Bahrain News Agency

His Excellency Mr. Ali Saleh Al-Saleh, Shura Council Speaker emphasized the great role played by website in spreading the Kingdom’s civilization gains and achievements in all fields. His Excellency pointed out that these sites reflect the bright image of the Kingdom of Bahrain, if they highlight the achievements made under the comprehensive reform scheme led by His Majesty Kingdom Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, The King of The Kingdom of Bahrain.

His Excellency the speaker made his statement during a reception held for His Excellency Mr. Abdul Jaleel Al-Toraif, Secretary General of the Shura Council, H.E. Mr. Ahmed Abdulla Al-Hardan, Assistant Secretary Feneral for Human Resources, Financial Affairs & Information, Mrs.Abeer Al-Obaidli, Acting Director of Information Technology, and Mrs. Fatima Khayami, Information Systems Specialist, who presented to his Excellency, the Arab Golden Chip Award, won by the Shura Council Website from the Judgment Panel of Arab Organization for Information & Communications, as the best Arab project for electronic content, which His Excellency had received during the Middle East & North Africa Conference for Information Technology & Communications 2010 attended by prominent official figures and personalities from all over the Arab World specializing in the Informatics & Communications Sector.

His Excellency the Council Speaker reiterated the importance and the necessity that the Shura Council Website, shall represent an integrated and vital reference which provides every visitors with information on all the Council’s activities, events and news, and to be an integrated data and information bank for the Council members. His Excellency expressed his pride of the national competencies of the Council, who contributed towards its website winning the Award for the Best Project for Electronic Content. He considered this Award to be a source of pride, pointing to the importance of the continuation of this excellence and these achievements to highlight the bright image reflected by the council website of the legislative and democratic life in the Kingdom of Bahrain, under the comprehensive reform and development scheme led by His Majesty the King.

Commenting on the occasion His Excellency the Council Speaker said “It is a great honor for the Shura Council Website to win this Arab Award which has clearly reflected the content of the legislative efforts undertaken by the Council members for the service of the Country and its people”. He pointed out that participation in building the country requires the establishment of an interactive medium on the internet which activates the communication between the legislative establishment and the citizens, so that information about what this council achieves in its sessions is made directly available to the citizen, and to inform them of its resolutions concerning the development plans in our Kingdom, and also to raise the standards of the legislative activity. His Excellency drew attention to the fact that the Shura Council Website is but a media gate through which the visitor may get introduced to the activities, programmes and achievements of the Shura Council, reiterating the extreme importance of the internet which has, today, become one of the most important public communications media, making it easy for everyone to become familiar with the culture and achievements of other countries, and to communicate with others through different visions which help to create a distinguished atmosphere of dialogue and cultural exchange.

At the end of the reception, the Council Speaker repeated his thanks to the Secretary General and all the personnel of the General Secretariat for the great efforts exerted to develop the Shura Council Website, through providing it with information, expressing his hopes for further achievements that will contribute towards electronic development, the success of the Kingdom’s efforts in the electronic field, and the establishment of an electronic parliament similar to the International Parliamentary Federation.

On his part, H.E. Mr. Abdul Jaleel Ebrahim Al-Toraif, Secretary General of the Shura Council reiterated, during the meeting that, the General Secretariat will spare no effort to develop and update the Council’s website, as the legislative Showcase repress, eating the Kingdom of Bahrain in the form that reflected the high status achieved by the legislative branch. He praised the efforts of the General Secretariat’s personnel and their outstanding work which enables the Shura Council Website to win the first place in the field of Arab Electronic Content.

It is noteworthy that the Shura Council electronic gate was designed adopting the highest standards of international design, using the Microsoft electronic content management system (Sharepoint 2007) which was chosen for its compatibility with the active systems of the Council, such as the archiving system, the general follow-up system land the library system, to allow the site users flexibility both internally and externally, for this gate to be the first among the Kingdom’s institutions which adopts this technique for internet services.