Mediterranean Countries Synthesis of Update Memos - July 2000

1. Introduction

The following document summarises the developments that took place during the last three months (April - June 2000) in the field of IS promotional activities (conferences, seminars, forums and IS national/regional strategies…) in the Mediterranean countries.

Interest in the Internet and Information Society is growing in the Mediterranean countries and a set of measures have been taken to support the IT sector. Apart from the development of national infrastructures, countries are concentrating on the upgrading of Internet backbones, the development of specific applications dedicated to medecine, education, business, etc. This will create new opportunities and support the improvement of life quality and business activities.

In all the Mediterranean countries, the introduction of modern information and telecommunication technologies is lagging behind the level of the US and the EU and it is therefore becoming an important component of the national development strategies. It’s worth noting investment policies of national and foreign companies.

Educational issues are a priority for a lot of countries. Training programs regarding the new technologies (Internet…) began in universities, sometimes with the help of foreign firms (IBM, CISCO…).

During the last three months, Mediterranean countries have been holding a lot of conferences to inform the professional public about the technical and economic possibilities of the IT sector. Some countries are also promoting IT to the public at large, like Algeria, Cyprus or Malta.

Examples of major IS promotional activities that occurred during the second quarter of the year 2000 are detailed below by category.

2. Organisational awareness

The IT sector is the focus of much interest in Jordan. Jordan’s Century Investment Group (CIG) plans to launch a $30 million venture capital fund for Arab entrepreneurs, mainly to finance " incubation " IT projects and Internet infrastructure development. The group will also finance IT companies in the Arab World. Jordan Telecom, recently privatised, has reiterated its willingness to develop the Kingdom’s IT sector. It is interesting to note that Sun Microsystems is to provide IT training programs dedicated to both public and private sectors.

In Lebanon, e-banking is an important issue. Mr. Riad Salameh, the governor of the Bank of Lebanon, exposed his views on e-banking during two speeches in Beirut Chamber of Commerce and Industry and in American University of Beirut. He underlined the need to learn new skills to grow in this sector. One can notice that Crédit Libanais has been the first Lebanese Bank to have launched an Internet service. The e-service targets in particular Lebanese expatriates.

In Morocco, Motorola opened four services centres in Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech and Fes. It will open two other ones in Tanger and Agadir before the end of the third quarter 2000.

3. IS national / regional strategies

In Malta, the government has announced the plan of liberalisation of the telecommunications sector. It sets the following time frame:

• All telecommunication services, other than fixed telephony, mobile telephony, international gateway and cable television, will be liberalised from l June 2000.
• Maltacom should remain the sole mobile operator until the end of 2002. The government will consider the issue of a second operator in 2003 and a third licensee would therefore not be expected to be in place before 1 January 2005.
• The cable television market is to be liberalised on 1 June 2001.
• International gateway services, including those for data services, will be Iiberalised on 1 January 2003.
• Fixed telephony services will be liberalised on 1 January 2003.

In Tunisia, the Minister of Communications, M. Ahmed Friaa, announced a " call for proposal " for the approval of new ISPs. He also set up a project of consolidation of communication networks linking Post offices. This was announced while the new version of the Code of communications is being largely debated in the country.

One of the most important event regarding IS promotion in Egypt, has been the presentation by the Egyptian Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Dr. Ahmed Nazif, of an Egypt’s IT and Telecommunications sectors development program. This program focusses especially on the needs of the young generation of users. Moreover, the Egyptian government has promoted a long-term plan to establish "Smart Villages" for IT developments (for more information, please consult the ESIS Knowledge Database).

A lot of developments have taken place in Turkey during the last three months. A new independent telecom regulatory organisation was created, as the new telecom law required it. It will focus on tariffs, technical issues; it will monitor the evolution of the sector and be an advisor for the Competition Council. Moreover, its objective is also to create a favourable environment for IT companies. The government granted the third GSM license to the Telecom Italia - Isbank consortium for $2.525 billion, while a fourth license will be granted in the future.

4. Educational Issues

Educational issues appear to be a key focus of a lot of projects. Among the most significant initiatives we can mention :

In Algeria, four seminars focused on educational issues:

• The National Seminar on the Implantation of Modern Technologies in the Educational System.
• The First Conference on the Scientific Talk
• Information Technologies Show (SIFTECH 2000)
• The First National Seminar on Distance Learning

In Cyprus, a conference named "Information Technology in Education in the New Millennium" was organised by the Cyprus Computer Society and the Association of IT professors. The university professors could learn about the last IT issues.

IBM signed a deal with Egypt to train 15 000 graduates in software development over the next years. For the best ten percent students of each six months training cycle, an extra six months of study will be granted in IBM labs all over the world. The same kind of agreement was found in Jordan, at a lower scale though.

In Jordan, Citibank Jordan gave Her Majesty Queen Rania an amount of $35 000 to finance three technology labs. Queen Rania tries to support the diffusion of computers in schools and the training of teachers, in order to set IT into the school curriculum. Hikma Pharmaceuticals donated 24 computers to a Jordan secondary school.

In Malta, the Malta Information Technology and Training Services (MITTS) announced it would offer a course of computer studies to jobless women who want to work in the IT industry.

In Palestine, Birzeit University set up a program to upgrade and extend its telecommunications network. Siemens Palestine will provide an important part of the equipment (Ethernet switches). Hewlett Packard is also an equipment supplier of the University.

In Syria, the Syrian Computer Society provides training courses focused on Internet. For example, the Syrian Computer Society launched the National Program for IT dissemination. This program proposes a set of courses, for example, courses of initiation to the use of PCs are provided to whoever wants. We can mention the SHERN (Syrian Higher Education and Research Network) program that consists in the implementation of a Syrian academic network. It will enable the creation of a truly Intranet between Universities, and possibilities of tele-working and tele-teaching.

5. Actions promoting e-commerce

In Algeria, a VIP Group Seminary focused on the importance of e-commerce and the fast changes that it brought for the commerce process. It is interesting to note that two main hydrocarbon national companies, SONATRACH and SONELGAZ announced they were planning to sell their products via the Internet. Furtheremore, "The Company and the Internet" was the theme of a day study about the importance of the Internet for the progress of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

In Jordan, the Economic Consultative Council (ECC) has asked a technical committee to lay down the groundwork of a project on "e-government and e-commerce".

A lot of conferences on e-commerce also happened in different countries of the Mediterranean area:

• The International Chamber of Commerce and the Group of "Banque Populaire" organised a seminar on e-commerce in Morocco.
• A conference was organised in Malta by the Malta Chamber of Professional Engineer to show how Internet reinvented the way to do business.
• The Second SIMA Economic Conference focused on "The New Economy on the Threshold of 21st Century in Syria".
• The Tunisian Engineers’ Order Council (COI) and the National School of Engineers of Monastir organised a seminar on "Internet and the E-commerce"

6. Seminars, Conferences and Workshops

A lot of conferences and shows have been organised during the quarter April-June 2000 in all the Mediterranean countries studied in ESIS. We present below main events described in the national reports. For additional information, please consult countries memos and ESIS knowledge database.

In Algeria, several conferences focused on two main subjects: the state of the IT technology (SICOM 2000, Computer Science Evolution conference...) and the promotion of new technologies towards non-professional public (Telecommunications International Day, SIFTECH-Est…).

Three major conferences happened in Egypt during April-June 2000:

• COMDEX Egypt 2000: one of the largest international computer trade shows held at Cairo.
• Cairo G-15 Summit and Trade: some of the workshops regrouping the members of the G-15 (Algeria, Senegal, Kenya, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Argentina, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Chili, Peru, Jamaica, Mexico, Venezuela, India and Indonesia) were devoted to Information Technology.
• GITEX Cairo 2000: conferences regrouping some multinational groups.

In Lebanon, the "International Fair Promotion" organised an IT exhibition in co-operation with Compex 2000 and Telecom Middle East. According to the national report, 120 companies attended this event.

In Morocco, the Moroccan portals were presented during the 6th MISOC conference. Moreover, several forums were organised by Engineers Schools (EMI, INSEA, ENSIAS and ESI). They focused on "Information Technology and Business".

Seminars on the IT sector were organised in Palestine (for more information, please consult the ESIS knowledge database).

• "Information Technology and Science Education" and "Science, Technology and Society" at Birzeit University.
• "Palestinian Internet Initiative" at the Grand Park Hotel.
• "IT and Economic Development" from Dr Mohamed Shtayyeh at PECDAR.

Two workshops were also held in Palestine: "The PS Domain and Intellectual Property Rights" at Birzeit University and "Venture Capital & Equity Financing - creative options for business and economic growth".

In Syria, it is important to note the held of the First Syrian-Lebanese Symposium on Information and Communication Technology Development. The Syrian Computer Society (SCS) was the main co-ordinator of this symposium for Syria. 700 persons attended the lectures and the conferences during 2 days. SCS also organised the Sixth Al-Shaam Exhibition of Information and Communications Technologies (Shaam 2000) which received nearly 70 000 persons.

In Tunisia, the SIB SFAX' 2000 and the 3rd ARAB ELECTRONICS exhibitions have been held. The seminar "All In One Network", another conference, was centred on the security issues of new telecommunications technologies.

In Turkey, the ITU world Radiocommunication Conference and the 2nd Turkish Greek Information Society Forum were the most important meetings that have taken place during the last three months.

7. Internet Content Stimulation

In Malta, a new Maltese portal "AboutMalta.com" has been launched. It aims to become an online encyclopaedia, with a lot of articles and developments concerning each aspect of life in Malta. The Maltese Parliament has also launched its website with a discussion forum and archives available via a search engine.

In Morocco, Fusion, a former Moroccan ISP provider, decided to give up its current activities to become a content provider. It will offer Internet advertising services, news and national information. Planetarabia.com is also developing its own portal and chose Morocco to set up its offices.

In Turkey, many sites are providing nation-wide content in different areas. There are a lot of awards promoting web content as well as other types of private initiatives (see the ESIS knowledge database and the country memo for more information).

8. Other actions promoting the Internet

Five "Médiathèques" opened in Algiers. "Médiathèques" are libraries, which provide information on a lot of media like traditional books, but also CD-ROM or video. They are equipped with computers enabling Internet access so that everyone can seek for any information.

A new Telemedicine Unit opened in Nicosia Makarios Hospital in Cyprus: this will allow sending fewer people abroad and will enhance the level of services.

In Jordan, the World Access Liaison International Domain (WALID), a US company, seeks to give domain names in non-English languages. During a press conference, WALID’s manager indicated they wanted to promote Internet services for non-English speaking persons.