The organising committee of Bahrain's eGovernment Excellence Award 2014 announced that the jury has finalised the evaluation of entries for this year's awards event.

The event will be held under the patronage of Deputy Prime Minister and chairman of the Supreme Committee for Information and Communication Technology Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, according to the report in the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

The committee provided insights about the growing number of entries for this year's award compared to the past years. Participants submitted more than 204 eProjects under the banner of three sectors - Government, Multi-Sector and NGOs. It also highlighted the jury's commitment to standards of transparency and the internationally accepted good practices.

The jury committee is composed of highly experienced international and local members in the ICT field. The diversity of their areas of specialisation is perfectly aligned with change of requirements in the awards categories following the addition of three new categories this year - Best Application for Smart Devices, eEntrepreneur and eParticipation Awards.

The jury consists of seven members, chaired by Danish Technological Institute senior consultant and UK-based Brunel University associate research fellow Jeremy Millard who possess more than four decades of experience in the use of technology in the organisation development.

Other members include National Authority for Qualifications and Quality Assurance for Education and Training in Bahrain senior director Dr Mohammed Baqer representing Education sector, VIVA Bahrain online marketing executive Mohammed Zainal representing Telecommunication sector, Dr Hayat Ali from Bahrain University IT College representing Academic sector, Bahrain Airport Company ICT manager Mahmoud Abu Yusuf representing Private sector; Alba information record IT manager Esam Hadi and Ibdar Bank IT head Syed Azhar representing the NGOs sector.

The committee focused on investigating and evaluating the registered projects to identify the winners. Disqualified participants also benefited from the committee's individual reports which comprised remarks and instructions given by the committee members to assist them in developing and improving their projects. The evaluation feedback in presenting suggestions would progress and enlighten participants to take into consideration.

The award is primarily designed to enhance the concept of governance and transfer information in order to ensure that services are optimally offered for the general public.

Shaikh Mohammed will honour the winners during the official opening of the Bahrain International eGovernment Forum. More than 700 people are expected to attend.

This year's eGovernment Excellence Award is divided into three sectors.

The Government sector includes six categories - Best eContent, Best eService, Best eProject, Best Application for Smart Devices, eParticipation and eEconomy.

The Multi-sectors includes four categories - Best Application for Smart Devices, eEconomy, eEntrepreneur, eNGO.

The Citizen category includes one - Best eConcept. The Citizen selection will be made, based more on effective participation and number of the highest value of transactions conducted on the eGovernment portal during a year. – TradeArabia News Service