Bahrain's Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) has launched a project to develop and modernise the infrastructure of its private data centre, thus making it the first country in the region to implement the multi-cloud and hybrid cloud system in government sector.

 

The objective is to enhance the ability of hosting government systems and services, in addition to scaling for future growth in iGA and enhancing the business continuity for government services within the internal cloud computing environment of the authority, reported BNA.

 

The project comes as part of the iGA strategy and direction to employ modern and advanced technologies, and harness it in a way that contributes to the development of a society based on data and information. 

 

Moreover, the project aims to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of government systems and services by supporting the development process and further reducing operational costs, it stated.

 

It is being implemented in co-ordination with US company VMware, a leader in the field of providing multi cloud and hybrid cloud computing services.

 

Through this project the authority aims to enhance direct response during emergency situations via the established Data Centre for disaster recovery, in addition to its development of a national system for backup as part of its continuous efforts to ensure smooth business continuity of the government data network, it added.

 

Dr Khaled Al Mutawah, Deputy Chief Executive for Operations & Governance at iGA, affirmed that the launch of this project crystallizes the national initiatives, and the economic recovery plan. 

 

"This is in addition to raising the efficiency and effectiveness of the performance of the government services, enhancing its quality and providing it within a safe and sustainable environment, in line with priorities of the government Action Plan, the Economic Recovery Plan and the fiscal balance programme," he noted.

 

The launch of this project comes as a result of the Kingdom's leadership directives and support towards the digital transformation and its adoption as the first pioneering country to implement such a trend in the region, realizing cloud computing initiatives that is in line with the Kingdom's direction towards harnessing the technologies and advantages provided by modern systems, reported BNA.

 

Dr Al Mutaweh pointed out that with the implementation of this project, Bahrain will be the first country in the region to implement the multi-cloud and hybrid cloud system in the government sector, pointing to several advantages achieved as a result of activating this project. 

 

"Some of the benefits are the provision and creation of an internal environment through which the systems are hosted as services in the internal cloud computing environment of iGA's data center (Private Hosting) managed by iGA's team, while the role of the company, VMware, will be limited to carrying out the modernization of the center's infrastructure, supervising its operation, and performing periodic maintenance," he explained.

 

"This would have great impact of achieving this in maintaining business continuity and ensuring its operation and 99.9% availability of government systems, especially in periods of emergencies and disasters, as well as reducing operational costs, he added.

 

It is one of the key initiatives that the iGA is working on implementing in cooperation with the private sector and specialized and leading international companies in the field of technology, in order to provide high-quality services by moving towards the principle of multi-cloud computing based on hosting government systems and services on Amazon web Services (AWS) and hosting government systems and services in the Authority's data center on the Authority's cloud (VMware), as well as previously hosted services via Microsoft's cloud (such as e-mail and user files).

 

"The infrastructure modernization project for the authority’s data center to host government systems in partnership with VMware confirms the power of multi-cloud and its ability to enhance innovation in the government services sector through the use of hardware and technical equipment with high efficiency, providing unprecedented levels of flexibility and innovation," remarked Saif Mashat, General Manager of VMware in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Yemen said.

 

"We at VMware look forward to working with the Information & eGovernment Authority, in order to ensure business continuity, especially in times of emergencies and disasters, as well as reduce operational costs," he added.