Cloud computing has been inaugurated by the Ministry of Labour (MoL) as part of its digital transformation drive. The Ministry is working to launch nearly 80 new electronic services and transactions by March 2023. MoL seeks to take advantage of cloud technology in order to develop services provided to the public, raise the level of information security controls, make data-based decisions, improve business flexibility, reduce operational costs, and increase employee productivity.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by Minister of Labour H E Dr. Ali bin Smaikh Al Marri; Minister of Communications and Information Technology H E Mohammed bin Ali Al Mannai; and other officials and guests.
MoL’s Digital Transformation Unit is working in partnership with Microsoft, Oracle, Al-Mannai and PricewaterhouseCoopers Middle East in Qatar to implement the cloud computing process, as the premier entity in Qatar to rely on cloud solutions in developing services.
The Minister of Labour, addressing the event, affirmed the Ministry's commitment to implement digital government initiatives. He said digitising services contributes to achieving excellence in performance to ensure the quality of services and double the benefits for the labour sector and workers in the long term.
Al Marri said the Ministry launched approximately 55% of services electronically to contribute to achieving excellence in performance, expediting the completion of transactions and streamlining procedures. He said this is part of the ministry’s strategy for digital transformation.
He said the Ministry is working at a steady pace and making diligent efforts to develop, modernise and launch nearly 80 new electronic services and transactions by March 2023.
The Labour Minister also praised the Ministry of Communications’ tireless efforts to develop the ICT sector in the country, rendering Qatar a regional centre for digital transformation in the region, and providing an attractive infrastructure for investment in this field under the generous sponsorship of our wise leadership in this vital field.
Al Marri said the launch of cloud computing process in the Ministry of Labour to provide fast, reliable and secure cloud services, accelerate the pace of innovation, and gain high flexibility comes in line with efforts to achieve our digital aspirations.
He said that a central data centre will be established that the Ministry can use to facilitate the direct access process, data, and extract reports on demand to take advantage of artificial intelligence to facilitate the decision-making process, so that the Ministry of Labour will be a basic data reference for other ministries.
The Minister noted that the inauguration of the cloud computing came in partnership with Microsoft and Oracle to develop a plan based on cloud interoperability, which is the first of its kind to move to a cloud environment in line with the national computing policy, noting that MoL seeks by the second quarter of next year to render all the ministry’s services functional on secure cloud computing.
He said MoL worked to ensure appropriate working and living conditions that provided safety and healthy solutions for all workers.
Lana Khalaf, General Manager of Microsoft Qatar, said the Ministry’s digital transformation strategy is a distinctive example of using different technologies and services from multiple companies on the Azure Microsoft cloud platform to innovate in proportion to their needs and ambitions, noting that the cloud computing process will provide a flexible and secure cloud infrastructure, which in turn will improve the efficiency of their operations and raise the level of their services. Cherian Varghese — Senior Vice President, Technology Software, Middle East and Africa at Oracle — said the Oracle technology solutions have played a key role in supporting the strategic initiatives of the Ministry of Labour over the past several years. He added that e-services platform is a major programme that will overhaul MoL’s services in the country substantially.
“PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) in Qatar is proud to be part of the transformation journey in Qatar, in line with the National Vision 2030 and to work with MoL from strategy to implementation to create new e-services platform which will digitally transform the labour sector”, said Bassam Al Hajhamad, the responsible partner and head of the consulting department at PwC in Qatar.
Khaled Al Mannai, Director of the Board of Directors of Al Mannai Trading Company, said the development of the new technology will give everyone the ability to track applications in real time on end-user devices, noting that it will enhance productivity and reduce the processing time of services from two months to a few days.
