Ministry of Interior Facebook Page Wins Key Web Award

Doha, September 25 (QNA) - Qatar's Ministry of Interior's (MoI) drive to embrace new technology to enhance e-governance and services received a boost when its Facebook page won a key award for websites. "The ministry accomplished a new achievement when its Facebook page won the 'Best Interactive Platform Award 2012' in the category of the websites of ministries at the third edition of the 'Arab E-Gov Web Awards', the MoI said. The awards are conducted by the Arab Administrative Development Organization (ARADO) and Pan Arab Awards Academy. On behalf of the MoI, the Director of Public Relations Department, Colonel Abdullah Khalifa Al Muftah, received the award and the certificate at an awards presentation ceremony hosted by ARADO at Sharm El Sheikh city of Egypt. Information and communication technology officers, economic experts and academia from different Arab countries attended the ceremony. A discussion on the 'Role of Social Media in Arab Governments and its importance in direct communication between government officials and the public was also held at the event. Many companies, ministries, government departments, organizations and specialized companies from the Arab world participated in the competition conducted by ARADO. The competition also featured other branches of social media like 'The Best Government Strategic Website', 'Best Arab Government Social Media Page Award' and 'Best Website Developing and Designing Company'. This award reaffirms MoI's efforts in further developing and updating pages on its website to engage the community. The MoI website's growing popularity is backed by the high number of hits it receives daily from the public, the MoI said. Launching of the MoI page on Facebook is an attempt to open a new window for the public to enable them to easily access the programmes and events of the ministry. It was also done to spread awareness on security issues among people of different age groups. This has enhanced the effectiveness of police in the society. The MoI has launched the Facebook pages in Arabic, English, Hindi, Urdu and Nepalese to reach out to a wide section of citizens and residents. (QNA)