Dr. Maitham Safar, consultant for the Government E-Payment project. Dr. Maitham has a Ph.D
in Computer Science from the University of Southern California, and has been involved with Kuwait University for quite a length of time, as a student, a teaching assistant and now an instructor.
Dr. Maitham said, “The idea behind the formation of this E-Payment project is that the Kuwaiti government wants to make the giant move towards a paperless government in the very near future, and one of the ways to do this, is to go electronically and well, this is what Knet is famous for. When the contract was signed between Knet and the Government, Knet enlisted me as a consultant to both monitor and advise; to guarantee that the project is a success. I joined to ensure the realization of this project in line with the Government’s vision. I work in the Computer Engineering Department at the University, and the Engineering School hosts the E-government project at the University, thus my exposure to it. We ensure that standards for e-payment match those around the world. I can tell you that the government is very keen for this project to go live. Handling cash is a major problem everywhere, so this service will be seen as a plus; it’s instant debit and credit. It will be more organized, easier to reconcile, easier to follow up on claims; everything will be done electronically. I forecast going live possibly early next year; the reason being that most ministries providing services to the public already have the infrastructure and are ready to implement the service. I am here only in a consultancy role, but from what I’ve seen, I know that the Knet team can pick up the project by themselves in the near future; they are well qualified and experienced. Knet is really committed to the success of this project. Their belief is based on the fact that this service will revolutionize the payment situation in Kuwait. In actuality, they are doing a great service, whereby the government, citizens and expatriates will benefit alike. Basically the technology being used for e-payment has been used before; the Government has seen it work for the private sector, they have also seen how Knet works, and they are in no doubt about applying the technology for their business. I believe a major advertising campaign is in order, and I understand that Knet is working on this. Kuwait picks up new trends very fast, we are very much into technology. With new strides in technology like the upcoming smart card civil IDs, we shall be able to integrate most services to provide information and bill payment options electronically.”
