership with Microsoft will advance the smart government agendas in Kuwait. Technology holds significant potential to drive the transformation of governance, provide seamless citizen services, build resilience, and drive innovation. The Microsoft Smart Government Summit provides an ideal platform to bring together leaders, decision makers and technology experts to identify opportunities and reimagine the future of the nation.”
“As a trusted digital transformation partner, Microsoft is committed to supporting Kuwait realize the tremendous opportunities of digital transformation by leveraging the power of advanced technologies like AI, data, and analytics,” added Alaeddine Karim, Country Manager at Microsoft Kuwait. “Through continued collaboration with Kuwait’s government, we hope to connect communities, enhance the lives of citizens, drive sustainability efforts, improve infrastructure, and support economic growth in line with its ambitions to achieve the country’s Vision 2035 of ‘New Kuwait’.”
During the summit, Microsoft hosted a panel discussion to explore the challenges and opportunities that digital transformation presents in the public sector, where senior business decision makers from various government entities participated and shared insights. The discussion was then followed by a fireside chat focused on the impact of technology during the pandemic.
Additionally, specialized breakout rooms were made available for leaders to interact with Microsoft’s technology experts and formulate a unique roadmap on adoption of new and emerging technologies such as Infrastructure and App Modernization, Cybersecurity, Data and Artificial Intelligence, and e-services, to accelerate their journey in providing smart services.
