Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), the premier non-profit healthcare provider in Doha, Qatar, has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ICDL GCC Foundation, the governing body of the International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL) digital literacy program for the Gulf States, to provide medical staff with essential ICT skills to better manage healthcare tasks.
The landmark MoU was signed in Doha between Jamil Ezzo, Director General, ICDL GCC Foundation and Mohamad Mubarak Al Noimi, H.I.S Executive Director at HMC in the presence of Mr. Ahmad Hussein Al Nehma, Administration Manager, Dr. Sumaya Dalham Al Kowari, Head of Nursing information Technology Department and Mr. Omar Suwais, Head of Health IT Department.
The move will see HMC endorse the ICDL initiative by providing an internal centre to train and test its employees on the ICDL program, commencing with an initial enrolment of 1500 staff members in the first phase. The agreement is being funded by ictQatar, Qatar’s leading telecommunications regulatory authority, as part of its e-citizens initiative which aims to raise IT awareness levels and increase the usage of computer and internet access across the various strata of society. By developing the employees IT skills, the level of efficiency will develop on a higher quality standards.
The ICDL program is supported by a myriad of international research that proves a modern healthcare system supported by technologically competent and computer skilled staff increases efficiency, improves the quality of care. The program is dedicated to equip all employees with all computer skills that are necessary to adapt to the fast growing digital society.
Commenting on the initiative, Mohamad Mubarak Al Noimi, H.I.S Executive Director at HMC said, “HMC is working closely with HMC staff to assist in developing and bridging the IT skills gap through the ICDL program, which HMC believes is an important step forward in improving business performance inside the organisation. This initiative comes from our belief that the steps to develop our medical corporation is by strengthening our staff with IT skills that will make them equipped to face this IT concentrated era. As the premier healthcare provider in Qatar, we are entrusted with the task of delivering quality health care so it becomes our responsibility to develop the skills of our team to meet the demands of a highly advanced healthcare system.”
Under the terms of the MoU, HMC and ICDL will also implement an additional level of cooperation in the form of a society service initiative that will offer the ICDL program to the families of staff members at symbolic rates.
HMC is one of the largest recruiters of health employees in Qatar, with more than 13,000 staff based in hospitals and health centres. Established by Emiri decree in 1979, the Corporation manages four highly specialized hospitals and has rapidly developed highly specialized medical facilities capable of providing state of the art diagnosis and treatment of diseases that previously could only be managed in overseas medical centres. This development will only be possible when people become equipped with the basic IT skills that will able them to manage this technologies.
“As technology is now determining the provision of modern healthcare the world over, the decision by HMC to endorse ICDL is a big step in facilitating the modernisation and technological programs we are currently promoting. Studies confirm that digital literacy is a powerful economic driver and the ICDL program teaches digital literacy by enabling people to certify their skills, improve their productivity and enhance their potential. When the staff becomes equipped with IT skills they will manage to become a strong driving force in the development of the economy, specially that the economy is now becoming IT driven and needs people that can tolerate this development, ” commented Jamil Ezzo, Director General, ICDL GCC Foundation.
Many countries around the world have launched initiatives to enhance digital literacy in their health sector. The United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS), the third largest employer in the world after the Chinese Army and the Indian Railways, adopted ICDL as the reference standard for basic digital skills in 2001. NHS found it imperative that digital literacy of its staff was central to the success of its digitization efforts and for them to adapt quickly to new IT and information systems and get quicker, easier access to the information they need to support patient care. Over the past 6 years, around 600,000 out of the 1.3 million NHS employees have enrolled in the ICDL Program.
The ICDL program is available throughout the GCC states with a syllabus consisting of seven modules designed to cover the key concepts of computing, including practical applications and their use in the workplace, providing a solid base of computer skills to enable people to confidently use computers. The certification is endorsed by governments worldwide as the global benchmark for computer literacy for all qualifying government employees.
About ICDL
International Computer Driving License (ICDL), is an internationally recognized computer proficiency standard that is owned by the European Computer Driving License Foundation (ECDL) and introduced by the UNESCO's Cairo Office (UCO) for Arab states in 2001, is gaining increasing acceptance in the Middle East, with several governments adopting and prescribing it to their employees. The ICDL program exists in over 143 countries, and is offered in 42 languages, including Arabic. The programs offered are all based on one standard syllabus and question set. There are more than 27,000 centres worldwide, above 7 million candidates (500 thousands candidates in the GCC region alone), more than 2 million issued certificates and over 25 million exams have been taken globally since the launch of the program year 1997.
About ICDL GCC Foundation
ICDL GCC Foundation was created by the ECDL Foundation, the not-for-profit global governing body of the ECDL and ICDL member countries dedicated to helping raise the general level of computer skills in societies and providing access for all to the information society, to serve the to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States with their implementation of ICDL and for providing them with localized support to ensure quality of ICDL programs. The ICDL GCC Foundation is the sole accreditation body that is responsible to support ICDL accredited training and testing centers in the GCC. It also acts as the reviewing and approving body for the local adaptation of ICDL programs.
