iGA transactions rise 22 per cent
THERE was a 22 per cent increase in financial transactions on the government’s online channels last year.
A total of 1,626,100 transactions worth BD156,019,889 were made through the Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA).
This was a substantial jump from 2018 when around BD123m in financial transactions was recorded, followed by BD74m in 2017 and BD46m in 2016.
The latest statistics were revealed yesterday by iGA chief executive Mohammed Al Qaed during a Press conference on the achievements of the 2019 eGovernment Strategy.
“The significant jumps we see as the years progress are the biggest proof that people are satisfied with the level of services being provided,” he said.
“Another indicator of success is ‘Sehati’ application which hasn’t been launched officially yet but has been made available on app stores and its indicators are impressive.
“iGA, in partnership with relevant entities, is close to launching the Sehati app, which will provide a unified platform for health services and will be of great importance to citizens, residents and visitors.
“The Sehati app was downloaded 42,414 times last year while usage has reached 301,404 times and it hasn’t been officially launched or advertised yet so those indicators are impressive.
“The objectives of the (2019) strategy have been met in a range of 12 government sectors – including transportation, traffic, water and electricity, housing and real estate, education, health, employment, banking and much more.”
Mr Al Qaed also highlighted that iGA’s services are available in 14 government bodies and 12 national sectors, adding that a re-engineering of 40 eServices allowed for an 88pc reduction in the costs of providing the government services as well as a 74pc reduction in processing times.
He added that since the new-look smart card was launched, a total of 138,000 applications were received while more than 54,000 citizens and residents have updated their details on the portal.
He also said that around 11,000 requests were submitted to have students transferred from public to private schools and private schools to public schools.
Also present at the Press briefing was iGA acting vice-chief executive of eTransformation Dr Zakareya Al Khaja who said the most used application is eTraffic – which has included new services this year such as issuing an international licence, identifying locations of speeding cameras, and renewal of registration of public transportation vehicles.
“There has been an 82pc increase in the speed of processing transportation and traffic transactions in 2019, resulting in an 83pc reduction in the cost of providing the services as well as improvements to traffic safety,” he said.
“The speed of delivering Electricity and Water eServices was up by 67pc, reducing the cost of providing the services by 94pc while the processing of Justice and Islamic Affairs transactions sped up by 55pc, reducing the cost of providing the services by 76pc.
“Service delivery for community assistance programme transactions improved by 75pc which has achieved a reduction of the cost of providing the services by 98pc, while the housing and real estate transaction service delivery improved by 77pc allowing for a 75pc reduction in the cost of providing the service.”
He highlighted that in the education sector, transaction times improved by 75pc, with the cost of providing the services reducing by 85pc.
He also revealed that 22pc of the total financial transactions were done through mobile applications which he highlighted represented the increase in people’s faith and trust in eServices – which has jumped from 10pc in 2018.
Since government eServices were launched in 2007, a total of 6,399,654 financial transactions were made worth BD523,179,327.
