GOVERNMENTS today no longer work in isolation. Successful implementation of government policies and decisions hinge largely on how effective their communication is with people. The flow of information and announcements from the various ministries and all their departments must be smooth, quick and updated.
And this is one big challenge that most governments face. Formulation of efficient and integrated information management practices isn't an easy task and demands professional expertise. To negotiate this humongous task with "whole-of-government" management has often been found to have created massive information gaps between the governments and their target audience. Yet, the challenge must be met and with efficacy. As a matter of fact, some governments, especially in Europe and Americas, have privatised their information management system.
This has brought in a revolution in information dissemination management and has perceptibly improved the governments' capacities to reach out to their target audience in time, offer right and targeted information and minimise their turn around time. In keeping with time and evolving technology, the government of Oman has long ago revolutionised its information dissemination system from paper to digital.
This has helped the Sultanate to make all its targeted information accessible from any part of the world within minutes. And the results have been stunning. In view of this, we thought of inviting opinions of our readers on how the government here can make its dissemination of information more efficacious. Could privatisation of the management of all its websites be a panacea worth considering
Thulasidoss Ramachandraan,
Al Kuwhair
Muscat
It is wonderful to see such a topic raised by Times of Oman, its unbelievable since few months back, it came to mind why most of the rules and regulations pertaining to locals and expatriates are made familiar among the public.
The Times of Oman understood the timely need of people and brought the subject up for discussion on Times Xpresso.
According to me, in the recent past, many prevailing rules pertaining to job opportunity for the locals in important sectors, adherence of minimum payment to locals / expat workmen , declaring holidays to Omanis and expatriates, policies pertaining to recruitment of house maids, medical insurance, policies on new visas, renewal of existing visas, and so on so forth, were published in daily newspapers mentioning that rules were amended and re-amended to benefit locals and expatriates.
But actually what was the change effected to public and their advantage is really takes time to know unless when we approach concerned authorities.
In fact, It is generally discussed that when concerned authorities or ministries departments were approached for particular work to be done, they will come out with a new rule saying that we have to follow this or that.
Is it not shocking news when a person goes with the preparation of what he knows or others says
We cannot demand these authorities to show such orders or amendments but to follow what they say.
Why should information be person driven and why not system driven
The best way is to regularly update all the relevant information, amendments and rules, which are related to people should be made available in the websites of concerned ministries and governments.
Next to best is privatise such management of information so that people can have an easily access the information collect relevant data and gather adequate knowledge without relying on officers.
Communication through Internet is one of the best channels to bring awareness and educate one and all. Website communication is a system driven and more reliable than any other method. Regular and updated sites will ensure tremendous clarity of information.
K. L. Srinivas
Rustaq
I have a fixed feeling and opinion on the issue raised by Times Expresso this week. As a matter of fact, the government of Oman has done some excellent work in regard to making information accessible to common people.
And I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Sultanate's authorities for the initiatives taken.
There are, however, a few points I would like to make clear with an objective to bring to the notice of the authorities.
And I would also hope that the points will be taken note of and corrected in the larger interest of the people.
First of all I cannot help saying that most of the websites of the government are not good looking and are not interactive. And in addition,
I have found some the sites take inordinately long time in opening being too heavy with extremely big picture files.
As a result of this, I feel many visitors to these sites may quickly lose patience and navigate out of the sites.
I also felt that many of the official websites of the government of Oman are not regularly updated.
As a result of this I found a lot of information given in several official websites are old and have no relevance at all.
As a matter of fact, websites primarily cater information and I admit that even if they do not look good it would not matter much if the sites cater absolutely updated information and open fast.
One of the reasons why government across the world have opted for digital information dissemination is that they are fast.
And if the sites take long time to open or the information are not updated regularly the basic objective of digital information dissemination gets frustrated.
The officials sites on tourism ought to be redesigned and they must include more information.
These sites should be made interactive so that if any prospective tourist has any question he or she can put it on the dialogue box.
The question, however, must be answered as quickly as possible.
Maintenance of all the websites and uploading the latest information regularly is certainly not an easy task and require significant technical manpower.
Privatisation of the tasks, therefore, could be an alternative the government may explore and consider.
In an age of digital information dissemination and Internet websites are the primary and exclusive gateways of access to information.
It is imperative on the part of the government, all ministries and their departments to keep their information sources absolutely updated.
I am of the opinion that outsourcing the responsibility to private bodies with adequate experience and expertise in the domain can be of great help.
Khalid Jamal
CBD
Muscat
On the issue raised this week I strongly stand against the motion. In no way I can endorse any move to privatise information management system of the government.
And any attempts to do so will be simply disastrous.
As a matter of fact, I am also strongly opposed to outsourcing maintenance of any of the government and official website.
Even at the risk of being criticised as conservative I would like to reiterate that privatisation is not a panacea for all maladies.
And as one who has significant and proven track record of running highly popular news website for years I can say that even privatisation of the work or any kind of outsourcing doesn't really help.
I have had extremely bad experience in this matter. And I am more than certain that if the government here outsource its information management system, maintenance of all its websites etc information lag will still remain.
I must explain why I am opposed to privatisation of government websites and information management system and dissemination arrangements.
First of all, privatisation will gradually destroy information filtration system. And this will create problems sooner than later.
There will always remain the risk of misuse and misrepresentation of information. Neither of situations will augur well for the government.
Privatisation may also create problems of prioritisation of information.
Wrong prioritisation can certainly send wrong signals to the target audience and create confusions which will spell doom.
In such a situation the government may have to face situations which may tarnish its image even in international domains.
Privatisation of government information management dissemination system can lead to protocol problems as well.
Most importantly, contrary to what is normally perceived privatisation may not always facilitate regular and timely upgradation of information on government websites.
I, therefore, would like to reiterate my opposition of the motion and take this opportunity to impress upon the authorities here that such a move can prove to be extremely counter productive.
Usha Devi Suddapalli
Ruwi
At a time when the world is craving for transparency in every facet of life, it is high time government organisations put to best use the information technology to bring in awareness in all classes of life, by updating all norms, rules, regulations, day to day amendments enabling minimal chances for bureaucracy, red tape and in turn illegal gratifications.
The Sultanate of Oman can be no exception to this, having taken to the course of e-governance and determined to pursue it through web based technology.
Like an old saying that even if one is scolded, it should be clear and well understood by the victim to take note of it and correct self; all norms and changes brought in time to time by the ministries, public authorities and alike, need ideally be updated on the concerned web sites to avoid confusion, inconvenience and delays.
These days when even illiterate are using websites to get information - thanks to net connectivity through cafes and mobiles; updating on web helps to reduce the dependency of most of the end users, as otherwise a cross section of users need necessary take the guidance from public relations agencies, which involves many impediments starting misguiding to cheating to delays.
More often than not, we only here through friends about changes brought in about visa issuance systems, eligibility criteria, restrictions imposed on time to time on regulating family joining visas, maximum age stipulations for issue of new employment visas as well as renewal of present visas, Omanisation of specific fields of activity to name a few.
To get information in force; it's a mammoth task for one to run from pillar to post, with more often than not one ending up with no certain clarity.
At times, one hears changes brought in that affect some nationalities, with not many knowing their specifics.
All these issues effectively call for a timely updating as well as use the media and the overseas consulates. With ever willing print media in two languages, the governmental departments may ideally use the daily newspapers and periodicals to publish the changes as and when they are made.
Besides, the different embassies in Oman should lend a helping hand in posting updates of this kind on their web sites, as well as put up notices on their bill boards pertaining to nationality specific changes.
Last but not least, the authorities may simultaneously resort to text messages on the mobile phones which are fast catching up in this part of world, so that the changes brought in or new introductions on regulations affecting public would get wide publicity and draw attention as well. Education leads light and this education can be imparted by timely publicity that can be brought in through web.
E. M. S. Balachandran
Al Khuwair
Muscat
The very aim of a website, whether its government or privately owned, is to provide correct information with regular updates.
The emergence of the Internet has grown in all fields of activities of life, whether they are business ventures, public services, government departments or publications or just pure information sites.
Now a days each and every business whether commercial, government or private has a website that reflects the company's interest and contains useful information regarding all its services, its objectives, besides other information.
As a result any user visiting these sites gets information easily without wasting much time and at bare minimum of cost. But this pool of information for users can and does become outdated and the website will not serve the purpose of passing on information to its users if the contents of the site are not regularly updated.
That brings us to the important question as to who should be regularly updating the contents of the websites. That decision has to made by the organisation or the ministry concerned. Here the importance of security of the website has to be the prime objective.
Hence if enough expertise to upgrade the information readily is not available then it can be outsourced. Across the world there are professional companies doing outsourcing and here, in Oman too, such companies do the necessary upgradation of contents for the websites for both the government as well as the private sector.
Here, web content writing is the most important task which should be given the utmost attention by the website owners.
Thus, it is essential for the authorities to ask the content writer to make the article as informative and reliable as possible. Content writing should be very engrossing so that at the very first glimpse the viewer is attracted towards it and he is kept glued to the information.
Content writing should be done specifically for the target audience and it is wise to research beforehand the information that has to be passed on to the websites.
Also, the content should not be too long and mundane as majority of the web viewers don't have the patience to read lengthy articles with repetitive content.
Once the websites are up and running the owners of the site has to make sure that the online site is foolproof and secure.
Stricter monitoring of official government websites as well as of banking and financial institutions needs to be carried after a series of "malicious" online attacks were made recently mainly aimed at financial fraud.
Depending upon the financial health of the organisation their websites can be constantly updated either by hiring experts to work with them or by outsourcing the content writing to specialist who work according to the requirements of the organisation. Hence, it is not the question of whether the websites of government, ministries or banks and financial institutions should be privatised or not.
It is very important that websites of organisation are fully secure with very little opportunity for spams, phishing or even hacking.
Harleen Kaur
Muscat
The idea of privatisation is most welcome if it is done to raise the profits or boost the national economy.
But just to mend the work culture, privatisation seems to be an extreme step.
Instead of privatising, there are many other ways to hone up the communication channels and keeping information in all the government websites absolutely up to date.
Recruiting right people considering educational qualification and experience, providing rigorous training based on their work profile and creating an ethical work environment will surely give positive outputs.
Proper communication with staff is also beneficial to find out the loopholes of the system. Promoting/ changing posts will minimise the corruption (if exists). Rewarding will create an atmosphere of competitiveness and will boost a worker's energy.
I hereby conclude, the Ministry should tighten up their belts, look for the loopholes in the system and take steps to mend them.
Under such circumstances, even a private company would have done the same.
Khalid Mumtaz Jung
Muttrah
The rapidly changing social and administrative system in Oman needs a drastic overhaul of the information technology support to provide for better connectivity between the public and the government.
The protests which Oman witnessed earlier this year was in fact a call for better efficiency in the management of public affairs.
For an expatriate, the first impression of the Sultanate is that of a well organised system with the latest technology being used by officials of various departments.
Surprisingly, all government officials and even their assistants seem quite tech savvy.
My first interaction with the officialdom at the Muscat International Airport and later at the Ministry of Manpower was a very pleasant experience.
The officials process was completed in a matter of minutes and the waiting period too was relatively short. This is in sharp contrast with what one witnesses in most Third World countries, where harassment of the common man has become an expected phenomena.
This efficiency in the Sultanate can be attributed to the well managed Information Technology apparatus. But what needs to be changed is the need for technology upgradation among the staff.
The Information Technology world is a constantly changing mechanism. What is considered hi-tech may be outdated in a matter of months. The computer skills have to constantly improved.
And this responsibility rests with the senior officials, not with the civil society or the private sector.
Therefore, I am of the opinion that the information management system in Oman is comparatively efficient, and does not need to be upgraded by the private sector.
The government machinery has its own character and should not be corporatised.
Next hot topic: Does the Sultanate require several super-speciality hospitals with the most advanced expertise and state-of-the-art medicare system to deal with critical,
life-threatening maladies
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