ITA & Omantel conduct Workshop

Muscat: The Information Technology Authority (ITA) together with Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel) recently conducted a workshop outlining the details of the Oman Government Network (OGN). The workshop, hosted by the Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa, was held under the auspices of Dr. Salim Al Ruzaiqi, Chief Executive Officer of ITA, and Dr. Amer Al Rawas, Chief Executive Officer of Omantel. Also in attendance were representatives of all ministries and government organizations, in addition to heads of corporate sectors.

In his opening speech, Dr. Salim Al Ruzaiqi, ITA’s CEO, said, “Establishing a digital network will ensure fast and secure exchange of information and data in the country. By streamlining our systems, our goal is to increase the efficiency of the Omani government. The OGN is a key factor to achieving the Digital Oman Strategy, whereby Oman is electronically transformed into a digitally based knowledge society.”

Dr. Amer Al Rawas, CEO of Omantel said “ITA & Omantel have partnered since 2006 to implement this ambitious project which comes in-line with the government plans to transform into digital society. Today, we are delighted to announce that we have 330 sites from 46 government organizations connected through this network which is operating using the Multi Protocol Labeling Switch (MPLS) technology.”

The objective of the day-long workshop is to increase awareness among the government entities about the Oman Government Network, its associated benefits, and how it aligns itself with Oman’s e-Government vision.

The Oman Government Network (OGN), put simply, is an interconnection of government organizations and ministries, and within each ministry exists numerous sites. The OGN facilitates communications between the different branches or sites of a Ministry, and also enables transactions between different ministries in a safe and secure way. The OGN is a completely managed service utilizing network equipment (routers and modems) owned and managed by the service provider, Omantel. Ministries are provided access to a monitoring portal whereby they can view the performance, utilization, and availability of the service.

One may wonder how is the OGN different from conventional leased lines. The short answer relates to the cost factor. The use of conventional leased lines can be quite costly because of the heavy technical inputs. The cost of a leased line-based solution and associated cost of managing the operations is quite significant. A key element of the OGN architecture is the elimination of the distance-based pricing of services. The Government of Oman requires that the same service be provisioned within rural and urban areas of the country, regardless of location, at the same price. The OGN offers just this, thereby expanding the reach of the Omani Government. The current number of sites connected to the government network is 330, spread across 46 ministries and governmental organizations.

In addition to educating the ministry employees who will most benefit from the adoption of the Oman Government Network (OGN), there was an open panel discussion between speakers from ITA and Omantel. Topics up for discussion included current best practices, complete with real life case studies, identifying challenges that have presented thus far with regard to the operation of the OGN.