Bridging between Beneficiaries and Municipality
Muscat Municipality Launches "Communicate with Muscat" to Serve Society Classes Electronically
- Initiating electronic payment and suspension of cash payment systems.
- Entire electronic transactions and achieving no visits are intended for the future plan.
By: Ibrahim al-Hassani
Within upgrading electronic services, adapting to the latest developments in modern means of communication and using modern technologies to facilitate and simplify the measures, Muscat Municipality recently launched "continues with Muscat" package to serve Society Classes electronically and for the importance of active participation for improvement of different systems provided in for beneficiaries.
Najla Nasser Alroahih, director of Electronic Program Management at Muscat Municipality, said that “Communicate with Muscat" package contains a variety of social media, in order to create close link of cooperation between beneficiaries and audiences to be engaged with municipal services. Services contain some programs contents; notably: Muscat Call Center 1111, complaints and suggestions page, smart phones application (IMuscat ), e-mail, municipality page on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, questionnaires and opinion polls, window of share your opinion, and inquiries window about the status of complaint taking into account compliance to interaction and electronic participation policy, attached to Muscat Municipality Electronic portal of “Communicate with Muscat”.
She indicated that communication channels with Muscat Municipality news service applications contribute to make inquiries about the services provided by the Muscat Municipality and its procedures, introduce suggestions and opinions aiming to service quality and improvement, provide feedback and complaints about quality of services to be improved, contribute to the evaluation of Muscat Municipality services by participating in surveys and polls, and promote the content of Muscat Municipality website and its electronic services.
Electronic Payment
From digital transformation to the universal application of e-government project, various directorates and units of Muscat Municipality have begun to use payment application with electronic payment cards and stop the collection of municipal fees in cash starting from this month. Municipality calls upon all beneficiaries and public audience to use this new system.
Electronic History of Municipality
Khadija Amer Alahamdih, programming specialist at Muscat Municipality, said that the municipality is one of the first government institutions that have adopted the theme of electronic services and Information Technology usage in business Agenda, whether internal administrative agenda or services related with targeted audience. In the eighties of last century, microfilm technology was used to file documents and archive. Then, programs, applications and databases of managing and filing some services such as building permits, local licenses and leases, have been established. With Internet onset in Sultanate of Oman, Municipality led the way to establish a website on the Web Network. It is not only an information site, but also it provides electronic self-services, including inquiring about parking violations.
Most-Important Electronic Services
Khadija Alahamdih referred that the municipality has started to use electronic techniques. Most important of those Services are electronic building permits. Currently, applications of building permits, attachments, charts, fees payment, and receiving certificates of building permits and approved plans are electronically submitted, without the need to visit the municipality; in addition to E-parking services as distinctive service because it is available to audience through several electronic channels such as buying parking tickets using SMS, also through Municipality website to pay parking violations and application of parking permits and renewing it electronically, in addition to the provision of those services on smartphones through the (I-Muscat) application, leases services and local trade licenses, and various services of official electronic communication.
The municipality is working on implementing the turnaround plan of e-government 2015. To ensure implementation of this plan, digital transformation committee for governmental services and a team implementing the e-Government plan at Muscat Municipality were formed. This team aims to list and document all services and re-engineer procedures to ensure the possibility of electronic provision, and then electronically transfer it not only through the World Wide Web - Internet, but through other electronic channels, given that working on this plan runs since last year of 2012. Muscat Municipality through this plan aimed to access to zero visits to the Municipality. Khadija Alahamdih explained that the management of site contents is performed using the latest content management software (CMS), in addition to an electronic link with some internal systems through which pages and links providing services and facilities such as tenders, news and complaints and proposals system, are updated. In addition, Muscat Municipality uses Oracle system of self-support in order to provide services such as E-building permits and E-booking of vehicles.
Conclusion
Municipality has got many awards, both locally and internationally, due to its contribution and excellence in this area, including: Oman Digital Award for the best online booking service and fees payment via SMS on mobile phones in 2009. Muscat Municipality site won first prize in "health and environment" category within Oman Awards 2009 for websites. In addition, it has obtained "structural creativity" Award from municipalities and provinces sites category within emblem of e-government Awards 2010, organized by Arab Organization for Administrative Development at Arab League and Online Awards Academy. The ceremony of awards held in Beirut-Lebanon. As well, Muscat Municipality won Award of Arab Towns Organization in the field of information systems (systems and software), 10th session (2008-2010).
Municipality has won Sultan Qaboos Award 2010 for excellence in e-governmental services (second round), in addition to the following awards: Best e-content of the Muscat Municipality portal Project, and Award for best e-service for building permits E-service (obtained from a governmental institution to the private sector).
The Municipality has obtained Sultan Qaboos Award 2011 for proficiency in e-governmental services (second round), in addition to the following awards: Award of e-readiness, Best E-service – E-services for mobile communications for (I-Muscat) Project. It won Arab E-government emblem in technical innovation for the category of municipalities and provinces sites in the second round for the year 2011, organized by Arab Organization for Administrative Development at Arab League and Online Awards Academy, through a ceremony held in Sharm El -Sheikh, Egypt.
Muscat Municipality and Oman Tawaaf site won many awards within Oman competitions for websites in 2011. It has obtained Award of best interactive websites (Facebook) under the category of Arab government institutions in 2012, silver emblem of 7th round Oman Competition for websites in 2013, and Excellence Award for Customer Service in 2013, public sector, second round.