NEWS
Oman survey
measuring
access to ICT
by citizens
The Ministry of Technology and
Communications (MTC) and the National
Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI)
in Oman have started to conduct a survey
to measure the access to and use of ICT by
households and individuals in 2020.
RIPE NCC and TRA Oman
host capacity-building
workshop in Muscat
The survey is part of a continuous practice
for future improvement and planning.
A random sample of individuals of 18-yearsold
and above will be interviewed through
telephone calls representing Omani and non-
Omani in all the Sultanate governorates.
The survey seeks to identify the
percentage of the access to the Internet
by households and individuals as well as
the main reasons hindering them from
accessing the Internet. It will also measure
the extent to which individuals use social
media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter,
WhatsApp, Instagram, etc.
The survey is expected to provide significant
indicators about the percentages of those
who own and use computers, smartphones
and its different applications, along with
the levels of main skills in using ICT such as
sending emails, using simple mathematical
formulas in programmes like Excel, in
addition to measuring the level of advanced
skills such as creating PowerPoints and using
programming languages.
The Réseaux IP Européens Network
Co-ordination Centre (RIPE NCC)
and the Telecommunication Regulatory
Authority (TRA) in Oman joined forces to
host a three-day training workshop
as part of their collaboration on
capacity development.
Held in Oman’s capital city, the event
was organised to build the capacities
of local stakeholders and assist them in
the development of the Internet in the
country. Local Internet Registries (LIRs),
the RIPE Database and the fundamentals
of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) were
the three main training courses.
Eng Mohammed Al-Kindy, Vice President,
TRA Oman, said: “Hosting the three-day
workshop at our training centre was critical
to expanding Internet connectivity in the
country. Efforts towards this direction have
been in full swing in Oman and we seek to
fast-track our initiatives further.
“Capacity building is essential to our
mission, making the training sessions
even more imperative. We are happy with
the results of the programmes and we
look forward to holding similar initiatives
in the future for continuous skills
enhancement. We would like to thank the
RIPE NCC for its commitment, assistance
and support.”
Oman is the third country in the region to
have started the implementation of IPv6
following Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
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