Three Omani entries vie for the best project title at global infotech event

Muscat: Three Omani entries are competing for the ICT (information and communications technology) project prizes, at the World Summit for Information Society (WSIS) 2016, organised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
The Omani entries include the Oman Data Portal by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) in the category ‘Access to Information and Knowledge’; Invest Easy Project by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI) in the category ‘ICT Applications –business’; and Public Key Infrastructure Project by the Information Technology Authority (ITA) in the category ‘Building confidence and security in the use of ICTs’.
At the next WSIS, which will be held from 2 to 6 May 2016 in Geneva, Switzerland, winners in 18 categories will be announced at the WSIS Prizes 2016 Ceremony.
WSIS focuses on building an inclusive information society to provide access to information for all people through ICT, and which puts the potential of knowledge and information technology at the service of development.
WSIS encourages governments to provide adequate access to official public information through the Internet.
The WSIS Prizes contest provides a platform to identify and showcase success stories and models that could be replicated, to empower the community at the local level, to offer an opportunity to participate in the contest and, mainly, to recognise the efforts of stakeholders for their added value to society and commitment towards achieving WSIS goals.
The contest is open to governments, the private sector, civil society, international organizations, academia and others. The contest categories are directly linked to the WSIS Action Lines outlined in the Geneva Plan of Action.
The contest for WSIS Prizes 2016 is organized into five phases; submission, nomination, voting, selection, and announcement of winners. The public had the opportunity to vote for any of these projects until 10 March. Next week, experts will select the winning projects and in May the winners will be announced.