The Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance today won the 27th Middle East Smart Government and Smart Cities Excellence Awards for Smart Content Excellence Award Category, in conjunction with holding the 27th Conference for Smart Government and Smart Cities in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states between February 28 and March 02, 2022, which was held in Dubai, the UAE. The award was received, on behalf of the minister of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance, by Acting Undersecretary of the ministry for planning and digital transformation Dr. Laila Bint Hamad Al-Qassem, in the presence of Sheikh Eng. Salem bin Sultan Al-Qassimi, head of the Civil Aviation Department in Ras Al Khaima, member of the Executive Council and Director of the Middle East Award Ali Al-Kamali, and representatives of ministries and public institutions in GCC states. Al-Qassimi referred to the big efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's leadership in serving Islam and Muslims and providing modern technologies to deliver e-services, so as visitors of the Two Holy Mosques can receive comprehensive services according to the targets of Saudi Vision 2030. For his part, Dr. Al-Qassem noted that the ministry seeks to achieve projects and targets of the vision to realize its message in serving Islam and Muslims and deliver the true religions through technology in implementation of the wise leadership's directives to provide whatever possible to serve Muslims in the world. The ministry won the award based on the standards of the award accredited for nomination and choosing winners, as a gesture of appreciation for its excellence in Smart Content Excellence Category, where it extended two projects, the first aims at conducting a practical practice on the rituals of Hajj and Umrah step by step with the use of virtual reality 3D technologies without connecting to the internet, while the second aims at avoiding typing mistakes while writing verses of the Holy Quran and search in the Holy Quran or Hadiths, facilitating the use or share of search results, in addition to translating and interpreting the special meaning of a certain verse to several accredited languages.
