With an aim to host prestigious events and decrease the digital gap among the Arab States, the Kingdom of Bahrain proudly hosts for the second year, the Arab eContent Award 2011 as part of the Bahrain International eGovernment Forum to enhance the regional cooperation and encourage the participation in the field of ICT.

The Arab eContent Award 2011 lies under the World Summit Award (WSA) as part of the United Nations, which outlines the international strategic objectives to create interactivity and integration between all countries. The Arab countries work closely to develop their innovative eContent to provide better services to the local Arab communities.

The Arab eContent Award encourages creativity of the eContent and strengthen the cooperation frameworks between the Arab states in the field. It is also a way to deliver their electronic works to an international level. What really distinguishes the Arab eContent Award is the preciseness of the standards and criteria it follows upon evaluating projects in different categories in terms of innovations, authenticity, transparency, inclusion, participation and engineering. These criteria play an essential role in enhancing and developing the future of ICT on a local, a regional and an international levels.

Today, the Kingdom of Bahrain places the eContent as one of its uttermost priorities, as part of its continuous efforts in improving the ICT field, and the to develop a knowledge-based society providing its citizens their fundamental right to have access to information in all transparency, equality and efficiency in line with Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030.

The Kingdom of Bahrain took other measures to enhance the Arab eContent on the internet, through the creation of the “Arab Center for eContent Development” in Bahrain in partnership with the United Nations for Development Programme (UNDP), which will contribute in augmenting the Arab eContent on the internet in comparison with other languages, enhancing search engines in Arabic, as well as to build capacities in the eGovernment domain.

I would like to thank all of those who participated at the Arab eContent Award 2011, and its winners. It is truly an effective reflection of the Arab world to showcase and develop the eContent in the region.

Best Regards,
Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa