So far, the government has developed neither a master plan nor a national policy and strategy for the IS, but has declared its intention to do so in the near future. To date, the general strategy of the government has been to promote IS through encouraging the widespread use of IT in all public agencies, institutions and ministries, leading to the computerisation of these establishments, including acquisition of appropriate equipment and training at all levels. This policy has started since the beginning of the nineties and became more effective during the last year especially with the introduction of the Internet in all ministries and public establishments albeit at a very reduced scale. Each ministry is trying to introduce computerisation into its agencies focusing mainly on Management Information Systems.

The Chambers of Commerce and Industry in major regions/cities of Syria have taken initiatives to prepare for IS, including building databases for businesses and industries in their region, starting work on web sites and electronic catalogues.

The Syrian Computer Society (SCS, www.scs-syria.com) remains the main promoter of IS in Syria since the promotion of IT applications in society is its main aim as stated in the SCS Charter of 1989. During the last three years the main axes of activity in the promotion of IS were:

• Establishing itself as a consultant to the Syrian Government in all that relates to IS, thus participating in all national and regional committees related to ICT.

• Lobbying for Internet introduction and widespread use as well as for advanced ICT programmes in higher education.

• Carrying out awareness actions through: (i) a national IT dissemination programme in co-operation with the Ministry of Education; (ii) public lectures on various IS related topics; (iii) publication of the "Informatics Culture" journal.

• Training of professionals on the use of IT tools.

• Organising conferences, symposia, seminars and workshops on various subjects related to IS and the development of an IT industry.

• Establishing an ISP for its members as well as an ICT Resource Centre.

• Collaborating with international organisations in programmes of regional or international nature.

The most important programmes for the promotion and stimulation of IS, carried out during the past couple of years have been oriented towards awareness building and training in ICT. Syria being at a early stage of ICT development, with the Internet introduced very recently in a limited way, needed to build this awareness and develop its capabilities in ICT in order to move the country into the IS. Recently, two projects were implemented by SCS, whose aim is the promotion of IS, namely the SCS-ISP and the ICT Resource Centre. Following is a summary of the main programmes related to the development of the IS, classified in various categories.

2.1 IT awareness activities:

One important IS awareness action sponsored by the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Syrian Computer Society (SCS), is the National Programme for IT Dissemination. This programme aimed at the eradication of computer illiteracy among the ordinary citizens. Through good organisation and promotion by the ministry and SCS, this initiative gained popularity and interest and became a great success during the past three years. The main objectives of this programme are to promote information technology in Syria by giving all categories of people the possibility of following up IT evolution. It consists of opening the computing facilities of secondary schools in all cities to the public for a token fee and carrying out introductory courses in the use of personal computers. Subsidised by the Ministry of Education and the Syrian Computer Society, this programme has been able to reach all classes in the society from housewives to working professionals and from young kids to old people. During the past 3 years over than 120,000 trainees have participated in this programme. There are currently 118 centres for basic training, 32 centres for self-training and 43 centres for advanced training distributed over the 14 governorates in Syria.

All four state-owned universities, with SCS participation carried out a similar, but more limited programme. The University IT Dissemination Programme has been initiated two years ago, whereby courses on the use of computers and their basic applications are being given for all university staff who register for a token fee. The idea is to make use of the university computer laboratories after teaching hours in order to promote the use of computers among university population.

A weekly Informatics TV programme, organised by SCS in collaboration with the Ministry of Information, was broadcast live on the first channel of Syrian TV every Friday mornings. This IS awareness programme is oriented towards the ordinary person who would like to learn about computers, their applications, usefulness and how they are affecting the life of everyone.

Public Lectures are organised by SCS in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture at the National Library in Damascus, usually every fortnight. These lectures relate to the latest on IT and their (potential) use in Syria. They cover a wide spectrum of topics ranging from the use of PC at home to industrial and corporate applications, and deal with technological, social and economic questions related to ICT and the IS. The latest lectures given during the last quarter of 2000 were:

• Introduction to the third generation of cellular phones

• Geographical Information Systems and their application in managing infrastructures

• Intellectual Property Rights and software development

• Design and implementation of communication networks

• Innovative Learning Environments in a Virtual University

2.2 ICT higher education and training

At higher education level, Informatics as a specialisation has been limited to a few institutes (e.g. the Higher Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology - HIAST - and the Intermediate Computer Institute). As part of the government promotion of IS, Informatics departments have been approved at all science faculties in Syrian universities in 1998, followed by an IT engineering specialisation.

A presidential decree (No 15 for the year 2000) led to the establishment of four Faculties of Computer Science and Engineering in the four Syrian State Universities. The capacity of each is about 150 students per year and applications for the first year have surpassed all expectations.

SCS has also a Professional Training Programme open to the public-at-large that is carried out at its headquarter in Damascus. The aim of this is to promote the use of ICT in all facets of life and in particular by professionals (e.g., medical doctors, lawyers, industrial engineers, web designers, software developers etc.). The latest training courses given during the last quarter of 2000 were:

• Intranet Networks

• Home Page design

• Database Systems with Oracle

• Programming Languages: Visual Basic

• Applications of PhotoShop

• Professional Software: AutoCAD

• Internet

A regional summer school on Digital Communication, Communication networks and Industrial Computer: Real-time, was held at HIAST/Damascus between 19-27 August 2000.

The attendees of this summer school were concerned with the teaching profession in the technical faculties and in the technological university institutes. More than 80 professors, engineers and technicians have participated at this school form the different countries: France, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

During the last quarter of 200, the Arab School of Science and Technology organised, in co-operation with UNESCO, a five days regional workshop on the theme of Basic Web Technology Skills for Courseware Development. The aim of this workshop was to provide participants with training on basic ICT skills together with a detailed discussion on how such skills are best utilised in re-designing the curricula of science or engineering courses. The main topics were:

• An understanding of the kinds of content that can be delivered via web based instruction

• A knowledge of the software available to assist in content development

• Hands-on training in using selected software for courseware development

• An appreciation of the pedagogical issues associated with web-based instruction.

Since 1998, SCS has started a yearly programme of Regional ICT Symposia aiming at valorising the various experiences in applying information technology, together with an exhibition showing real applications. These symposiums (see specific entry in database) are becoming important local events and are having bigger success year after year. Attended by IT professionals as well as by public administrators, professors, business people and industrialists, the number varied between 100 and 250 people. Each symposium had a theme of its own generally related to the state of ICT in Syria and means of promoting the IS.

The main IS promotion event during the second quarter of 2000 was the First Syrian-Lebanese Symposium on Information and Communication Technology Development on the theme "Assessment and Perspectives for Co-operation", 25-29 April 2000. It was the first joint promotion action in IT between the two neighbouring countries in ICT. SCS was the co-ordinator and main sponsor for Syria, while the Professional Computer Association together with major Lebanese universities and key ministries were the promoters in Lebanon. The main four themes were: Leading Information and Communication Technology, ICT and Society, Software Industry, Education and retraining.

It included invited lectures, case studies and surveys of advanced experiences from other countries. Over 46 presentations were given as well as 4 panel discussions each on one of the main four themes. As a result of these presentations and discussions, recommendations were drafted in order to promote and develop the use of ICT for the benefit of society in both countries. Complementarity of Syrian and Lebanese capabilities were stressed showing the need for increased co-operation. The symposium was held for 2 days in Damascus and two days in Beirut and was attended by a total of nearly 700 participants. More information can be found on the SCS web site (http://scs-syria.com/news.html).

The annual Sixth Al-Shaam Exhibition of Information and Communications Technologies (Shaam 2000) was also organised by SCS in Damascus in parallel with the Symposium (25-30 April 2000). Over the years, this promotion activity has grown to become one of important regional events in ICT. The latest IT solutions, computing systems, software applications, networking and Internet products as well as books are all exhibited with focused presentations on selected product related themes. The exhibition covered about 36,000 square meters with 312 exhibitors from the private and public sectors and was visited by nearly 70,000 people.

The Higher Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology (HIAST) held a one-day workshop on E-Commerce and EDI in Tourism on Tuesday 8 February 2000. It included several presentations on the importance of e-commerce in the tourism sector and a real-time demonstration on carrying out some of the operations carried out by a tourism office.

E-commerce in Syria: Prospects and Opportunities, was the theme of a one day workshop (17 September 2000), organised by the Ministry of Economy and External Trade and The Syrian branch of he Arab School of Science and Technology. Discussed topics were:

• Effective e-commerce in the world

• Economical and cultural importance of e-commerce

• Legal, legislative and financial aspects of e-commerce in Syria

• Impact of e-commerce on the business world

• Case studies

SCS, as a focal point of EUMEDIS programme, held a two day EUMEDIS Regional Meeting (13-14 November 2000), to present all projects proposed from Syrian organisations, and from regional and European organisations seeking Syrian partnership in the frame of EUMEDIS programme. In addition to SCS managers and concerned persons from European delegation, the participants were from all Syrian sectors and from Jordan, Lebanon, Spain, England and Italy. Project domains were mainly: Tele-learning, E-commerce Tourism and health care.

The National Information Centre (NICE, www.niceonline.org published in January 2000 a Special Issue of its "Informatics" magazine on "IT Applications in Syria and the Arab World".

The Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce (FSCC, www.fedcommsyr.org) built an Electronic Catalogue for Syrian Businesses, for inclusion on their web site.

E-commerce brochure: The Syrian Information Technology Node on e-commerce has designed and printed a brochure in the Arabic language, introducing e-commerce and explaining its importance for businesses in Syria. The Syrian European Business Centre (www.sebcsyria.org) covered the cost of printing 10,000 copies that were distributed through various chambers of commerce and industry, business centres, SCS and some ministries to decision makers, business people, industry managers, universities, etc. The aim was to promote e-commerce in Syria, to make the various public and private business institutions aware of its potential, and to initiate projects in that direction.

Together with the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Syria and other key ministries and public establishments, SCS is promoting Electronic Commerce within the framework of the IT Nodes programme of the EC. An e-commerce working group with representatives from key ministries, public establishments and NGOs met regularly and collected information regarding IT and e-commerce needs in SMEs, while promoting e-commerce in Syria.

An e-Commerce Consultative Committee has been formed by the Prime Minister that include in its membership: The Minister of Transport, the Deputy Minister of Economy & External Commerce, the Deputy Minister of Finance, the Deputy Minister of Justice, the director general of STE, and Dr. Maher Mujtahed (representative of SCS). Its aim is to promote e-commerce by carrying out the required studies, counselling the government on ways and means of promoting e-commerce in the country. It should also suggest technological, regulatory and legal frameworks.

Two additional Consultative Committees are going to be established by the Council of Ministers in the field of IT: The GIS Committee, and the Management Information System (MIS) Committee.

Syria signed the MEDA Framework Convention on 15 August 1998. Under MEDA, several programmes have been approved since 1996 in the areas of public administration (municipalities in 1996 and Ministry of Finance in 1997), infrastructure (telecommunications in 1996, electricity sector in 1998, and archaeological training programme in 1999), and private sector support (Business School in 1997, Syrian-European Business Centre in 1999).

These programmes are intended to support and encourage governmental reforms, creating the structures and the instruments necessary for the development of the Syrian economy and establishing favourable economic and institutional environment.

A Fast Track Support Facility (FTSF)-support approved by the Ministry of Planning on August 3rd 2000 (130K Euros) aim at conducting activities, by international and national experts, in the domain of telecommunication such as: Diagnostics, prognostics, policy advice and creation and diffusion of awareness. These activities should be performed during the year 2001 as a preparation phase for the Telecommunication Sector Support Programme (TSSP) financed by the 4^th Protocol (4.5 M Euro) and MEDA 1 resources (5.5 M Euro).

A meeting, organised by the European Delegation in Damascus, was held at HIAST on 28 September to explain, to Syrian establishment managers involved in MEDA programme, the framework convention on the implementation of financial and technical co-operation under the MEDA programme. Presentations were given by Mr. R. L. Lora & Mr. N. Provencal from European commission headquarters.

The Ministry of Higher Education together with the UNESCO and UNDP have launched a project for establishing an academic network called SHERN (Syrian Higher Education and Research Network). The nucleus of this project will be completed by March 2001. It involves all four Syrian universities (University of Damascus, University of Aleppo, Tishreen University and Al-Baath University) as well as HIAST (Higher Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology) under the leadership of the Ministry of Higher Education. The basic infrastructure for linking all these universities and building an academic intranet with a gateway to the Internet will be completed as well as training and technology transfer to permit the expansion of the network with local capabilities. The project should lead to the development of intranet-based academic applications such as Tele-teaching, course content sharing and development, Tele-working and research, etc.

This project should lead to an important leap for modernising higher education in Syria and using IP technology to improve teaching and research in the national academic world. This in turn would be a key step towards the development of the information society by giving future university educated generations the means to benefit from electronic communications in everyday work.