H.E. Zehra Zümrüt SELÇUK and H.E. Mohammed Ali ALQAED, Director General of the Information & eGovernment Authority of the Kingdom of Bahrain, held a bilateral meeting to explore potential areas of cooperation. The meeting focused on strengthening partnerships in the fields of statistics and digital transformation, with a view to building institutional capacity and fostering innovation in these important areas.

During the meeting, H.E. SELÇUK highlighted SESRIC's efforts in modernizing National Statistical Offices (NSOs) across the OIC region through digitization, in line with its broader objective of fostering knowledge exchange and innovation. SESRIC's recent efforts, including the ‘Modernizing NSOs through Digitization’ webinar in September 2024, were highlighted as key milestones, providing a platform for sharing best practices. Since 2007, SESRIC has organized 65 science, technology and innovation (STI) activities, benefiting 2,275 participants, and recently launched the Digital Transformation Capacity Building (Digi-CaB) programme to further enhance technological advances in OIC countries.

On his part, H.E. ALQAED welcomed the launch of the Digital Transformation Capacity Building (Digi-CaB) programme as a key element in advancing SESRIC's mission to support OIC countries in their digital transformation and statistical capacity building efforts. He also underlined that Bahrain would benefit from this programme to drive sustainable development in its relevant institutions.

The bilateral meeting concluded with both sides expressing their optimism about future collaboration, particularly in areas related to digital transformation and statistical capacity-building endeavors.

The Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) of Bahrain is a governmental body responsible for advancing Bahrain's digital transformation and enhancing public sector efficiency through innovative information technology solutions. Established to drive the Kingdom’s eGovernment Strategy, iGA develops and implements digital services, data governance frameworks, and IT infrastructure to streamline services for citizens, businesses, and government entities. iGA is also pivotal in facilitating data-driven decision-making by maintaining national databases and promoting open data access, ultimately aiming to improve the quality of life for Bahrain's citizens and strengthen Bahrain's position as a regional digital hub.