KUWAIT CITY, Feb 7: Informed sources at the Ministry of Communications revealed the procedures that the ministry is following to prepare for digital transformation, to provide its services through the digital portal, and to carry out electronic correspondence between all sectors. This includes the draft contracts for the use of specialized companies and coordination with the authorities concerned with information technology. It is expected that these works will be completed during the current year, so that all transactions within the ministry become electronic and paperless. The sources explained that the Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs, the Minister of State for Youth Affairs, and the Minister of State for Communication Affairs Daoud Marafie, in his first meeting with the ministry’s leaders after assuming the ministerial portfolio, stressed the necessity of accelerating the work and procedures for complete digital transformation within the ministry, and removing all obstacles that prevent achieving this goal, to develop work mechanisms and keep pace with the modern developments and the government’s approach to digitize all government services.

Cybersecurity
In a related context, the sources said the ministry intends to launch consulting services to support cybersecurity including risk Assessment, incident reporting, and incident recovery from companies specialized in cybersecurity. They explained that this is aimed at evaluating the extent of security and safety of the electronic systems used in the ministry, by the international standards followed in this regard, before the end of the current fiscal year. The ministry is one of the important service ministries that owns customer data. Through the aforementioned practice, it seeks to protect the data from the hacking that the networks of government agencies and ministries are exposed to. Meanwhile, a draft budget report has set KD 139 million as the total budget of the Ministry of Communications for the fiscal year of 2024/2025. The employee payments is the largest item in the budget with a total amount of KD 88.160 million to cover the salaries, bonuses and allowances of employees. The budget also included an amount of KD 9.6 million to cover the ministry’s projects.

By Mohammed Ghanem
Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff