Good Practices and Innovations in Public Governance 2003-2011

2010 Category 1: Bahrain
ership. This meant that the ministry-level goals were aligned to the e-government strategy
and the project team was highly motivated. Second, officials involved in the project
followed a strategy of listening to citizens and clearly addressing their needs. Third, the
project had a clear focus and a well-defined framework for governance that spelled out
the roles of participants (the e-GA, ministry-level working groups, project teams, etc.).
Replicability and Sustainability
The implementation of Bahrain’s e-government initiative has been ongoing since
2006. To ensure the sustainability of the National e-Government Portal, the government
is taking the following steps:
• Regularly reviewing the list of available e-services and making additions as
necessary to ensure that all important services are available online to citizens.
• Launching more Common Services Centres and e-kiosks across the Kingdom
to reach out to all citizens and ensure digital inclusiveness.
• Conducting business process re-engineering and initiating administrative reforms
to improve government operations and simplify the process by which
citizens interact with government.
• Establishing common policies and standards for ICT initiatives by implementing
Kingdom-wide enterprise architecture to enable service integration and
interoperability.
• Motivating project teams by expressing appreciation for their dedication and
good work.
• Convening focus groups of external stakeholders (industry representatives,
government officials, academicians, citizens, etc.) to review the usability and
accessibility of the National Portal.
• Having the e-GA team analyse the outcomes of focus-group meetings and
implement participants’ suggestions.
• Undertaking marketing efforts to publicize e-government initiatives.
• Conducting biannual citizen surveys to assess satisfaction levels and the scope
for further improvements.
The United Nations Public Administration Network recently published Bahrain’s e-
government strategy on its website for other countries to emulate. This is recognition
that Bahrain’s efforts regarding e-government are replicable elsewhere.
Lessons Learned
Bahrain’s e-government programme has won acclaim locally and internationally as a
means of increasing citizen satisfaction with government. Three important lessons
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