Update January 2000: Jordan

The activities which promoted the development of the Information Society in Jordan in the quarter October – December 1999 included: IS exhibitions; planning for computerization of the Civil Aviation Authority; connection of all the public schools to the Internet by Jan 2000; training workshops focusing on making IT an integral part of the educational system; a first-of-a-kind local portal to be launched the last days of 1999; and the King's call for the creation of a special fund for investments in the software sector.

CALL actions

The General Secretary of the Ministry of Education Mr. Mamdouh Hawamdeh, while addressing a press conference in early November, announced that the Ministry - desiring to mark the late King Hussein's b-day anniversary - would launch a computer training program in all the state schools. The Ministry of Education aims to reach 21000 trainers. A series of 700 three-month training workshops was being planned to kick-off in mid-November in order to have more IS educated schoolteachers and key persons in the educational sector.

COMM actions

The last week of September, the Jordan Society of Banks organized a seminar where all the JTC's preparatory steps for Y2K were presented. JTC has signed a contract with a computer expert to assist it in its preparations for the Y2K Millennium bug. The company launched an awareness campaign among its employees in order to prepare them to deal with any problem that could occur.

In early October, the 1999 MEXCOM Telecommunications Show took place in the city of Naour, near Amman. Several local companies participated presenting various products, ranging from cellular phones to satellite systems. Among the exhibitors were JTC, Mirsal, the Royal Jordanian Air Force and PALTEL, the sole telecommunication service operator in the Palenistian National Authority. JTC presented the recently introduced ID-Caller, 3-way calling, Call Diversion, ISDN services as well as an on-line directory of phone subscribers, also available on CD-ROMs. MIRSAL presented Internet paging through company's web page, group messaging as well as Quick Word, a service which allows a large company to page its employees through a small device connected to a phone line with no need to dial the number manually and individually enter messages. News headlines and weather conditions are expected to be available through paging in ealry 2000 and according to the GM of Mirsal, Mr. Bashar Arafeh, the company aims to repositioning paging service as a supplement to mobile phone service.

The gates of the fourth Middle East Telecommunication Exhibition opened on the Oct 5, at Marj Al Hamam. A variety of IS "tools" was presented in this JTC-sponsored IT event. It was the first time that the broadcasting sector was included and, among others, ISDN products and DVD systems were exhibited.

The progressive steps and the taken measures for Y2K were examined in a meeting that took place in the Prime Ministry in the second week of October. The Government follows the guidelines given from the King Abdullah. The NIC Head, Mr. Youssef Nusseir, described to the Council of Ministers the undertaken actions and expressed his optimism about this non-insurmountable barrier.

In early December, on the sidelines of a one-day national conference during which heads of vital sectors outlined their Y2K contingency plans, the Head of the national Millennium bug task force Mr. Youssef Nusseir, announced that Jordan is well prepared to ride the Y2K tide and will not face any mishaps as it enters in 2000. Thirty emergency centres will be operating across the Kingdom including the National Information Centre (NIC) in Amman, where Nusseir plans to be in command from the morning of December 30 until the morning of January 4. The main centre will be located at the Amman civil defence headquarters and will be manned by representatives of Jordan's vital services, including civil aviation, banking, petrochemicals, telecommunications, water and electricity.

SURV actions

In early October, King Abdullah met with representatives of the country's software industry and listened to a report regarding a study conducted by the computer industry, about the development of computer industry its contribution in the transfer of modern technology to Jordan. Appreciation to the representatives of the software industry and also to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) which helped finalise this study and the comprehensive plan which was drawn up in this respect, was expressed. King Abdullah also called for the creation of a special fund for investment in the software sector so as to provide the necessary funding by the concerned companies in this sector.

EXPER actions

Thanks to a Swiss donation, offered in October, Jordan's public school students will have access to information technology at their schools by Jan 2000. Computer sets are to be distributed in high schools in Amman which will be immediately connected to the Internet. The Swiss charitable society, named Falcon, will offer training workshops to the teachers. This pace is the imprint of the effort endurance that Jordan strives in order to make IT an integral part of its educational system. According to the ministry's General Director for education and educational activities, this action keeps pace with Ministry's motto for 1999: "the elimination of Computer Illiteracy in the Kingdom".

As JU officials announced on Nov 2, the University of Jordan has opened up computer labs to enable its students to enter the 21st century equipped with information technology skills. The project includes 18 labs, each containing between 20-30 PCs. By the year 2003, the university will raise the number of PCs to 4000 from the current 500. The project is an initiative by UJ President Waleed Ma'ani to prepare the university and the students to enter the new millennium. By March 2000, 500 more PCs will be added under the gradual plan. Every student will have his own e-mail address and will be able to benefit from the Internet service.The university will provide self on-line registration service for students as of next semester and will also enable them to view their grades on the computer.

The construction later this year of two 10-kilometer fiber-optic cables linking Israel and Jordan will mark the first regional telecommunications project between Israel and any of its Arab neighbors. The links, which cost a total of $3.5 million and are due to be operational from February 2000, are expected to result in greater competition in both countries. The agreement between Tel Aviv-based Bezeq International Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Bezeq Telecom, and Amman-based Jordan Telecommunications Company (JTC), was announced on September in Amman during a visit by Israeli communications minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer.