Oxford Business Group

Bahrain’s health sector is undergoing a series of changes under the National Health Plan (NHP) 2016-25 that are designed to improve patient choice, raise standards and encourage private sector involvement. One of the plan’s landmark reforms is the rollout of a new health insurance scheme for citizens, expatriates and visitors, known as Sehati, or “my health”. The Ministry of Health has shifted from directly providing medical care to overseeing and monitoring health services. The plan has also led to the establishment of the Health Information

The Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting disruption to physical interactions caused complications for all sectors of the economy. In the education sector, the pandemic created challenges to learning continuity as schools and universities had to suspend in-person learning for long periods. However, this disruption has accelerated the digitalisation of education and could strengthen the system over the long term. Continuity Solutions During the first phase of the pandemic, when the entire society was under lockdown, the government and educational institutions sought to maintain continuity through digital channels. Since people were confined to their homes, institutions began using platforms such as Blackboard, Moodle, Zoom and Microsoft

In a bid to expand access and widen their reach, educational institutions are increasingly exploring the possibilities of the metaverse and associated extended-reality (XR) approaches. The metaverse comprises a range of technologies which immerse users in a virtual environment. It denotes a 3D medium that combines virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) into a new digital realm, sometimes known as XR. These environments are accessed through VR headsets and are typically immersive, interactive and social. Metaversal Access The world’s leading technology companies are investing heavily in XR. In 2021 Facebook rebranded itself as Meta, indicating how important the company believes XR will become going