February 2001

Cyprus Summary Report (1999 - 2000)

Prior to 1999, Cyprus had already been actively involved in the promotion and development of the Information Society both on a national and on a regional level. The following is a summary of the main developments that had taken place up to 1999 with regards to the key persons and contact organisations involved, as well as the subsequent developments that have taken place in the years 1999-2000 (duration of the ESIS II project).

In the years up to 1999, the first major initiative that was undertaken towards the promotion and development of IS was the organization of the EURO-MED NET'98 conference which was held in Cyprus between 4-7 March 1998. This conference became a milestone towards the formation of a Mediterranean Information Society in that it attracted an unusually large number of participants from most countries in the region including official delegations. The announcement of the formation of a Mediterranean Information Society had a direct positive impact on the launching of the EUMEDIS program and the extension of ESIS to the Mediterranean countries. The success of the conference confirmed the special role that Cyprus is playing in the formation of an Information Society in the area, in that it is the only country in the Mediterranean region which has both joined the Fifth Framework as an Associate Member as well as has started official talks for joining the European Union.

At the same time, the government of Cyprus formed an ad-hoc Ministerial Committee that would prepare an Action Plan for the development of the Information Society in Cyprus. This committee comprised members from the Ministries of Interior, Exterior, Finance, Education and Culture, and Communications and Works (presiding), the Planning Bureau, the Cyprus Telecommunication Authority and the Department of Computer Science at the University of Cyprus. One of the actions taken by this committee was to form an Action Plan for making Cyprus a center of Information Technology for the region.

The Planning Bureau of Cyprus has since been responsible for the overall co-ordination of related activities of Cyprus semi-governmental activities. Furthermore, it acts as the primary National Contact Point of Cyprus in the Fifth Framework. 

The Research Promotion Foundation funds local projects where the Information Society is one of the priority themes. Furthermore, it presides over and coordinates the activities of the National Contact Point Representatives for various key actions and thematic programs. 

The Institute of Technology is responsible for the SMEs and furthermore it is the coordinator of two I.T. Nodes. 

The Department of Computer Science of the University of Cyprus is involved in all of the above activities with members of its academic staff joining the committees or working closely with representatives of the organizations involved in the formation of the Information Society. The Department coordinates three I.T. Nodes, and provides various forms of assistance to anyone interested in Information Society. Furthermore, the Head of the Department acts as the National Contact Point for IST in the National Contact Points committee coordinated by the Research Promotion Foundation. 

Finally, the Cyprus Telecommunication Authority is responsible for providing the necessary telecommunications infrastructure.

The ministry of Communications and Works is responsible for both the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority and the state TV and radio channel Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.

2. Major changes in 1999 and 2000

The major institutional and personnel changes that have taken place since the beginning of the IS project are the following :

• The substitution of the former minister of Communications and Works Mr. Leondios Ierodiakonou with Mr. Averof Neofitou. The said substitution was made in the framework of the cabinet reshuffling process (restructure) which took place early in September 1999. In this context, the Minister has since largely overlooked the process of emphasising the need for impending liberalisation of the key telecommunications sector, although this is still a process that is at the discussion stage.
  
• The last quarter of 1999 also so the initiation of several interesting IS projects undertaken by the Computer Science department of the University of Cyprus, whereas the Planning Bureau was involved in certain IS activities and events. This has led to the active involvement of certain key persons, namely,….
  • Mr. Costas Iacovou of the Planning Bureau who had been appointed earlier in the year as the National Contact Point for the fifth framework of the EU.
  • Dr. Antonis Kakas of the University of Cyprus (Computer Science department), appointed as the National Contact Point for the Information Society of Technologies (IST) of the fifth framework of the EU.
  • Dr. Andreas Pitsillides of the University of Cyprus, appointed as one of the three Focal Points for the EUMEDIS initiative.

In addition, during the same period, the involvement of the University of Cyprus along with the Institute of Technology in essentially co-ordinating the IT nodes initiative of the EU saw the active involvement of the following key persons.

• Mr. Marios Dikeouchos of the University of Cyprus in co-ordinating Domain 1 (multimedia and Internet)
• Mr. Andreas Michaelides of the Institute of Technology in co-ordinating Domain 2 (e-commerce)
• Mr. Skevos Evripidou of the University of Cyprus in co-ordinating Domain 3 (high performance computing)
• Mr. George Samaras of the University of Cyprus in co-ordinating Domain 4 (software quality)
• Mr. Andreas Michaelides of the Institute of Technology in co-ordinating Domain 5 (business process re-engineering).

• In the year 2000, there was an increasing number of public sector IS projects recorded, especially under the Government’s " Information Systems Strategy" driven primarily by the Department of Information Technology Services, and include the Government Internet Service project, the government Data Network Project, the Office Automation Pilot project and the Health Information Support System. In line with this, other key persons have become involved such as Mr Andreas Kyprianou (Department of Information Technology Services) and Mr. Costas Heracleous (Agricultural Research Institute).

In addition, the progress of the alternative network of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus, as well as application of the SCADA system, have seen the involvement of Mr A. Theophanous and Mr. Costas Charalambous, within their organisation.

At the same time the private sector, and more specifically the banking industry have a very strong presence in terms of IS projects. Specifically, such projects have been initiated by the 3 main commercial banks on the island, namely the Bank of Cyprus, the Popular Bank and the Hellenic Bank.

Key persons in the respective projects of their organisations have typically included senior IT management, specific project management as well general management (see table below).

The following is an updated table of the key person contacts and organisations (nb: several of them are also included in the ESIS database with their related projects).