Bahrain has become the first country in the Middle East to win an International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) certification in the e-Government sector.

The e-Government Authority (EGA) has been awarded the Information Security Certification - the international standard for protecting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data.

EGA successfully developed services that provide support for citizens, residents and businesses through its website and mobile phone portals, e-kiosks and e-service centres.

The ISO is a set of international standards to assess various industries and services.

The assessment and certification was awarded by Belgium Group Bureau Veritas, which specialises in auditing, testing and certification licensing.

"Protecting sensitive information is a priority in our work and securing our clients' data is the measurement of our success," said EGA chief executive Mohammed Ali Al Qaed.

The ISO certificate covers 10 categories, including information security policy, security organisation, staff security, accessibility control elements, physical security, assets classification controls, continuous planning, telecommunication management and compliance.-TradeArabia News Service