The Kingdom of Bahrain maintained its second place ranking among Arab countries in the eGovernment Development Index 2020 ranking it among the very high categories, which was formulated based on the results of a 2020 United Nations eGovernment Survey. The index and its accompanying report, launched on Friday, 10th July, 2020 by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), also highly ranked the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Oman.
 
The report highlighted the Kingdom’s National Suggestions and Complaints System, ‘Tawasul’ as an example of a successful and innovative official government channel of communication. The system enhanced public participation and government service customer experience, contributing to the Kingdom’s high ranking and performance in the E-Participation Index (EPI). The report praised the system’s ability to reach the public through multiple electronic channels, including the National Portal (bahrain.bh) and the Tawasul app, which is available for download on both the iOS and Android systems.
 
The report affirmed the significant progress achieved by the Kingdom in the Human Capital Index (HCI), reflecting the longstanding advanced quality of its primary education system and its efforts to raise its education and schooling indicators. Bahrain’s success in keeping pace with the latest technical developments and its readiness in deploying emerging technologies in government services was also highlighted along with the Kingdom’s efforts to achieve the highest levels of service quality and satisfaction.
 
The role of e-Governments in combating the global Coronavirus pandemic featured prominently in the report. The crisis demonstrated the important role played by eGovernment programs in advancing eServices, health consultations, crisis management, and the deployment of technologies to ensure the continuity of private sector business and day to day life.
 
Supported by its technical preparedness, the Kingdom was able to make great strides in digital transformation, one of the pillars of the 2020 report, by fully digitizing many government services, including judicial and education services.
 

The results of the e-Government Survey, published every 2 years by UNDESA and overseen by more than 200 experts, confirmed an improvement in the eGovernment Index compared to previous reports, recording a rise from 0.8116 in 2018 to 0.8213 this year.