The conference saw 34 research papers on new trends and challenges facing the business and information sector.

Dr Zahran al Salti assistant professor in the information systems department in the College of Economics and Political Sciences represented SQU at the conference a press release stated. Dr Salti presented a paper titled 'The Presence of Omani Governmental Agencies on Social Media: Exploratory Study'.

The study is part of a strategic research project which is being conducted in collaboration with a number of academics from colleges of Arts Social Sciences Economics and Political Science. Dr Salti said that the key findings reported in the study would benefit Oman significantly.

'Although several public sector organisations are aware of the potential benefits of social media their adoption and utilisation of such platforms in communicating effectively with citizens is still limited. This study provides some useful insights on how government agencies in Oman may adopt appropriate social media platforms to communicate and interact with citizens extend services that are more effective and strengthen transparency and accountability' he said.