Gulf Air receives top IT award

Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, was honored among the top 50 organizations in the Middle East for its outstanding achievements in information technology for the second consecutive year at the ‘CIO 50 Awards and Forum 2013’ held in Dubai recently. Gulf Air was chosen for this award for introducing advanced technologies and innovative initiatives aimed at improving the organization’s business efficiency, creating competitive advantage, optimizing business processes, enabling growth and improving relationships with customers. The event, hosted and organized by Computer New Middle East Magazine (CNME) and Corporate Publishing International (CPI), attracted over 100 senior IT experts and Chief Information Officers from across the Middle East to recognize and appreciate organizations that have accomplished commendable work in the IT domain. Receiving the award on behalf of Gulf Air, the airline’s Director of Information Technology Dr. Jassim Haji commented, “Receiving this prestigious award for the second consecutive year reflects Gulf Air’s steadfast commitment and focus on information technology excellence which is a key business enabler in the aviation industry. We are delivering our promise to continuously improve our services to better serve our passengers by providing newer and smarter technologies making their travel experience more enjoyable.” Bahrain’s national carrier Gulf Air has been at the forefront of introducing several improvements and innovations in its operation. More recently the airline received the prestigious ISO/IEC 27001:2005 certification for its information security management systems. The airline was the first organization in Bahrain to introduce Cloud Computing in its IT operations that enables it to achieve much faster and more efficient business performance, resulting in enhanced customer service in every step of the customer's journey. In 2011, Gulf Air installed its newest in-flight entertainment system on its aircraft that allows broadband Internet access, GSM phone service and live television content using Panasonic’s Global Communications Suite. Gulf Air is the first airline in the world to offer full on-board connectivity with technology that has fundamentally changed and set a new standard for in-flight entertainment.