April 2000

Mediterranean Countries Synthesis of Update Memos

Minimal changes have been observed during the first quarter of the year 2000 compared to the previous period.

In the Mediterranean countries, national Ministries are the main entities to realise web sites. We note that all Ministries have a web site in Cyprus, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia. Percentages are also very high in Israel (81%) and Turkey (83%). High schools and universities have also created large numbers of websites (85 % in Israel, 83 % in Turkey). Web sites are less developed in other sectors.

Web characteristics by country:

Algeria : The number of sites remains the same as the previous period. Concerning other categories of web sites, Banks and Insurance have the highest number-. Over 28% of these institutions have a web site (10 from 35) as opposed to Research centres – 16% (9 from 57).

Cyprus : There was a small increase in the number of sites of primary and secondary schools. At present, 21 of 428 schools have their own web site, of which 3 belong to public schools and 18 to private. The number of web sites belonging to high schools and universities remains unchanged. Of them, 3 are public and 13 private. The number of web sites developed by municipalities has also remained unchanged. In addition, there are 3 sites developed by town authorities (Limassol Cyprus, Pafos marathon, Platres), raising the number total of sites to 9. Concerning hospitals and clinics, their number of websites increased by 1,5%. At present, only 1public hospital has developed its own web site. Finally, one site belonging to the library of a private college was identified.

Egypt : A total of 170 web sites have so far been identified, as against 161 recorded during January 2000. Of them, the majority (64%) belong to libraries and museums, 23 % to national ministries, regional and local authorities (such as municipal authorities), and 3% to hospitals and healthcare centres.

A total of 105 libraries were identified. The number of libraries sites recorded an increase of the order of 9.5% as compared to January 2000, when 95 library sites were recorded.

The number of sites developed by regional and local authorities (semi-governmental, municipalities, etc.) remained chronologically unchanged at 27. The same situation prevailed in the case of the sites for educational institutions (17 in total), of national ministries (12), of hospitals and other healthcare centres (5), and of museums (5).

Israel : The growth of web sites in Israel concentrates massively in the co.il top level domain and in the org.il top level domain. Top level domains are e.g. "ac.il"(academic), "k12.il"(schools), "gov.il"(government), "muni.il"(local authorities)….

It is important to underline the significant increase in the number of web sites in primary and secondary schools. The 6% increase in this sector is the highest among all Mediterranean countries. The Kishurim consortium for school networking announced that during the first quarter of the year 2000, there were 200 schools that have established web sites, using the EduWeb system. 85% of schools are connected by fixed direct connection (Frame Relay) and the remaining either by ISDN to LAN or by dial up.

Jordan : During the first quarter of the year 2000, the most significant increase (by 6%) in web sites was contributed by high schools and universities. At present, 10 high schools and universities from 69 have their own web sites. Concerning primary and secondary schools, three schools have a presence on the web. The concerned schools are Al-Manhal International School, the American Community School and the Modern American School.

Lebanon : Minimal changes have been observed. But it is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Education is working on structural reform, which should cause the number of primary and secondary schools to drop. The number of schools appearing on the web sites is expected to rise in the near future, due to two reasons :

1. A recent Network has been authorised by the Government to provide course assistance to public and private schools.
2. A vast computerisation program is underway along with intensive training for teachers.

Finally, we would like to draw attention to the fact that 40% of libraries (4 from 10) and 66% (2 from 3) of museums are presented on the web site. This is the best score in all the Mediterranean countries.

Malta : There was no increase in the number of web sites related to education. Many of the web sites of primary and secondary schools are the initiative of individual schools and not a concerted effort by the Ministry of Education. However, Government officials have announced a project, to introduce the Internet access in public schoolsis being negociated and a final agreement should be signed sometime in April. It is important note the web site of the University of Malta which is considered to be the best educational web site in Malta. (http://www.um.edu.mt)

Morocco : With the exception of a number of new city pages, private initiatives on web sites continued to grow at a more noticeable rate than publicly sponsored web sites. At the end of March, there were 651 national sites, which represents a 12% increase since the end of last year. Nevertheless, two recent initiatives should contribute significantly to the growth of Moroccan sites in the immediate future :

1. the inauguration of Planetarabia.com, a company specialised in the development of local portal web sites
2. the inauguration of the Moroccan office of the French company Wanadoo, also specialised in the development of local portal web sites.

Palestine : During the first quarter of 2000, due to the restructuring and redevelopment of some web sites, the number of Ministerial web sites decreased from 9 to 5. According to the Complete Guide to Palestinian Web sites, two Palestinian web sites are no longer active : one from the Ministry of Education and the other one from the Ministry of Health.

Syria : Due to the lack of Internet Infrastructure for web hosts in the country, most of the web sites in Syria are hosted abroad. Nevertheless, there is an increase in the Ministerial domain, shown by the new sites of the Ministry of Information, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Electricity. All of these web sites are hosted abroad.

Tunisia : No changes occurred during the first quarter of 2000. Except the University domain, where the penetration doubled due to the launch of ULT (Université Libre de Tunis, www.ult.ens.tn)

Turkey : There is no change in the number of web sites in national ministries. A slight increase was noticed in the number of web sites in high schools and universities, libraries, primary and secondary schools, hospitals & clinics and in museums.

Percentage of websites per sector in the Mediterranean Countries

Number of web sites in percentage of the number of entities

Notes: Turkey : Preschools are not included in schools. "Secondary schools" include high schools as named in the North American system. "Higher schools and university" include universities only.

Comparison of the evolution of web sites in different domains

The tables below, show the evolution of web sites per country and per domain, between the period Q1 (August 1999) and Q4 (March 2000)