The "Smart Business eServices Excellence Award", honors those organizations that have achieved excellence in innovative usage of business procedures, usage of smart technologies and tools for the implementation of smart governance strategies to support superior outcomes across the broad spectrum of services and activities delivered by the public and private sectors. This award is given to the organization that demonstrates excellence in the optimum use of business procedures for taking the smart governance to the next level.

• The nominee should have embraced outstanding achievements in implementing Smart Business strategies 
• The nominee should have transacted tangible contributions for the development of business procedures and smart governance systems.
• The nominee should have inherited enough development and innovation techniques for developing human skills related to smart governance and smart service sectors.
• The nominee should have developed compatibility with various business and operational systems environments.
• The nominee should have provided Smart Government Service user accurate and updated information.
• The nominee should have procured excellence in the building best business strategies transactions and administrative systems.
• The nominee should have facilitated major contributions for the transformation of management support services and public Smart Government strategy.
• The nominee has forged an integrated foundation for developing a smart solution for conversion of business and management services in the organization.
• The nominee should have encompassed vast experience in the services that have been productive in stimulating the actual use of Smart Services, expedited the speed of communication and raise the confidence of clients.

"Smart Portal and English Contents Excellence Award" honors the best websites built to deliver information, service or product in sync with the concept of smart governance. This award is offered to those organizations that have developed website on the best platforms and offers easier operatability and has catered to large masses. The organization or entity that has demonstrated the optimum use of technology in fabricating the most advance website and have taken technology to the next level can become suitable candidate to get this award.

The "Smart ICT Governance Excellence Award", honors those organizations that have achieved excellence in innovative usage of IT procedures, used smart technologies and tools for the implementation of smart governance strategies to support superior outcomes across the broad spectrum of services and activities delivered by the public and private sectors. This award is given to the organization that has demonstrated optimum use of technology for taking the smart governance to the next level.

• The nominee should have embraced outstanding achievements in  implementing Smart ICT governance.
• The nominee should have transacted tangible contributions for the development of technology and smart governance systems.
• The nominee should have inherited enough development and innovation techniques for developing human skills related to smart governance and smart service sectors.
• The nominee should have developed sophisticated procedures to make electronic financial transactions safe and secure.
• The nominee should have developed compatibility with various technological and operational systems environments.
• The nominee should have provided Smart Government Service user accurate and updated information.
• The nominee should have procured excellence in the insurance exchange transactions and bidding systems.
• The nominee should have facilitated major contributions for the transformation of technical support services and public Smart Government strategy.
• The nominee has forged an integrated foundation for developing a smart solution for conversion of services provided on the Internet.
• The nominee should have encompassed vast experience in the services that have been productive in stimulating the actual use of Smart Services, expedited the speed of communication and raise the confidence of clients.

The "Environmental Smart Technology and Programs Excellence Award" will honor the organization from the Middle East region which has developed an essential green and clean technology model to conserve the natural environment and resources, and to curb the negative impacts of human involvement.

• The nominee should have developed electronic devices that can promote sustainable management of sparse resources.
• The technology and application developed should be ground-breaking and  should stand out from existing solutions
• The nominee should have successfully completed a project that addresses a problem that is well defined and globally significant and should have used innovative technology in Environmental Education, Health, or Economic Development. 
• The nominee should have through its business practices demonstrated  and addressed the need for safe and efficient energy and its positive impact on available resources 

• The nominee should have been most effective in creating a compelling brand for its products or services in one or more branches of the media through a single campaign or series of campaigns. 
• The nominee should have achieved unparallel growth in its operation by innovating its service portfolio, improving customer service and developing its network capabilities 
• The nominee should have pioneered innovation and brought outstanding value to clients in the managed services marketplace.
• The nominee should be a Middle Eastern telecom operator and should have demonstrated unparalleled growth  in the global market. 
• The nominee should have sucessfully launched an innovative and revenue-generating enterprise service. An enterprise service can be a managed service, cloud, video conferencing, M2M, Smart Solutions etc. 
• The nominee should have pioneered innovation and enabled the development of reliable and rapid nation-wide connectivity.
• The nominees should have through its various initiative, demonstrated improved and continued customer centricity in its operation 

• The nominee should have innovated unique and smart transportation system to improve the city traffic level with rapidity and quality of information and intervention
• The traffic system should have made maximum use of the resources of solidarity, reactivity, and efficiency
• The nominee should have initiated practices that study the traffic control movements and provide the road users with better information upon which to base their driving and travel decisions
• The transportation systems developed by the nominee should have had an overall effect on the traffic flow
• The nominee should have employed an expert team of traffic professionals in examining the international standards of traffic regulations that can go a long way in avoiding accidents and other road mishaps
• The nominee should have worked on intricately on the aspects of traffic control devices, administrative practices, operational practices, information management, and freeway controls
• The nominee should have organized informative and focused workshops or training programs for spreading traffic safety and accident prevention measures in the city
• The nominee should have partnered with regional and international organizations to develop traffic safety programs and improving the existing infrastructure
• The nominee should have developed sustainable and long term plans for establishing traffic harmony and smooth operation of traffic commotion in the city
• The nominee should have developed systems operations and strategic plans that aims to keep pace with all global plans, traffic programs and other preventive measures
• The nominee must have played a major role in the reduction of traffic jams and implementation of crucial projects apart from the basic landscaping and lighting projects
• The nominee must have made maximum utilization of the visual and print media in spreading awareness of the established and indispensible traffic safety rules
• The nominee must have distributed and made available brochures, pamphlets, and other circulars in public places, educational institutions and other departments regarding the existing or newly implemented road safety and traffic regulations

The "Corporate Knowledge Management Excellence Award" aims to recognize an organization from the Middle East region for highlighting the importance of creating, capturing, documenting and disseminating knowledge through its various initiative and projects for effective decision making

• The nominee should have successfully created an enterprise knowledge-driven culture
• The nominee should have implemented plans and policies to develop knowledge workers through senior management leadership
• The nominee should have developed and delivered knowledge-based products/services/solutions
• The nominee should have demonstrated trends in maximizing enterprise intellectual capital
• The nominee should have created an environment for collaborative enterprise knowledge sharing
• The nominee should have delivered value based on stakeholder knowledge
• The nominee should have transformed enterprise knowledge into shareholder/stakeholder value

• The nominee should have given his services to the organizations in mapping out the disaster management strategies and pioneered various relief operations.
• The nominee should have generated technical power and creative ideas together in a unified team, providing a unique insight into today's leading ideas and best practices in the field of disaster management.
• The nominee should have helped communities connect through its s-Solutions.
• The nominee should have revolutionized the way the country’s and the region’s outlook at managing data, communications, communities and markets online.
• The nominee should have offered new advanced s-solutions to various organizations in line with improving the communication channels through smart strategies.
• The nominee should have created a single unit, ideally positioned to maximize the efficiency of operations and explored new avenues for modernizing the disaster management strategies.
• The nominee should have provided the highest standards of response at the times of crisis.
• The nominee should have facilitated a complete portfolio of services in Crisis and Disaster Management.

With the growing concept of employer branding in the GCC region, a significant rise has been seen in development of strategies aiming to amplify market reach and strengthening the brand recognition. The"Smart Services in Employer Branding and Recruiting Excellence Award" recognizes an outstanding employer branding and recruiting firm in the Middle East that has optimized their online market place efficiently and pushed boundaries to exceed customer experience and expectations.

• The nominee should have made use of latest technology like add-on business applications to help customer loyalty, and their tips for keeping customers happy.
• The nominee should have exploited the social media channels such as Facebook as an effective marketing tool
• The nominee should have made the maximum use of the online branding techniques for promoting organization's brand name and further expanded the area of operations to convert the potential leads into business opportunities.
• The nominee should have optimized the flow of online campaigns to amplify the frequency of brand promotions and as the result of these branding strategies, he should have strengthened his presence in the market.
• The nominee should have discovered meaningful ways to enhance the presence of organization's brand in the global market.
• The nominee should have provided great customer service and created a savvy online community that they’ll want to be a part of the brand promotion strategy.
• The nominee should have evolved best employer branding techniques and recruiting strategies keeping the concept of smart governance and smart services in close consideration.
• The nominee being brand promotion strategist should have garnered immense recognition in the regional and international arena for its services. 

• The nominee should have demonstrated sharing of government service with other systems/compatibility with various functional environments
• The nominee offers strategic importance to the national/ regional/ global development of the Information Society.
• The nominee should have demonstrated the use of ICT to improve internal efficiency, government effectiveness in terms of reducing costs and time.
• The nominee should have developed application and strategies that are not only innovative, but also demonstrate effective delivery of public services and improved accessibility to citizens
• The nominee fosters local talent and creating synergies between the private and public sector.
• The nominee demonstrates secure eService, i.e. electronic monetary transaction and eService back-end support, real time customer support

• The nominee demonstrates the competitiveness of the organization by taking advantage of intranets for reorganizing internal processes, extranets for developing transactions with trusted partners and the Internet for interacting with all its stakeholders and customers.
• The nominee should have developed strategies for developing IT infrastructure and communications, required in the system for interactive e-tourism.
• The nominees services includes all business functions (i.e., e-commerce, e-marketing, e-finance and e-accounting, eHRM, e-procurement, eR&D, e-production) as well as e-strategy, e-planning and e-management for all sectors of the tourism industry, including tourism, travel, transport, leisure, hospitality, principals, intermediaries and public sector organizations.
• The nominee should have demonstrated best use of social sites and best use of them in all the areas of e-business.
• The nominee demonstrates broader multidisciplinary domain knowledge as well as the use of technologies.
• The nominee should have developed application and strategies that are not only innovative, but also create value to consumers, solve a problem, and take into account consumer and travel trends.
• The nominee revolutionises all business processes, the entire value chain as well as the strategic relationships with all their stakeholders.

The "Smart Ministry eServices Excellence Award " is presented to a Ministry from the Middle East region that has demonstrated outstanding achievements in enhancing the country’s competitiveness in the world in order to stimulate and sustain economic growth through the systematic application and innovative use of Information Communication Technology (ICT).

• The nominee demonstrates use of information technologies that revitalize business processes, improve decision making and gain a competitive advantage from the adoption of e-government.
• The nominee provides efficient and effective administrative support and technical trainings to the different departments of the Ministry
• The nominee should have demonstrated transformation of the existing government system that provides fully integrated services requiring broad organizational change, aligning its organizational set-up with the new capacities it has acquired as 'digital state'.
• The nominee supports broad public sector reforms and good governance through the introduction of innovative and sustainable applications of ICT both within Ministries, as well as in their interaction with citizens and the private sector.
• The nominee should have used information and communication technology to minimize transaction costs and streamline their bureaucratic procedures, making their operations more efficient, freeing up resources that enable them to deliver services in a better-organized and economical manner.
• The nominee should have developed appropriate strategies and training programs for implementing e-government programs.
• The nominee should have facilitated documentation using e-services.
• The nominee provides world-class multi-channel services based on the wishes of customers through a coherent, efficient government taking advantage of an advanced digital infrastructure and highly qualified human resources within a smart framework of governance.
• The nominee demonstrates efficient government internal portals that increase the productivity of civil servants and citizen portals that empower citizens with world-class e-services and superior customer service.
• The nominee provides end-to-end solutions that automate internal processes, creates smarter internal communications, streamlines business, optimizes operations, and complies with regulations to achieve citizen satisfaction through increased governmental efficiency, productivity, and service delivery.

With the growing presence of online retail market in the GCC, a significant rise has been seen in the eRetail market users and brands. The 'Smart Retail eServices Excellence Award'  recognizes an outstanding eRetail brand in the Middle East that has optimized their online market place efficiently and pushed boundaries to exceed customer experience and expectations.

• The nominee should have made use of latest technology like add-on business applications to help customer loyalty, and their tips for keeping customers happy
• The nominee should have exploited the social media channels such as Facebook as an effective marketing tool
• The nominee online market place should be utmost creative and should have pushed boundaries in exceeding customer experience
• The nominee should have optimized the online store and increased conversion rates by keeping up to date with technology
• The nominee should have discovered meaningful ways to enhance the websites search engine optimization
• The nominee should have chosen the correct online CMS and designed the site to enhance the customer shopping experience
• The shopping website has to have limited step process for purchasing and payment
• The nominee should have provided great customer service and created a savvy online community that they’ll want to be a part of

The "e-Legislation Excellence Award" will honor a government organization/s in the Middle East that has contributed actively and effectively towards developing the region’s online legislation practices and abided by the security criteria in developing and propagating e-Legislation.

• The first criterion is the data protection. The nominee should have monitored that personal data is never used for purposes that are incompatible with the purpose for which the data have been collected
• Identity Management is the second criterion: Use of generalized unique identifiers should be limited as much as possible
• Integrated e-government should preferably be based on federated identity management
• Third criterion is non-repudiation: Non-repudiation in e-government processes can best be reached by a variety of adequate measures (audit trails, digital  signatures, etc.)
• e Legislation should avoid as much as possible concepts of “qualified” or “advanced” electronic signatures
• Law enforcement agents need full collaboration of intermediaries to combat online illegal behavior

The "Smart Portal and Arabic Contents Excellence Award"recognizes an organization that supports the production, use and distribution of GCC digital content on the global networks, aiming at the exploitation of new technologies and the development of a competitive GCC regional industry.

• The nominee should have improved access to and expanded the use of public sector information
• The nominee should have promoted content production in a multilingual and multicultural environment
• The nominee should have increased the dynamism of the GCC digital content market.
• The nominee should have monitored the quality and comprehensiveness of the e-Content
• The eContent should portray ease of use in terms of the functionality, navigation, and orientation (Usability)
• The eContent should have added value through interactivity and multimedia
• The eContent should display pleasantness of design with aesthetic value of graphics and sound

The "Smart Education Systems Initiative Excellence Award" will honor an educational institution or ministry in the Middle East that has incorporated the modern eEducation tools into their knowledge management department and propagated the knowledge development of the organizations in ways more than one. The awards would mainly focus on the functionality of the tools used in connecting the learner with the peer group.

• The nominee should have made measureable impact to the availability and quality of education through the implementation of border less classrooms and e-learning tools.
• The nominee should ensure that there is a solid infrastructure that can support the modernization of state-of-the-art learning platforms and technologies.
• The nominee should have ensured that the teaching material was well structured and found to be engaging
• The eEducation tools and simulations that are judged to be realistic analogues of the ‘real world’
• The nominee should have ensured that the interaction with faculty and peers was both encouraged and warmly received by participants
• The nominee should have ensured that the participants appreciated the ability to work at their own pace and review material and discussions at a later date

Smart City and Country GIS Excellence Award is presented to an organization from the Middle East region that has fostered innovation and experimentation in the area of GIS implementation and exemplifies a model for others to follow in implementing geographic information systems (GIS) successfully, as well as making a positive impact on the environment and society.

• The nominee should have invested in GIS technology and enterprise data systems, which allow themes and forms of geographic data to support decision-making on multiple levels.
• The nominee should have demonstrated effective implementation of latest GIS technologies and its relentless efforts to revamp the GIS corporate platform providing a number of tools to assist users in reviewing geographical information, researching & querying information, and analyzing & printing various GIS data reports & maps.  
• The nominee should have evolved as a support to nearly all devices and technology platforms, and accelerates use of geographic information to solve problems
• The nominee should have pioneered use of GIS in protecting the nation’s environment, efficiently organizing their GIS assets, and bringing geospatial thinking to the public
• The nominee should have demonstrated integration of spatial data internally and also used to coordinate tasks between external stakeholders to make collaborative decision making.
• The nominee should have created applications that are focused on specific technologies and business processes that drive force for all information technology solutions, embedding GIS into business processes and systems.
• The nominee should have deployed GIS functionality as a service, thereby increasing integration with other IT solutions and allowing non-specialized staff to leverage the power of GIS.

The "Smart ePayment Gateway Excellence Award" is presented to a business organization, from the Middle East Region, with an online payment solution that is a true asset to the business that employs it. The award looks for benefits like improved productivity, security, ease of use, and acceptability among users.

• The ePayment gateway project should provide a mechanism to handle the online payment for goods and services and support the delivery of eServices of the public sector and assist the private sector’s moves into eBusiness and eCommerce.
• The online payment solution can be from a business or a governmental organization
• It should be innovative, available 24/7 and simplify the processing of payment transactions for eServices and eShopping.
• It should provide a very flexible system capable of supporting virtually any type of consumer or business payment with an easy and user-friendly web interface for payment methods with a selection of bank or financial institution that has a highly secured service.
• The system should provide easy reimbursement in case of transaction failure; have an easy to view fee – and no hidden charges.
• It should provide confirmation of user accounts by email or personal mobile number for tight security.
• It should offer an interface for merchants to monitor and control payments and manage their transactions, tight integration of merchant account with shopping cart, customization of shopping carts with least number of re-directions and payments reaching merchant accounts in the least amount of time.
• It should send invoices and payment reminders by emails and encourage customers to buy online with different schemes and discounts
• It should implement fault tolerant infrastructure with business continuity plan – disaster recovery architecture, security certificates implementation and compliance to the International Money Laundering Laws, and enable efficient electronic transactions all over the country.
• It should provide user security using secure service layer (SSL) from authentic providers.
• It should update currency conversions, verify users quickly and easily, request authorizations, be able to print all authorization details, and address user privacy and fraud concerns.
• It should provide real-time transactions and reporting, FAQ and 24/7 customer service.
• It should provide a secure mechanism to handle online payments, provide efficient electronic transactions, simplify processing of payment transactions and have a debt recovery mechanism in place.
• It should offer a variance of web interfaces for various languages and allows search tools for customers, transaction and enable automated email confirmation to merchant and customer.
• It should provide payment processing status report and form data correction, multiple currencies supported like USD, EUR, GBP, AED, and etc.
• It should register purchase with the manufacturer or service provider for warranty, technical support or similar purposes.
• The merchant should be able to submit a credit card transaction to the payment gateway on behalf of a customer via secure connection.

The "Smart Social Media Excellence Award”, honors those organizations that have achieved excellence in innovative usage of Social Media strategies, usage of smart internet technologies and tools for the implementation of smart governance strategies to support superior outcomes across the broad spectrum of services and activities delivered to the public and private sectors. This award is given to an organization which has demonstrated optimum use of Social Media procedures for taking the smart governance to the next level.

• The nominee should have embraced outstanding achievements in implementing Smart Social Media strategies 
• The nominee should have transacted tangible contributions for the development of business procedures and smart governance systems.
• The nominee should have inherited enough development and innovation techniques on Social Media platforms for taking smart governance and smart service initiative to the next gradations. 
• The nominee should have developed pro-active tactics of smart governance integrated via Social Media platforms and operational systems environments.
• The nominee should have procured excellence in the building best business strategies on Social Media for promoting smart administrative systems.
• The nominee should have facilitated major contributions for the transformation of management support services and public e-government strategy through Social Media
• The nominee has forged an integrated foundation for developing a smart solution for conversion of business and management services in the organization.
• The nominee must have forged campaigns for making social media safe and secure. 

The “e-Commerce Smart Services Excellence Award" recognizes an organization, from the Middle East region, that offers multiple online services for customers. Vibrant, easy to use, informative, and transactional, the winning portal will serve as an example for other organizations to follow when setting up their portals.

• The nominee should have offered multiple online services as a "one stop shop" for customers and been operational for at least 12 months, achieving “all time - all online” features such as services/communication/exceptions/surveys/declarations, etc.
• The portal may belong to a private business offering its services or to an organization offering third-party business services, approaching and inspiring different cultures and providing products / services of enormous variety with effective product display and presenting a portfolio of offerings, describing each item fully.
• The portal has reduced the need for physical presence of the staff, single sign-on access and secure identity policies.
• It should have efficient auction modules, language specific alerts and responses and custom packages (group of items) as per customer category.
• The portal is tested and works in different scenarios, while providing a way to access, browsers etc. and exhibit the innovative use of portal technology, content, search, online transactions and ease of use and navigation while maintaining accuracy of the given information.
• The portal has offered secure payment options to its customers and should have a proven track record of encouraging online payment and total online services.
• The portal has facilitated interaction between business to business, businesses to consumer, consumer to consumer interaction, allowing customers to have their purchase history, providing discussion channels for same kind of customer categories along with existing customer loyalty programs.
• The portal has enabled a link of internal and external data processing systems more efficiently and flexibly, enable to work more closely with suppliers and partners and able to better satisfy the needs and expectations of their customers.
• The portal has good telecommunications infrastructure and establish good legal framework against fraudulent and unauthorized transactions.
• It should track new and emerging technologies along with best commercial practices, have traffic metrics, transaction metrics for site performance and be reliable and accurate in billing, keeping records and service timings.
• Shipping mechanism and fee, product delivery, return refund and exchange policies or additional service charges should be clearly defined for all regions and avoid any hidden charges.
• The portal has offered surveys to analyze market trends, creative marketing and advertising techniques, online advertising and banner exchange facilities to other businesses and customers.
• The portal should use multiple media such as wireless, mobile, and/or PDA to serve its customers and exhibit an exemplary use of graphic and interactive design services including: Graphic design, Interface design, Interaction design, Information design, corporate identity and branding.
• It should facilitate to connect suppliers, distributors and other partners in order to increase efficiencies.
• The portal should be easy to access, provides 24/7 support and offers efficient resolution of complaints or issues; maintaining timeframe and escalations for every ticket with a comprehensive automated response system and FAQs.

Smart Mobile Apps Excellence Award honors the best mobile application built to deliver content, news or other medium used as a utility on smart phones and tablets that impact how consumers interact with their devices to drive better efficiencies in technology, marketing or entertainment.

• The nominee combines technology expertise, innovative research techniques and new approaches together to offer our clients the best solution of the problem.
• The nominee demonstrates technology driven business process transformation initiatives they have mastered the processes, methodologies, approach, mind set and infrastructure to overcome the challenges of operating Mobile Application Development teams to deliver support to their clients
• The nominee extends functionality and information access to reach more customers regardless of time and place
• The nominee demonstrates extension of online services into mobile interfaces to promote business growth
• The nominee follows the trends and best practices within the mobile marketplace to create not only a cutting edge and high quality application but the marketing campaign necessary to its success
• The nominee develops highly interactive applications that are extremely user friendly and offer functional excellence
• The nominee develops new strategic initiatives that involves extending their services to their consumers with state of art mobile application
• The nominee continuously strives to be at the forefront of technology and is constantly testing new theories, forming new partnerships and bringing better service and products.
• The nominee develops best mobile application built to deliver content, entertainment, news or other media, on smart phones that impact how consumers interact with their handset to drive better efficiencies in technology, marketing or entertainment