Oman - Donating just one click away

MUSCAT — In the spirit of giving and charity during the holy month of Ramadan and the upcoming occasion of Eid, Information Technology Authority (ITA) is raising awareness about the donations portal. This portal provides opportunity for citizens and residents to make online donations to a charity of their choice. The participating organisations include: Al Noor Association for the Blind, National Association for Cancer Awareness, Association for Early Intervention for Children with Special Needs, The Association of the Welfare of the Handicapped, and Oman Association for the Disabled. Comfortable Donation during the month of Ramadan, a month already characterised with giving and humanitarian aid, makes the portal even more pertinent allowing residents to donate from the comfort of their own homes. Designed for simplicity, making a donation is as easy as making a payment using a credit card, authorised by any Omani bank. The portal makes it easy to donate with a single click from anywhere and at anytime. And yes, contributions made via the website do directly benefit the selected charity. As it is Ramadan and in anticipation of the celebration of Eid Al Fitr, ITA invites all citizens and residents in the Sultanate of Oman to donate to these aid organisations using the donations portal. ITA, an independent national body responsible for promoting Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the Sultanate in the form of the e.oman initiative, has transformed the way charitable contributions are made to improve the lives of underprivileged individuals and communities during the holy month of Ramadan through its online donations portal to charitable organisations. Bilingual portal The portal was officially launched in January 2009 in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Development and the five chief humanitarian and charitable organisations in the Sultanate to facilitate electronic donation processes. The bilingual online portal, www.onlinedonations.org.om, designed for transparency, convenience, simplicity and user-friendliness as its guiding principles, allows citizens and residents of the Sultanate to make direct donations using their bank credit cards to the respective bank accounts of the charitable organisations. Security was also given high priority, as all transactions are carried out accurately and safely within seconds through the closely monitored portal to protect people’s interests. On the occasion, Dr Salim Al Ruzaiqi, chief executive officer at ITA, expressed: “With the development of the donations portal we have designed one of the most innovative websites in the country. Through our partnership with the Ministry of Social Development, we provide the public a simple, convenient and secure platform for making contributions and a number of other online financial transactions through the latest ePayment technology.” Single access point “The donations portal represents a single access point for donating, as we aim at providing superior public services. This is only the beginning of the diverse initiatives we have in store for the public following the launch of the new e.oman identity, as it will guide us in all future endeavours to truly create a knowledge-based society. Through e.oman, we plan to cover a very wide spectrum of socio-economic services in light of the new e-lifestyle,” he added. Muhanna Moosa Baqer, manager of ePayments, commented: “Although accessible all year round, we are very enthusiastic about spreading awareness of the portal’s availability during Ramadan and promoting charity for valuable social causes in the Sultanate. We are confident that ITA’s partnership with the Ministry of Social Development will enable us to reach a wider audience and cover vast territories with the advent of the Internet and new technology.” “We encourage the citizens and residents to get online and begin using this portal. We hope that this portal will help overcome the challenges encountered when using conventional methods and modes of making charitable contributions,” he added. In addition, the portal allows potential contributors to gain an understanding of the various projects, objectives and functions of the organisations, allowing greater access to a multitude of social and economic welfare causes, including financial and educational assistance, health awareness training and preventative programmes. We invite other charity organisations registered with the Ministry of Social Development to join the donations portal. The donations portal for charitable organisations is one of the various initiatives carried out by ITA in its quest to create a truly digital society providing an electronic gateway through the latest ePayment technology. It is important to note that this portal recently won a prestigious Arab e-Content Award at the Second Bahrain International e-Government Forum in the e-Inclusion and Participation category. Another current project includes the ground breaking ePurse project, the result of a tri-lateral national collaboration between the Royal Oman Police, BankMuscat and ITA. This new ePayment system enables citizens and residents to make various government-related payments through their national ID and resident cards. Later in the year, ITA will also introduce the eGovernment Services Portal in addition to the electronic Tendering initiative.