Knet participated in the Electronic Government Exhibition which was organized by Kuwait University / College of Engineering and Petroleum, Khaldiya. The exhibition aimed at spreading knowledge of the application of e-government, and how government services could be computerized so as to be readily accessible and more effective for the public. The University had invited several organizations to participate in the exhibition (which took place over three days in March), to display their applications, perspectives and their vision of future services in the government.

Knet was privileged to be a sponsor and part of this very successful exhibition, where the Knet services of POS, Kiosk, and especially Payment Gateway were showcased, particularly as these services could be used as vehicles for provision of e-government services. All types of POS terminals were exhibited, paying special attention to three categories, i.e, the Desktop, the Wireless, GSM and the GPRS. Knet’s Desktop Point-of-Sale was showcased as a possible channel that could be employed by ministries to facilitate payment of bills using bank cards rather than through cash, wherein shortage of amounts on hand was a common hazard. The wireless could be utilized in locations with limited infrastructure or in the case of GSM and GPRS, those with no infrastructure at all, as it operates through the mobile SIM card provided by local telecommunication companies. These communication subsystems, like GPRS, in the point of sale technology also offer unlimited mobility, and a possible application would be for the Ministry of Interior in aiding the collection of traffic fines.

Such services would also reflect positively on the government’s ability of dealing with money, whereby instead of counting, collecting and hiring security to convey the bulk amounts to the bank, the fees collected would be directly credited to the respected ministry’s account, thereby minimizing or even eliminating the need to handle cash. Another benefit to be reaped from these applications is the minimization of cash handling cost and risks for the amount that will be deducted from the citizen’s bank account and credited directly to the ministry’s bank account within seconds.

Another payment channel exhibited was that of Payment Gateway, enabling customers to go online and check their bills, in addition to paying them using their debit cards. Knet gave complete demonstrations to those who visited with the purpose of learning how the PG service worked, by recharging their mobiles there itself with KD.1, as a small gift from KNET.

The Mobile Payment option was another service exhibited, at which payment could be made through a page especially designed for mobiles. This payment option could also be utilized by the ministries for payment of utility bills like electricity and water.

Yet another service was the Kiosk service, another way of enabling the public to pay their bills received from governmental organizations.

The exhibition of these services served to demonstrate how they could work in conjunction with the numerous governmental organizations to help the public in paying for the various services provided by the government of Kuwait, in an entirely uncomplicated manner.