Only 25% use e-govt portal in Qatar: Survey.

ONLY a quarter of the Qatar's working population uses the services of e-government portal Hukoomi even though two-thirds are aware of it.

Releasing the findings on Sunday of a survey conducted by the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQatar), an official of the department said that though the country had seen a quantum jump of Internet browsers, the users of Hukoomi services remained abysmally low.

"The 'ICT Landscape 2011' report reveals that many residents are not even aware of the government portal.

We have taken some steps to make this portal popular among residents but a lot needs to be done on this front.

It is a major challenge before us to create awareness about the ICT in the country," he added.

The official said that according to the recently released 'Global Information and Technology Report 2010-2011, Transformations 2.0 (GITR)', Qatar has been ranked 25th in the Networked Readiness Index among 138 developed and developing countries.

Qatar has gained five places from its previous ranking of 30th in 2009-2010.

Adding to Qatar's prestige was its overall readiness to use ICT in which it is ranked fourth in the world.

According to the ictQatar survey, the number of ICT professionals in the country has jumped during the last four years.

In 2008, there were 13,438 IT professionals but in 2011 the number has gone up to 23,841.

This indicates strong growth in this sector.

The broadband penetration has reached more than 90 percent in the government and business sectors, but the use of dial-up connection is limited.

A very small percentage of population is using the dial-up connection for sending emails, the survey adds.

Commenting on the performance of the ICT, ictQatar Secretary- General Dr Hessa al Jaber said, "The latest Global Information and Technology Report illustrates the progress made by Qatar through ICT in boosting the economy and improving the people's quality of life.

However, much remains to be done as we shift to a knowledge-based economy." She said that ictQATAR had elaborate plans for building next-generation communications infrastructure that would provide base for the ICT sector to thrive and would also help in the diversification of the country's economy.

Networked readiness is the capacity of countries to fully benefit from new technologies in their economic competitiveness and in citizen's daily lives.

This Networked Readiness Index examines how prepared countries are to use ICT in three areas: general business, regulatory and infrastructure environment.

The report underscores that good education fundamentals, innovation, and wide ICT access are key to nations' social growth and economic competitiveness.

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