Bahrain nears complete public service digitalization and MyGov integration

Ninety-five percent of all public services provided by Bahrain’s government are now available online and accessible through the country’s biometric national identity system, Bahrain News Agency reports. The government’s goal is to complete the digitalization of the rest by the end of 2027.

Digital access is currently live for more than 850 services through the MyGov Bahrain platform, with only those requiring fingerprint biometrics verification or in-person presence requiring physical attendance at government offices. New biometric solutions are currently in development, however, that may eliminate the need for in-person authentication altogether, Bahrain’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer for E-transformation Ali Janahi said at the Bahrain Smart Cities Summit 2026.

The MyGov Bahrain platform will eventually fold in seven applications and customize services to the individual, Janahi says. AI virtual assistants will help connect people to the services they need. Bahrain’s Information and eGovernment Authority has already completed the migration of one of the seven apps, the “Islamiyat” mobile application, to MyGov, News of Bahrain reported in early June.

Bahrain announced in February that it would work with Idemia Public Security on the Biometric Measurements System Project to enhance the country’s national security and support digital pubic service delivery.

The government has recently upgraded 88 services provided by 18 public entities, according to GCC Business News, and driving down service delivery times by 25 percent or more. Administrative processes can now be completed with a maximum of four steps, and the number of documents required has been cut in half.

The digital services can be access through the country’s biometric authentication and single sign-on platform, eKey 2.0 Bahrain, developed by Beyon Connect.

Stacking digital public service gains

Bahrain was lauded for the direction of its public service digitalization reforms in a 2025 case study from the UNDP and the Astana Civil Service Hub (ACSH). At that point, Bahrain’s reforms had already cut average service delivery times by 65 percent from 5 years earlier. The country was realizing operational cost savings equivalent to between 0.5 percent and 0.8 percent of its GDP, and citizens’ satisfaction rate with the digital services available then was 82 percent.

The case study on “De-bureaucratisation through Digital Government Reform” concludes that Bahrain’s example shows government of small states can accelerate reform cycles if they are sufficiently centrally coordinated. Bahrain’s reforms also show that digitalization is not enough on its own to de-bureaucratize legacy processes, that accountability comes from performance metrics and feedback from citizens and that public-private partnerships (PPPs) can make digital reforms cost-effective. Last, and perhaps most importantly, Bahrain’s example shows that “strong digital ID infrastructure is a game-changer.”

Article Topics

Bahrain  |  Bahrain Vision 2030  |  Beyon Connect  |  biometrics  |  digital government  |  Idemia Public Security  |  MyGov (Bahrain)