Within the framework of activities marking ‘Muscat: The Arab Capital 2022’, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, represented by the Directorate General for Stimulating Future Skills, inaugurated on Tuesday, September 20, 2022, the National Initiative to Qualify Digital Competencies (Makeen).
The initiative seeks to qualify national cadres with employable skills in communications and information technology, thereby enabling them to pursue rewarding livelihoods in Oman’s digital sector.
The programme, envisioned as part of the Ministry’s objectives in the 10th five-year plan, will be delivered through partnerships with educational institutions specialising in the ICT sector. A key goal is to qualify 10,000 Omanis for employment opportunities in the digital arena by 2025.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Dr Ali bin Amer al Shaithani, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology for Communications and Information Technology, described the Makeen programme as key to supporting the professional development of young Omanis.
The inauguration ceremony included the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with some specialised companies to establish an electronic platform for the Makeen initiative. An MoU was also signed with Tech Mahindra to provide training around the 4th Industrial Revolution. Separately, the Ministry signed an MoU with Cisco to provide supporting infrastructure for the delivery of the programme.
A 4th MoU was signed between Sultan Qaboos University, Omantel and the Ministry of Education to support the implementation of Oman Programming Competition.
Supporting the Ministry in the delivery of the initiative are a number of public and private sector organisations, including Omantel, Oman LNG, Huawei, SAP and Middle East College.
