KUWAIT: The Deputy Director-General of the Central Agency for Information Technology, Dr Ammar Hassan Al-Hussaini, participated in a panel discussion organized by "UDACITY", the leading global educational organization in professional qualification for computer science and advanced technological software, through its digital platform, for a number of government and private agencies and agencies at the level of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and the Middle East. The Middle East Center to discuss ways to enhance digital transformation strategies by 2025, which must be associated with the development of digital skills for youth as an essential component of its Vision 2030 plans to achieve sustainable environmental development.

In the same context, Deputy Director General of the Central Agency for Information Technology, Dr Ammar Al-Husseini, said: Most of the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, including Kuwait, suffer from a shortage of skilled workers in the field of information technology, which negatively affected the development process and caused delays in the completion of large and vital projects. One of the main challenges that prevent creating a suitable environment for the digital economy, referring to the most important technological scientific disciplines required in the Middle East, including cloud computing, advanced programming for cybersecurity, data science, artificial intelligence and augmented reality, digital marketing, and building and developing programs and applications for mobile phones.

Husseini added in a press statement: In the seminar, we focused on activating plans and solutions to bridge the supply and demand gap for talent, competencies and digital skills facing the Middle East, and ways to improve the competitiveness of the information technology sector, noting that upgrading the skills of workers in the sector depends on the concerted efforts of the government sectors. and the involvement of other relevant entities to support, for example, in Kuwait, the Civil Service Bureau, as the authority concerned with mapping jobs and specializations that the country needs in various scientific fields, the most important of which is the field of information technology, the cornerstone in building the digital future of Kuwait.

Husseini revealed that the Central Agency was able to train more than 4,000 government employees in the fields of information technology from 2020 to 2021, in addition to organizing workshops and leadership programs for digital transformation, in which more than 75 government leaders participated through a number of successful regional initiatives launched by Kuwait. In cooperation with a number of international companies, including Huawei, Microsoft, Palo Alto, Fortinet and others, which aimed to enhance the technological capabilities of young people and develop their skills and abilities.

Husseini pointed to a number of measures that support the rehabilitation and development of digital talent capabilities, including allocating a sufficient budget to build skills in the government sector, coupled with effective plans to raise awareness among employees and supervisors of the importance of continuing education, and to provide new mechanisms and work models that are compatible with global changes that rely heavily on flexibility. And adopting all mechanisms of digital transformation, in addition to agreeing to develop a unified job description for skills in information technology to provide the necessary jobs in its framework for the public and private sectors.

Husseini concluded by emphasizing the role of the Central Agency for Information Technology, as the government's representative, in improving the skills of employees in specialized technical and digital fields and qualifying them with the appropriate training courses to achieve the New Kuwait Vision 2035.