“Mycapital” App

“MyCapital” App

Summary: The Capital Governorate has set its eye on following up the government services provided to the citizens and residents, and relied on the most important and influential communication channels to build strong bridges with the community, taking into account the digitization of the means of communication technology in order to build a modern and sophisticated base of information. The latest initiative adopted in this area was the launch of the "MyCapital" app, which focuses on involving the people of the Governorate in monitoring complaints, proposals, and service, security and social requests in order to achieve the Prepared By: The Capital Govornarate - concept of community partnership. 2019

Contents Introduction: ...... 2

First: A Historic Glimpse of the Capital Governorate: ...... 2

Second: General Information about the Capital Governorate: ...... 3

Third: The Philosophy of the Capital Governorate's Communication with the local Community: ...... 4

Fourth: The Capital Governorate's efforts to develop the concept of communication with the people: ...... 5

Activating 15 communication channels with the people: ...... 5

1) Direct Communication Channels ...... 7

2) Indirect Communication Channels: ...... 7

Fifth: Launching the "MyCapital" application and the renovated website ...... 8

A. The Promotional Plan:...... 9

B. How It Works: ...... 11

C. The People’s Interaction: ...... Error! Bookmark not defined.

D. Current and Future Efforts: ...... Error! Bookmark not defined.

Introduction: As one of the first established Governorates in the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Capital Governorate seeks to promote and develop the services it provides to all levels of society on one hand, and to personalize them with a special theme in terms of its representation of the political and economic capital of the Kingdom on the other.

It is also working hard to strengthen this role and status, through a comprehensive and modernization policy, which reflected positively on various aspects of work, and thus reflecting positively on the A map showing the limits of the Capital Governorate in comparison citizen and resident. to the other Governorates of the Kingdom of Bahrain

First: A Historic Glimpse of the Capital Governorate:

The Capital Governorate is the first of the four Governorates in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It was announced in 1997 in accordance with the provisions of Decree Law No. (16) of 1996 regarding the Governorates' system, with the aim of advancing the Governorate in all A group photo of the Capital Governorate's staff in front of the respects, and to work on developing historic Bab Al-Bahrain building it socially, economically and urbanly.

As a result of the activation of the foundations and principles mentioned in the National Action Charter ratified by the Bahraini people, and with the promulgation of the amended Constitution of 2002, in addition to several reform laws promulgated by His Majesty the King, the Governorates' law was amended and developed to comply with the principles of His Majesty's Great Reform Project.

Decree No. (7) of 1997 was promulgated appointing the first governor of the capital, Shaikh Abdulaziz bin Atiyat-Allah bin Abdulrahman Al-Khalifa, followed by Shaikh Humood bin Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Khalifa who was appointed in 2002 and served as the Capital's Governor for two consecutive terms.

In October 2011, Royal Decree No. (100) of 2011 was promulgated appointing His Excellency Shaikh Hisham bin Abdulrahman bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa as Governor of the Capital Governorate for a term of four years, and was reappointed for a second term in 2016.

Second: General Information about the Capital Governorate: The Capital Governorate is located in the northeast of the Kingdom of Bahrain. It is linked to the Muharraq Governorate (Island) by three bridges: the Shaikh Isa bin Salman Bridge, the Shaikh Hamad Bridge, the Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Bridge. It is also connected to the island of Sitra via the Sitra Bridge. Location The Capital Governorate is home to the city of Manama, the capital of the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Kingdom's largest city. It is the economic and commercial center of the Kingdom, and contains the headquarters of ministries, institutions, government agencies, banks, and major companies, markets, shopping malls, hotels and tourist facilities.

Area 83.80 square kilometers.

Population 547,983 people according to the 2016 census.

Third: The Philosophy of the Capital Governorate's Communication with the local Community:

As part of the Capital Governorate's vision to be “a leading and distinguished Governorate in serving citizens and residents for a better life and sustainable development,” it has worked hard to contribute to overseeing the public policies and development plans of the country, since they are two basic pillars in achieving community partnership.

The Capital Governorate is His Excellency the Governor during his meeting with the people of the working in accordance with its capital in the weekly majlis new vision, which comes in line with its mandated tasks and its developmental plan to provide a true translation of the work essence of all the departments and administrations, which is reflected on the ground with the development of public services in the Governorate.

The Capital Governorate has reinforced these roles by developing the conditions of citizens and residents by adopting a number of issues and topics that directly affect their lives, which ensures that the Governorate is elevated to the international levels of quality and standards in order to achieve the vision of the Kingdom of Bahrain until 2030, which is sought by the wise leadership.

Fourth: The Capital Governorate's efforts to develop the concept of communication with the people:

The Capital Governorate is described as a coordinating body, more precisely; it is considered a link between government agencies on one side, and citizens and residents on the other. Therefore, the Governorate is considered the best intermediary to build relations with and between the segments of society in order to understand their needs and provide services that meet their aspirations. Previous method of receiving complaints and requests from the people of the capital The activation of this characteristic comes through coordination and cooperation with the relevant government service agencies, with the aim of resolving all issues and problems that affect the people, and develop feasible solutions to the needs observed, in addition to the continuity of the Governorate's duty in assessing the work to determine the size of the results derived.

In consecration of the culture of open doors pursued by the wise leadership that was keen on the commitment of all state officials to it, and out of the principle of enhancing communication with all segments of society, the Capital Governorate has established effective channels of communication between it and the public in order to listen and learn about the needs of citizens and work to meet their requirements. Previous ways of communication with the people took a traditional approach; hence, on that basis, the Capital Governorate has done the following:

Activating 20 communication channels with the people:

Starting from the government's orientation based on linking the performance of the institution with the society and its variables, the dynamics of work in the Governorate are moving in accordance to the directions and wishes of the people. As a proof of this, the Capital Governorate is abundant with the most important and effective communication channels, which rely entirely on communicating with the people that seek to submit their inquiries, complaints and suggestions, and in turn the Governorate works with the competent authorities to meet them.

The total number of these channels are 20, both direct and indirect, which will give more flexibility to the mechanisms of communication between the Governorate and citizens and residents, thus achieving a real diversity between the moods and desires of all.

All direct and indirect channels carry a set of objectives, not at the Governorate's level, but extends to achieve the government participatory action to ensure that the difficulties that may face citizens are made easy, and that they are directed towards the right path in order to provide the best services to the citizens that reflects the utmost cooperation and integration, which in turn translates the efforts made by the Governorate to reach the largest possible segment of those wishing to submit their inquiries and complaints.

The providing of more than one communication channel by the Capital Governorate allows the highest degree of communication and coordination with citizens and residents, and thus expediting the obtaining of responses in an easy manner and responding to them in accordance to the highest standards of transparency, considering that all channels have the ability to reach a meeting point between the Capital Governorate and the individual directly and permanently.

1) Direct Communication Channels

His Excellency the Governor receives the people of the capital

The number of direct communication channels to the Capital Governorate are six channels, namely:  The Majlis of His Excellency the Governor of the Capital, which is held weekly.  Visits, meetings and interviews conducted by the Governor.  The Coordination Council of the Governorate.  The Complaints and Inquiries Section.  Field visits.  General status reports.

2) Indirect Communication Channels:  Media coverages  Publications  FaceBook: capital.governorate  Twitter: @CG_Bahrain  Instagram: @CG_Bahrain  Youtube: CG_Bahrain  A Smartphone application for iPhone and Android under the name "My Capital" or "MyCapital".  Website: www.capital.gov.bh  The Tawasul system: Bahrain.bh/tawasul

Fifth: Launching the "MyCapital" application and the renovated website

In mid-November last year, the Capital Governerate launched the "MyCapital" smartphone application and the newly renovated website during a press conference held in the Governorate's building in Qudaibiya. In the presence of His Excellency Mr. Amin Al-Sharqawi, the United Nations Coordinator in Bahrain, and His Excellency Dr. Zakareya Al-Khaja, Acting Vice Chief Executive of eTransformation for the Information & eGovernment Authority. This step comes in line with the Governorate's plan to update and develop the channels of communication with the people, after providing the two platforms with distinctive technologies in the field of digital publishing, which helps the Governorate to maintain the capacity of building bridges of communication with the people and shorten the distances and speed of reaching citizens and residents of the Governorate. This is based on the values of the Governorate's work, which are cooperation, quality, professionalism, transparency, accountability, where the Governorate is clearly applying these values in all the means of communication it uses, in terms of serving citizens and residents and the advancement of their services.

The aim of the "MyCapital" application is to enhance the process of communication with the public by digitizing the process of communication with the people of the Governorate. The application allows those who are within the geographical perimeters of the capital to take pictures of the item that the proposal or complaint is about, attach the details, and then send it to the concerned individuals in the Governorate. Users can easily follow the progress of their proposal or complaint, and whether the request has been processed or is still under review.

Participate in developing your City

In light of the open media space that allowed everyone to express their opinions in a transparent and objective manner without prejudice or neglegt, the province has allowed all users within the application to follow up all the complaints and proposals submitted by the people and visitors of the Governorate.

A. The Promotional Plan: The Capital Governorate has developed a promotional plan for the "MyCapital" application with the aim of introducing the people of the Governorate to the services provided by the application and its mechanism, using various means of communication available, where it prepared a short introductory film (attached with the report), which was broadcast on Bahrain TV, as well as introductory brochures published in the Governorate's accounts across the social media, in addition to using local newspapers to promote the application in order to reach the largest possible number of citizens and residents in the Governorate.

Some of the brochures prepared by the Capital Governorate to promote the "MyCapital" application

The Governorate also made improvements to the website after it was renovated. These additions were designed to create a database for visitors and browsers on all matters related to the Capital Governorate, taking into account the special importance that the Governorate enjoys as the political, economic and tourism center of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Thus, the Governorate ensured that the website is a base for information, news and various media materials.

B. How It Works: The following pictures illustrates how the application works, in addition to its features that are of interest to the Governorate's local community, and the role it contributes in delivering the complaints and requests of the people to the concerned authorities in accordance with the highest standards of transparency and objectivity, as follows:

1) The Main Interface: The main interface of the application features six practical icons, from the registration mechanism of requests, all the way to the mechanism of preparing requests and reports for the capital, where the user can also follow the news, photo gallery and the Governorate's Majlis.

2) Registration Mechanism: • People can register the proposal or complaint through the application, which would require registering their data so that the Governorate would communicate with all users of the application.

• Before completing the registration mechanism, the system will notify the registered person, via the application, with a text message containing a secret code to complete the attached application and to confirm the user of the system.

3) The mechanism for submitting a complaint or proposal through the application:

a) Photograph the complaint or proposal to be sent through the application. b) Choose the type of service whether a proposal or complaint. c) The application will automatically determine the geographical location of the complaint or proposal. d) A simple description of the case is required. e) Send the request to the server. f) Upon installation, the server will attach the request number.

4) Transparency in the presentation of complaints and suggestions on the application:

In its application, the Capital Governorate allows the display of all complaints and suggestions objectively, where the user can follow the procedures of his complaint or request. Once service is completed the team will upload a photo of the case after the improvements.

5) The Capital Governorate also enables all users to easily access the information map showing the location of complaints or suggestions by clicking on the red dots on the map. This map will help to access where the complains and problems are coming from. This will help for planning the improvements and enhancements of the services.

C. The People’s Interaction:

The promotional efforts of the Governorate led to downloading the application by around 2161 people on their smart phones since its launch in 2017 till this day. In 2018, the Governorate received around 368 complaints and requests, while the total number of complaints and requests from January to the end of October 2019 reached approximately 516 complaints and requests including written and illustrated reports on security, social and service issues, which is an increase of about 40% when compared to last year. This percentage is expected to increase with the end of the current year. The rising trend witnessed in 2019 is clear from the above when compared to the previous year, where it reflects the growing roles played by the Capital Governorate through the increasing quality of complaints and requests due to the success of the province in promoting its competences and tasks assigned to it through the different media outlets. This information took root with the receivers that formed a positive image of the Governorate being a link between the people and the executive bodies represented by the ministries and government institutions.

In 2019, and thanks to the coordination and cooperation with the relative authorities, the Governorate was able to resolve 276 complaints and requests, which is 53% of the total reports received through the application, currently 223 complaints are still being resolved, while the remaining 17 cases are either duplicated or are from outside the Capital Governorate. When compared to 2018, the number of resolved complaints was 247, while the complaints being resolved was 116, with 5 cancelled complaints.

Compared with the previous year, the growing role played by the Capital Governorate is embodied in the high rate of implementation and interaction of the concerned authorities with the complaints and requests received by the Governorate, which is due to the ability of the Governorate to vigorously follow up and solve the problems and requests of the people with the required capacity.

D. Current and Future Efforts:

In an effort to increase the level of interaction through the application and to enhance communication between the people and the Governorate in order to achieve its objectives in creating an effective community partnership, the Capital Governorate has begun to reach-out to a number of Social activists in the Governorate to follow up the needs, requests and problems of their villages and present them through the "MyCapital" application, so that there would be one representative in each of the 121 residential blocks of the Governorate. The Governorate has so far been able to appoint 121 people who were trained on using the application.

Therefore, the Capital Governorate has organized several training courses on the (MyCapital) application for smart phones in an effort to train the appointees in the residential blocks to ensure that they are following-up all the needs, requests and problems of their villages and areas, and to submit them through the (MyCapital) application, in turn, the Governorate will send all the complaints and requests to the relevant authorities in line with its coordinating role. The most interactive actor with the app is to receive the Volunteer Work Award for the category of the users of the (MyCapital) application in a ceremony held in early 2020, where this award falls within the document of the Capital Governorate for Voluntary Work launched by the Governorate in 2018 in cooperation with the United Nations Office in Bahrain, in addition to six international agencies and organizations under the umbrella of the United Nations, in line with the efforts of the Governorate to integrate volunteerism in programs and initiatives, especially sustainable ones.

The Capital Governorate was able, As a result of the appointment of volunteers to the level of the people's interaction regarding the application's work mechanism, characteristics, and features to achieve its objectives in creating an effective community partnership with various members of the community, by digitizing the process of communication with the people of the Governorate, where the application allows those who are within the geographical area of the Capital to take pictures of the object that they want to submit a proposal or complaint about it, attach the details, and then send them to the concerned individuals in the Governorate with ease. Users can follow the details of the progress of their proposal or complaint, and see whether the request has been processed or is still under review.

E. Aligning the (MyCapital) app with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG):

The Capital Governorate has sought to align the (MyCapital) application with the 2030 SDGs, most notably SDG11: Sustainable Cities and Civil Societies, which aims to conserve cities in a way that continues to create jobs and prosperity. The (MyCapital) application contributes to the monitoring the requests and observations of citizens, residents and visitors to develop public facilities, and send them easily and conveniently to those concerned in the Governorate in order to follow up their implementation with the relevant service agencies, in order to achieve the intended urban development.

As a result, the Capital Governorate has incorporated the most active representatives, with regards to the app, in the Volunteer Work Award for the category of users of the (MyCapital) application within the Capital Governorate Volunteer Document launched by the Governorate in 2018 in cooperation with the United Nations Office in Bahrain, in addition to six international agencies and organizations under the umbrella of the United Nations. (the United Nations Development Program, the United Nations Environment Program, the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations Volunteers Program). This gives the document an international recognition, in addition to the support of strategic partners: The Labor Fund (Tamkeen) and the Ahli United Bank. This initiative is in line with the 17 goals agreed at the United Nations in accordance with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by 193 countries at a historic UN summit in 2015.

Organizing the role of volunteers in the (MyCapital) application goes in line with an international document that specifies the average hours where they monitor the problems and demands of the people in their villages and regions. This is part of an innovative document that unifies volunteering fields, especially in the field of development. This goes hand in hand with the aspirations of the Governorate to raise the perception of individuals and integrate them in the development of society due to its direct and positive effect on the development of social responsibility, which is a gateway through which the community can seek to improve the lives of its members and others by volunteering in various activities and events throughout the year, thus contributing to enhancing community partnerships in the capital Governorate in order to 18

achieve multiple objectives behind this initiative, the most important of which are: the development of the spirit of cooperation and integration with various forces, Assuring the development of the spirit of giving in individuals, and to achieve change-oriented development.

It is worth mentioning that the volunteer document is an official document granted to participants in the program and is used as a means to follow up the contribution of individuals and groups to volunteer activities organized by the Governerate or in cooperation with partners in order to encourage the contributions of Capital Volunteering Pass volunteers and motivate them to United Nation Agancies participate in the activities and programs of the Governerate, which cares for volunteer work. 20 points are calculated and documented for every hour of voluntary work, the highest participant or body shall receive a recognition award.

In early 2020, an awards ceremony will be held in which 18 outstanding volunteers will be honored in six categories, namely the Youth Volunteer Award, which will be given to volunteers between the ages of 15 and 29, and the Voluntary Work Award for the category of civil society organizations, which is awarded for the support provided by civil society organizations, the Corporate Volunteering Award, which is awarded to the private sector companies in recognition of their support for the project, in addition to the (MyCapital) app user award for the volunteers who use the smart phone application the most, and the Volunteering Pioneer Award, which is awarded to the volunteer with the most volunteering hours and will be allocated for individuals who have exceeded the age of 29 years, and finally the Educational Institutions Award, which is awarded to schools and universities.

For more information about the (MyCapital) application, please see the video link below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM1ddfYrZfA