Update April 2000: Palestine Territories
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Update April 2000: Palestine Territories |
The main activities promoting Information Society in Palestine during the first quarter of 2000 were:
the use of Internet will be further promoted with Palestine acquiring its own domain name;
the Birzeit University is starting a series of seminars on science, technology and society;
the second Across Borders Internet Centre was opened.
1. An official territory on the Internet for Palestine: ".ps"
Palestine is now an official territory on the Internet. The top level domain name dot-ps (.ps) was designated to Palestine on Wednesday March 22, 2000. It is the first time the body that governs the infrastructure of the net – the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) – has added a new country-code domain since it was formed in 1998. The decision came after Palestine was added to the United Nation’s list of general codes for countries and territories – the so-called ISO 3166 list. Ghazzan Z. Qadah, a chief supervisor of the Government Computer Center will administrate the dot-ps Internet root name together with Yasser Dolah who is listed by ICANN as the technical contact. A report from ICANN about the dot-ps domain says Drs. Qadah and Doleh have the skills and authority to operate the Palestine top-level domain and can further promote the use of Internet in Palestine.
2. Seminars on science, technology and society
The faculty of Science of the Birzeit University started a series of informal seminars on March 14, under the broad title "Science, Technology and Society". These STS seminars are meant to be a tool for the faculty and students to enhance there interaction and to provide a platform for the discussion of technical advances that are bound to impact the whole educational process. This seminars series will discuss such issues as the effect of the "computers and communication revolution" on science teaching and research, the Internet as a tool for science, and distance learning and distance collaboration.
3. Opening of the second Across Borders Internet Centre
The second Across Borders Internet Centre was opened on March 31, in Khan Yunis camp, Gaza, at an opening ceremony attended by over 150 people at the Bonat al Ghad Centre. The Across Borders Project was initiated last year by the Birzeit University Information Technology Unit and aims to bring Internet technology into Palestinian refugee camps across the Middle East. During the launch, Oxfam GB announced that it would support the establishment of five more centres in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The support for these centres was obtained through an agreement with the Australian government and Oxfam International partner, Community Aid Abroad.
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