Muscat: As part of its ongoing efforts to develop a modern and competitive industrial sector based on technology and knowledge, and to enhance the ability of Omani factories to adopt advanced technologies, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion continues to implement a range of programs and initiatives supporting digital transformation and smart industry, in line with Oman Vision 2040 and the Industrial Strategy 2040.
The Industrial Strategy 2040 aims to develop a modern and more competitive manufacturing base, upgrade national industries towards the use of modern and advanced technologies, raise productivity and efficiency, and promote industrial innovation, contributing to increased added value and diversification of the national economy.
Stemming from these directions, Oman's participation in the GCC Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution comes as an extension of existing national efforts and initiatives in the field of industrial transformation, and enhances integration between national programs and the GCC system supporting the adoption of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies.
The GCC Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its digital platform were officially launched during the 57th meeting of the GCC Industrial Cooperation Committee, held in the Kingdom of Bahrain, in a step aimed at supporting the shift towards advanced industries, raising the level of digital maturity of GCC factories, and enhancing their ability to benefit from modern technologies.
The utilization of the GCC Center complements Oman's experience in the Smart Production Factories project, implemented by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion to help industrial establishments assess their level of digital readiness and set practical paths for transformation towards smart manufacturing.
Previous phases of the project included raising awareness of advanced industrial technologies, preparing a guide for smart production factories, implementing awareness programs and workshops, as well as evaluating a number of Omani factories and preparing transformation plans for them, in addition to building national capacities and qualifying Omani assessors in the field of assessing factories' digital maturity.
The GCC Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution represents an additional phase that supports these efforts, by providing a common regional platform linking factories, national centers, assessors, solution and technology providers, training programs and industrial expertise in GCC countries.
The Ministry affirmed that the Center enables Omani factories to access an integrated set of services that help them move from determining readiness level to implementing industrial transformation projects, foremost among them assessing digital and industrial maturity and preparing a transformation roadmap, access to specialized assessors, identifying providers of industrial solutions and technologies, in addition to participating in training programs and benefiting from applied experiences and success stories in GCC factories.
The Center's digital platform also provides a wider opportunity for Omani companies operating in the fields of technology, automation, artificial intelligence, digital transformation and industrial services to showcase their capabilities and solutions to a wider network of factories in GCC countries, enhancing opportunities for building partnerships, exchanging expertise and developing an integrated system of industrial solution providers.
Eng. Khalid bin Salim Al-Qasabi, Director General of Industry at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, said that Oman attaches great importance to accelerating the transformation of the industrial sector towards the use of modern and advanced technologies, as one of the main drivers for raising productivity, enhancing competitiveness and improving the efficiency of industrial operations, in line with the objectives of the Industrial Strategy 2040 aimed at building a modern industrial sector based on technology, knowledge and innovation.
He added that the Ministry has worked in recent years to develop a number of practical initiatives in this field, foremost among them the Smart Production Factories project, which contributed to raising awareness among factories, assessing their readiness and building specialized national capacities, noting that the GCC Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution represents an opportunity to enhance these efforts and link Omani factories to a broader GCC system of expertise, solutions and industrial experiences.
He pointed out that the Center contributes to enhancing the role of qualified Omani competencies in the field of factory evaluation and industrial transformation, linking them to the GCC system of assessors and experts, and benefiting from the expertise developed by Oman during the implementation of the Smart Production Factories program.
For his part, Eng. Idris bin Hassan Al-Sinan, Director of the Industrial Development Department at the Ministry, confirmed that the next phase will focus more on transforming factory assessment results into practical, implementable projects, noting that the goal of this transformation is not only to introduce the factory to modern technologies, but to help it determine its current position, the priorities it should start with, and the technologies that achieve the greatest possible impact in terms of productivity, quality, efficiency and sustainability.
He said the GCC Center provides an additional channel through which factories can be linked with assessors, solution providers, training programs and industrial success stories, which supports the Ministry's efforts to build a more integrated industrial system and enables Omani factories to benefit from expertise and solutions available at the GCC level.
Dr. Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Buraiki, Head of the Industrial Studies and Policies Department at the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC), explained that Oman has important experience in the field of smart production factories, whether in terms of evaluating factories, preparing transformation paths or developing national capabilities, and therefore the GCC Center comes to build on these efforts and expand the benefit from them.
He said what we want to achieve is for the Omani factory to find a clear path for transformation; starting with assessment and determining the level of readiness, then building a roadmap, and accessing the appropriate assessor or solution provider, and benefiting from training programs and successful experiences. In return, we provide Omani companies and expertise with greater opportunity to access factories and industrial markets in the rest of the GCC countries.
He affirmed that one of the main objectives of the GCC Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution is to transform knowledge related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution into practical applications inside factories, reflecting on the productivity, efficiency, quality and competitiveness of the GCC industrial sector.
The GCC Center operates according to a model based on integration between the GCC level and national implementation, by linking government entities, national centers, factories, assessors, solution providers and experts.
Its main services include assessing factories' readiness for industrial transformation and preparing a roadmap, linking industrial establishments with solution and technology providers, providing training programs and capacity building, in addition to publishing applied experiences, success stories, guides and information related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The integration between national initiatives in Oman and the GCC Center is expected to contribute to accelerating the adoption of advanced industrial technologies, developing national capabilities, enhancing the presence of Omani companies providing technical solutions, and raising the competitiveness of Omani factories regionally and internationally, in support of Oman Vision 2040 and Industrial Strategy 2040 towards a more advanced, innovative and sustainable industry.