Update January 2000: Palestine Territories

In terms of activities promoting IS in Palestine, Birzeit University the IT leader among the academic institutions hosted a conference devoted to IT in the Higher Education sector, and Palestine’s sole telecommunications operator PALTEL, participated in the MEXCOM telecommunications show in Jordan.

In early October, the 1999 MEXCOM Telecommunications Show was held in Naour, Jordan. PALTEL, the sole telecommunication service operator in the Palestinian Territories, was among the participants. According to the PALTEL's Public Relations representative, Mr. Omar Abdul Majeed, "securing each Palestinian with a phone line", is the company's top-priority. Approximately 200,000 phone lines are already operational in the West Bank and Gaza, and PALTEL plans to reach 250,000 lines in operation at the end of 1999. PALTEL plans also to invest US$ 300 million in several telecommunication projects.

In mid-October a two-day conference devoted to IT in Higher Education, was held at Birzeit University. The conference focused on searching for solutions to link IT programs with the IT industry and the private sector. Plans for further development were presented from Ministries’ representatives. According to Mr. Marwan Tarazi, Director of BZU Computer Center, the conference achieved its objectives of highlighting the problems of the IT sector and identifying specific issues that need to be addressed on a national and university level by policy and decision makers.