Several changes have occurred
within organisations involved in the Information Society in the
Mediterranean area over the last three months (July - October
1999). The aim of this synthesis is to provide a quick overview.
For more details, please refer to the country page.
- In Tunisia, several
new public centers offering Internet access opened during
the last quarter (PUBLINET project ie "Centres
Publics des Télécommunications de type Internet).
- In Israel, several
changes took place: the Parliamentary Committee
on Sciences now assumes responsibilities
concerning the development of IT infrastructures; a Parliamentary
Lobby for Internet has been established in
September to promote the use of Internet ; the
coordination of the project "Preparing
Israel for the Information Age" was
transferred to the Ministry of science,
whose functions have been enlarged. In October 1999, Ilan
Biran has been appointed as the new director general of Bezeq,
the Israeli Telecommunication Corporation. His main
challenge will be to prepare the company for the
privatisation process. Mr. Biran takes over from Ami Arel
who is going to manage the Elron Corporation.
- In Algeria, the Internet
Association of Algeria (ISA) was created with
the support of Cerist. The ISA President is Mr. Moussa
Benhamadi. Also in the Internet field, TDA, Algerian Tele
diffusion, Gecos, BMG International, Ornet, Imtiage
Technology and Icosnet received licences in August 1999
to become Internet Service Providers.
- In Turkey, Fatih
Mehmet YURDAL has been appointed as the new general
manager of Turk Telekom.
- In Jordan, a cabinet
reshuffle took place in September 1999. Some
ministries were splitted and new ministers nominated,
thus raising the number of Jordanian Ministries to 24. In
particular, the Deputy PM Mr. Ayman Al Majali becomes the
Minister of Information. As a result of this
restructuring, the Prime Minister announced the creation
of a Committee, headed by the Minister of
Information, to conduct a study on the restructuring of
the official media institution. This committee, which
includes several senior officials from the Ministry of
Information, will submit a report recommending and
proposing the appropriate legislation for the reform.
- In Cyprus, there has
been a Cabinet reshuffle in September
1999. The former Minister of Communications and Works,
Mr Leondios Lerodiakonou has been replaced by Mr
Averof Neofytou. The Ministry of Communications and Works
is responsible for both the Cyprus telecommunications
Authority and the State TV and Radio channels of the
Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.
ESIS II now contains information
concerning IS key persons contacts and organisations in Egypt.
A number of organisations and public authorities are involved in
the promotion and creation of the Egyptian Information Society.
Among them, four are playing a major role: the Egyptian Cabinet
Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC), the Regional
Information Technology and Software Engineering Center (RITSEC),
the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics
(CAPMAS) and the State Information Service (SIS).
