BBK & BIBF Kickoff “Digital Skills Training” for 100 Bahraini Women

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

In celebration of Bahraini Women’s Day, BBK, in collaboration with the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF), successfully kicked off of a valuable programme on Tuesday, dedicated to building the digital capabilities of Bahraini women in today’s digital world and empowering them with the knowledge needed to use different apps and platforms such as Bahrain advanced e-government services, e-banking, online schooling, e-payments.

The programme aims to train 100 stay-at-home Bahraini women above 20 years old, who have been facing some challenges when dealing with the digital technology in their daily life; particularly given the current social distancing situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the fast digital transformation we are currently witnessing.

The “Digital Skills” training programme will educate participants on e-government services, online banking, basic information technology skills including email management, online research, social media, online video conference, desktop publishing. It will also familiarize the participant with IT security and increase their awareness about dealing with online threats.

The training will be held at the BIBF premises for two weeks, implementing the necessary measures for social distancing. BBK will not only fully sponsor the programme, but will also have BBK employees volunteer to deliver the training related to e-services. Four different modules will constitute the programme, namely: “Stay Connected”, “Stay Efficient”, “Stay Productive” and “Stay Secure”; with the choice given to the participants to benefit from some of the modules or all of them; bearing in mind that the Bank will be offering some incentives for those competing the four modules.

BBK Group Chief Executive, Dr. Abdulrahman Ali Saif, said in his virtual speech that this innovative initiative comes within the framework of the bank’s social responsibility towards the Bahraini community, and stems from the new strategy the Bank announced earlier in the year, focusing in particular on education and training.

“BBK decided to launch this programme on Bahraini Women’s Day as a recognition from the Bank to the Bahraini women. The initiative is inspired by the slogan that the Supreme Council for Women (SCW) adopted on the occasion of the launch of the Bahraini Women’s Day “I read, I learned, I participated”. Through this programme, we reaffirm BBK’s full support for the efforts undertaken by the Supreme Council for Women headed by Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, President of the SCW, for the advancement of Bahraini women on all levels.” He added.

Dr Saif also confirmed that this initiatives comes to salute women for the critical role she’s playing in overcoming all the challenges that the pandemic has imposed on the society, from supporting online schooling to ensuring preventive measures are in place to prevent the spread of the virus.

“This programme also reflects BBK’s keenness to encourage more and more the use of electronic payment channels and e-services in the Kingdom of Bahrain. We are proud to be contributing to the country’s digital transformation readiness and to participate under “Team Bahrain” in achieving Bahrain Vision 2030, for the prosperity of the Kingdom.” He concluded.

On his part, the BIBF Director Dr. Ahmed Al Shaikh congratulated Bahraini women on their annual day, stressing the Institute’s keenness to support women and enhance efforts aimed at her acquiring new digital skills.

He mentioned that launching this initiative in collaboration with BBK comes to support the efforts of the Supreme Council for Women to empower women and recognise their contributions in various fields, with the programme main aim of advancing Bahraini housewives and increase their effectiveness in dealing with the new digital age. As the current Coronavirus pandemic demonstrated the importance of digital technology in the use of different platforms and applications, people are becoming aware of the need to adapt to the “new normal”.

Dr. Al Sheikh also expressed his deep gratitude to BBK for adopting this valuable initiative, which reflects the Bank’s keenness to support education and the development of talents and skills among different segments of society.