The promotion of the Information Society has taken on increasing importance in Morocco as both the public and private sector are underlining its importance in building a strong economic infrastructure. Already stressed on several occasions by his father, the newly crowned King Mohammed VI reaffirmed in September 1999 his attachment to a « society of knowledge and information" and confirmed the government’s intention to "put into place a legal and economic environment that will encourage the development of Information Technology".

A new set of propositions for the expansion of e-commerce in Morocco have been presented by the group "Projet pilote et promotion du commerce éléctronique" (Pilot project and promotion of electronic commerce), a group created on February 29^th, 2000 and composed of representatives from the public and private sectors. The commission’s preoccupations are the :

Three conventions meant to promote e-commerce in Morocco were signed in November 22th, 2000 between the government, cooperatives and private operators following a public tender last May. The move, which is part of the promotion and development of e-commerce in Morocco, aims to back enterprises, especially small and medium enterprises, encourage them to benefit from the advantages of the new information technologies and promote their productiveness to be able to face up international competitiveness. Under the tripartite partnership between the government, the cooperatives and the private sector, the government commits to organize training sessions for cooperatives cadres, enhance the performance of cooperatives wishing to engage in e-commerce and devise an institutional communication strategy.

The OFPPT, the Office in charge of professional training prepared for its part an integration plan; "The New Technologies of Information and Communication initiatives (NTIC) ". The budgetary is estimated to 63 million DH. The objective of this five year plan ( 1999-2003 ) is to make new technologies a central axis in the modules of vocational training of the branches of the Office. The program is articulated on a series of projects : the opening of a training establishment on NTIC professions by the Fall of 2002, the creation of a multimedia resources centre and the offer of training on the new professions by the high-tech by satellite and via Internet.

Over the last two years, major initiatives related to the promotion of the Information Society have included :

2.1. An international meeting was organized based on an initiative by the International Center of Cooperation for the Year 2000 and the SEPTI. It was held from the 1st to the 3rd of November, 1999 at Rabat and dealt with emergency plans for services in North Africa and the Middle East. The goal of this seminar was to establish a regional cooperation network in order to prepare to passage into the year 2000 in critical sectors such as petrochemistry and civil aviation.

2.2. The Minister of National Education will soon be signing a contract with VIVENDI on the subject of computerising the national schools in the framework of its "Plan 2008: one classroom, one multimedia-Internet computer". This will involve providing both online and offline resources, the offline services are in the form of CD-ROMs and teaching booklets, whereas online resources will manifest themselves as a biblioweb and possibly network products. This initiative follows similar projects already underway between the Minister, USAID and Microsoft.

2.3. The Information Technologies Park in Casablanca should be operational by the end of the second semester 2000. Financed largely from the Hassan II investment fund and the World Bank, the objective is to create a functional space designed to welcome operators from the IT sector and to create a miniature Moroccan "Silicon Valley". This project is in partnership with the SEPTI, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and the APEBI. It has been inspired by similar projects such as the Quebec Technology Park and the Sophia Antipolis Zone. The cost of the project is estimated at 210 million dirhams (USD 21 million).

2.4. The ANRT has recently launched a tender to study the supply of study services, research and development in the telecommunications field. Through this tender, the Agency wants to list the algorithms of encoding the most used on the international market such as RSA., as well as the methods of encription. The call targets higher education and technical national establishments such as Faculties of Science, engineering schools and technical faculties. The global amount of this market is estimated to 1.5 million DH (USD 150 000).

3.1. The First National Forum on Electronic Commerce launched the Maghrebin Association of Electronic Commerce in the Spring of 1999. The Forum drew two hundred participants from a wide range of public and private sector activities. The COFIMAG group and Akhawayn University were the driving forces behind this project.

3.2. The APEBI (Association for Professionals of Information Technologies) launched an awareness campaign for the public concerning computer tools and the Internet using an "ITC caravan". The campaign took place from the 22nd of November through the 22nd of December 1999, ending in Casablanca on the 23rd of December – the opening day of the PC Forum at the OFEC.

3.3. The Mohammadi School of the Engineers (EMI) has created its own incubator; "centre of technological innovation" (CIT). The center is dedicated to the detection, the selection and creators' accompanying of companies and the innovative manufacturers. Several partners has participated to the initiation of this project : the EMI, the School engineers association ( AIEM), the Agdal-Ryad Municipality and the Group Investment and Development ( GID). Concretely, the project founders provide start-ups with teaching resources, laboratories and research centers, as well as a network for national and international cooperation.

3.4. The ENSIAS School (Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Informatique et d'Analyse des Systèmes) will offer students two masters specialized in new technologies during the academic year 2001-2002. The first one is an "E-business " Master of the Grenoble Graduate Business School. The second is about the "management of the projects in information technologies " with HEC Montreal ( Canada ).

3.5. The first directory of Moroccan professional web sites, classified according to the activity sector, was launched in April 2000 by the Moroccan-French society "Lnet". According to a site developer, the "green gate" is a real data base and a showcase of Moroccan economic potential. It also offers a support to Moroccan companies wishing to be quoted on the stock exchange and for foreign firms seeking accurate economic and financial information. The gate features companies' data and brochures, promotional offers advertizing and stock shares.

3.6. The Hassan II Foundation for Moroccans Abroad launched in September 2000 a web-site to help maintain and consolidate ties among them and with their country. A release of the foundation says the site provides relevant information and feedback on issues and concerns of the Moroccan community abroad. All departments and public and private bodies of relevance to the community are listed and can be reached through the portal.

3.8. The « guichet unique » of Casablanca will open up for business in early 2001. Beginning next January, a specialized Web site will inform potential investors of all the necessary authorisations needed to work in the Casablanca metropolitan area. Based on a similar model in Tunisia, the model is designed to streamline the complex and often very time consuming local, regional and state administrative processes associated with setting up business in Morocco.

4.1. The Moroccan Information Society was organized from September 27^th to 29^th, 1999 by the SEPTI (Office of the Secretary for Technology and Information), the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and the African Economic Commission (CEA). The objective of this workshop was to inform national actors of public initiatives in the Information Society and to discuss future pilot projects in this area. Specific projects that were proposed included « Information Technology and the City », electronic administration, electronic commerce, and IT infrastructure. The ESIS kickoff event was integrated into this Forum.

4.2. « The National Plan for Developing Information Technology» seminar organized by the association of INSIA graduates (ALIF) on October 16^th, 1999. This seminar presented an outline of the National Plan for Information Technology to coordinate public efforts and permit the emergence of a Moroccan economy based on knowledge and innovation.

4.3. The Electonic Commerce Meeting of the CNUDCI was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the SEPTI in November 1999.

4.4. The National Forum "Information as a competitive factor for business", was organized by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on December 2nd, 1999.

4.5. The British Council on British academic networks experiment organised a seminar on February 24-26th, 1999. This seminar was designed to share British experience with Marwan network administrators, a Moroccan academic network.

4.6. The seminar « Information, a competitive factor for business » was organised by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on January 27th, 2000.

4.7. The Ministry of Trade and Industry released a national study on the impact of information technology on industry in February 2000. The study looked at the rate and usage level of Information Technology in the industrial sector. This study analysed current trends in human resources ; material , software and communication infrastructures, and contractors.

4.8. A regional meeting on telecommunications is held in Rabat March 20-22, 2000 with the participation of telecommunications experts from North Africa and the Middle-East. The meeting was moderated by Mrs Patricia Bagnell, chairwoman of Africa One.Ltd, who briefed participants on the prospects of the development of the sector in the continent.

4.9. The Electronic Business Forum was organised by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the SEPTI and the APEBI (Professional Association of Information Technology in March 2000.

4.10. The 6th annual MISOC Conference was organized on May 6th, 2000 by the MISOC. This conference was dedicated largely to presenting Moroccan portals.

4.11. A seminar on Electronic Commerce was organized on May 12th, 2000 by the International Chamber of Commerce and the Group of « Banques Populaires » on the theme, « Electronic Commerce : international experiences and national context ». Participants underlined the importance of e-commerce as a factor of growth of international trade exchanges, social and economic development and dynamism of enterprises.

4.12. Several forums of Engineering Schools were organized in April and May, 2000 by the EMI, INSEA, ENSIAS and the ESI. These forums were centred on "Information Technology and Business."

4.13. The 2nd Euro-Mediterranean conference of audio-visual media was held on Sept.14th and 15th, 200 in Rabat. Organizers say the encounter was structured to provide a framework for a genuine partnership between countries bordering on the Mediterranean. It offered the opportunity to define structural and organizational data to contribute to the promotion of this partnership by conducting an exhaustive study of data and statistics related to the audio-visual media sector in 27 Mediterranean countries.

4.14. Rabat hosted on October 5th and 6th, 2000 an international meeting "Emerging economies and Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) promotion, compared experiments". Participants from Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Germany, Spain, Hungary, Bulgaria and Hong-Kong will take part in the event organized by the Rabat Mohammed V University and the Paris Marne-la Vallée University. The agenda included new enterpreneurship in emerging economies, local development through enterprise, direct foreign investments, transfer of technologies and their impact on SME promotion.

4.15. A conference on computer science took place on November 3^rd, 2000 on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the University Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah. It emphasized on file engineering, the techniques of artificial intelligence as well as the imaging and their applications.

5.1. An American multinational set up a subsidiary in the Fall of 1999 to develop the Moroccan Internet. Orientation.com is specialized in the creation of regional portal sites. A link dedicated to Morocco in French was integrated into the site www.orientation.com (20 countries covered, 1 million visitors each day). The current site offers free e-mail, chat sessions, news groups, and discussion forums to French speaking Africa.

5.2. In November 1999, the consumer credit company Eqdom and the provider Abnet presented an offer providing Internet access with advantageous conditions to the general public. Eqdom proposed a preferential rate of 355 dirhams per month. This would include the cost of computer material and the Internet connection. The goal is to help popularize the Internet while equipping homes with computer material.

5.3. France Telecom Interactive, a subsidiary of the French operator France Telecom launched its Wannadoo Morocco portal site at the end of 1999 with the cooperation with two Moroccan companies: Maroc connect and Netcom.

5.4. Maroc Telecom has developed its WAP offer this year through the Menara portal (phone book, weather report, train schedule, exchange rates. The information site Central.ma is also offering a WAP version of its contents. Finally, the BMCI has developed a free WAP service.

5.5. Following a conference on e-commerce organised by the Maroc Misoc in March, 2000, Mr Redouane NAMOUS took the initiative to create a discussion forum dedicated to generating answers to the problems of implementing e-commerce quickly into the Moroccan community.

5.6. Planetarabia.com is developed its own portal out of its offices in Casablanca. This American company has chosen Morocco as its hub for development in the Arab world. Planetarabia will be both competing directly with, and monitoring the progress of its American rival Orientation.com. The company launched the French version of its site in April 2000.

5.7. Motorola Morocco announced the opening of four services centres in Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech and Fes. These new centres will service Motorola products, and train new users on GSM technologies and functionalities. The current network, whose development has been subcontracted locally to the firm "Lacom", was extended to Tanger and Agadir in the Fall of 2000.