Bahrain’s Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA) and the Labour Fund (Tamkeen) have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop an employability skills portal (ESP) – a first-of-its-kind online platform in the kingdom – which aims to boost the labour market by creating a database that can be accessed by government entities, business owners, and job seekers.
According to the Bahrain News Agency, the agreement was signed by iGA’s chief executive, Mohammed Ali Al-Qaed, and Tamkeen’s chief executive, Dr Ebrahim Mohammed Janahi, in the presence of the president of the Supreme Council for the Development of Education and Training, HH Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa.
Al-Qaed said that the ESP platform, which incorporates artificial intelligence (AI) technology, carries strategic and tactical significance that will benefit public and private organizations, educational institutions, and job seekers.
Al-Qaed added that the iGA will build a cloud-based system that will maintain a preliminary database from seven government entities, including the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism; the Labor Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA); the Social Insurance Organisation (SIO); the Ministry of Labor and Social Development; the Education and Training Quality Authority; the Civil Service Bureau; and the Higher Education Council.
The database will be made available to the public, and will help educational and training institutions tailor their programmes to meet Bahrain’s labour market demands, avoiding potential gaps between skills demand and supply as well as improving the workforce competitiveness.
Commenting on the deal, Janahi said: “The platform is in line with the directives of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s leaders, who support digital transformation and the use of modern technology in providing databases with strong foundations and standards that will contribute to the future direction of the Kingdom’s labour market. This is in parallel to the continuous modernization of Tamkeen’s operations and internal programmes, especially when it comes to the inclusion of specialized professional programs and updating them to suit labour market changes.”