Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 45 | Page 12

NEWS Housing ministry signs agreement with analytics platform Ericsson, Oman Telecom Authority and Omantel showcase future innovations powered by 5G A n agreement has been signed between a government department in Oman and analytics platform Bahwan Cyber Tech to develop e-services for the sultanate’s housing ministry. Sheikh Saif bin Mohammed al-Shabibi, Oman’s Minister of Housing, signed the agreement. This was in co-ordination with the Information Technology Authority (ITA) and in the presence of its Chief Executive Officer, Dr Salim bin Sultan al-Ruzaiqi, as well as Undersecretary to the Ministry of Housing, Saif bin A’mer al-Shaqsi. As part of the agreement, a platform will be established to provide more than 60 e-services covering most of the ministry’s services related to planning, surveying, real estate registration and development, social housing, in addition to miscellaneous customer services. The agreement’s objective is to activate e-services at the ministry by the end of 2020 through various electronic and smart channels, including its website and smartphone apps, helping it speed up the access and approval of drawings ‘quickly and directly’ without the need to visit the ministry. This will be in co-ordination with the rules of geographic data systems associated with other government institutions in the sultanate. The platform will also reportedly allow visitors to directly access information about their properties. E ricsson, in association with the Oman Telecom Authority and Omantel, has hosted an event in Muscat highlighting how 5G connectivity is making the future a reality. Visitors experienced a range of 5G use cases from Smart Cities to Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality. The demos displayed how 5G-capabilities such as low latency and high data rates, combined with Augmented Reality can enable new and innovative real-time applications and services. Use cases included a 5G football demo highlighting how 5G will transform gaming. In addition, the ‘City Model’ demo presents flexible and cost-effective solutions for businesses, charting the 12 INTELLIGENTCIO potential of using today’s infrastructure to build tomorrow’s 5G networks. Other demos included the Augmented Reality Carousel, which outlines how the Digital Transformation of different industries will be powered by 5G and IoT using Augmented Reality. Engineer Mohammed Al Kindi, Vice President of Oman Telecom Regulatory Authority, said: “5G use-cases are moving from the realms of the imagination to the realms of reality. We are certain that innovative companies of the future are going to be built on 5G technology. The event is in alignment with TRA’s commitment of creating the right regulatory environment that is aimed to foster technology innovation.” www.intelligentcio.com