Update October 1999: Syria

Four IS promotional activities have been identified in Syria during the previous quarter (July-October 1999) and four more activities are planned to take place in the near future. Promotional activities include conferences, symposia, training activities and the production of promotional printed material. The main method of carrying out promotion activities has been through conferences/symposia. The higher education sector, as well as the business sector and the government, has been involved in promotional activities.

The promotional activities in Syria during the previous quarter are described below.

1. Organisational Awareness Aspects of Information Society

• An Electronic Commerce Symposium took place in Aleppo on 6 July 1999. It was organised by the University of Aleppo (http://www.worldwide.edu/ci/syria/schools/13988.html) and the Higher Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology (http://www.comsats.org.pk/hiast/hiasthome.html). Its main aims were the introduction of e-commerce to a wide selection of SMEs and professionals who can benefit from this technology, and its promotion in the northern part of Syria. Around 200 delegates attended the conference, among them the Governor of Aleppo, the President of the Chamber of Commerce of Aleppo and the head of the Aleppo branch of the Syrian Computer Society (SCS).

• A conference on Management and IT is due to take place in Aleppo during November 1999. This conference will be organised and sponsored by the SCS (http://www.scs-syria.com/entrance.html).

2. IS national/ regional strategies and action plans

• During the last week of September 1999, an Italian firm (CPR) carried out training on High Performance Computing and Networking (HPCN) at HIAST, within the framework of the IT Nodes (ITN) initiative of the European Commission in the Mediterranean region (http://www.mitcenters.org/Default.htm). It consisted of an introductory presentation on HPCN, applications in this domain and the study of the TETRAMED programme with Greece.

• The First Syrian-Lebanese Symposium on "Informatics Development: Assessment and Perspectives for Cooperation" will take place 25-29 April 2000. It is the first joint activity between the two neighbouring countries to promote IT and encourage cooperation in this field. SCS is the main sponsor and coordinator of activities on the Syrian side. Major Lebanese universities, key ministries and the Lebanese Informatics Society (representing IT businesses) are the promoters and sponsors on the Lebanese side.

3. Information content stimulation

The call for bids to develop the Syrian Higher Education and Research Network (SHERN) was launched in September 1999. The network implementation is due to begin in January 2000 and completion of the network is planned for December 2000.

4. IS promotional tools?

The e-commerce ITN group is preparing a brochure to introduce government policy makers to Electronic Commerce. There are plans to widely distribute the brochure in public and private establishments that are potential e-commerce users. It will be followed by specialised presentations on e-commerce with each focused on an application sector.