Rapid PC penetration will boost e-Governance in the Arab world: Dubai e-Government

The Welfare Association (WA) commemorates twenty years of commitment to Palestinian development with a 2-day conference 'Palestine Tomorrow' in Dubai

H.H. Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Centre for the Palestinian child inaugurated in Khaleel city

DUBAI December , 2003 The Welfare Association (WA), a non-profit foundation, (founded in Geneva in Switzerland in 1983) providing humanitarian and development assistance to Palestinians commemorated its 20th anniversary by organizing a two day conference under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashed Al-Maktoum, titled 'Palestine Tomorrow' on December 4th and 5th, 2003 at Emirates Towers Hotel, Dubai. The conference served as a forum to highlight the work undertaken by the WA to develop and support the Palestinian people, as well as strategize on future plans to enable further progress in the country.

Dr. Ismail El-Zabri, Director General, Welfare Association stated, "This conference is a good opportunity for a thorough exchange of ideas on the future development programme for Palestine and on Welfare Association's possible interventions in supporting civil society and the Palestinian people". The conference commenced with the inauguration of H.H. Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashed Centre for the Palestinian Child through a satellite link, and a speech by Welfare Association's Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Abdul Majeed Shoman. This was be followed by four sessions entitled: 'Civil society institutions' perspective', 'The role of the media at the local, Arab and international level', 'The integrated development and role of government, civil society institutions and the private sector' and 'The question of culture and the role of intellectuals in the desired knowledge building'. The conference's closing session focused on Palestine Tomorrow - A Strategic Vision to build a future Palestine. The conference also featured an exhibition of posters and pictures highlighting WA's areas of development, humanitarian and emergency relief activity.

"The Association has adopted a far-sighted strategy to work on enhancing the capabilities of social and non-government communities. This strategy is aimed at contributing positively and effectively to the social and economic growth in the occupied Palestinian cities, which are suffering from a collapse in their infrastructure due to widespread violence and instability", said Khaled Sifri, Chairman of Management Committee, Welfare Association.

"We would like to thank H.H. Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashed al Maktoum for his patronage of this event and for his continuous efforts to ease the suffering of the Palestinian people. This conference will witness participation of prominent Palestinian and Arab personalities. It is an ideal forum to exchange ideas and enhance dialogue regarding Palestinian development," said Faisal Abdul Hadi, Chairman of Organizing Committee for the conference.(KERALAMONITOR.COM)

Rapid PC penetration will boost e-Governance in the Arab world: Dubai eGovernment

Salem Al Shair urges regional governments to accelerate the pace of migration of public services to electronic channels

DUBAI December 06, 2003 PC penetration in the Arab world is poised to record a rapid increase within the next few years, with many of the countries crossing penetration levels of 20 per cent. This augurs well for the various e-governance projects launched by the different governments in the Arab countries, according to Salem Al Shair, Director eServices, Dubai eGovernment.

Al Shair was delivering the keynote address at the recently held "Regional Workshop on e-Government" organized by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in association with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Yemen, at Technology City, Sana'a. The workshop was under the auspices of the Prime Minister of Yemen, H.E. Abdelkader BaJamal, who is also the Chairman of the ICT Executive Committee.

"Market research findings indicate that the growth in PC penetration and the spread of the Internet are going hand in hand in Arab countries. Though PC penetration in some Arab countries is low compared to the more developed countries, the past few years have shown high levels of energy and dynamism among government circles to implement e-government initiatives," said Al Shair. "The next five years are going to be critical in the implementation of e-government programmes across the region."

Recounting the Dubai eGovernment experience, Al Shair said: "Backed by a time-bound program to migrate more than 70 per cent public services to electronic channels and a 30 per cent PC penetration in the UAE, Dubai eGovernment has succeeded in keeping to its target. In just three years, we have successfully managed to create a proper environment and infrastructure to deliver customer-focused eServices over innovative channels, including mobile devices. Dubai's vision to emerge as the front-runner in e-governance and Knowledge Economy was translated into reality through extensive planning, deployment of best of breed technologies and involvement of all key government departments. The result is that the Dubai eGovernment portal currently delivers over 600 eServices."

Al Shair emphasized that, among the requirements for a successful implementation of e-government initiatives were, clear vision and direction, wise leadership and government commitment, accelerated momentum with set goals, quick decision making and establishment of a flexible, robust and scalable infrastructure. This has to be supported by the adoption of international benchmarking standards and community-focused outreach programs.

Referring to Yemen's measures to implement e-governance, Al Shair said: "We would like to commend the Yemeni authorities for adopting a dynamic strategy to energize the key ministries in embracing automation and launching programmes to enhance IT literacy among the people. By hosting this workshop, Yemen has demonstrated its seriousness in pursuing e-governance. The interaction with officials from different countries, including the UAE, will enable Yemen to benefit from the experiences of countries that have had an advance start in e-governance."

The workshop featured speakers and experts from different countries that are at various stages of e-governance implementation, including Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Tunisia, India, Yemen and UAE. H.E. Abdulmalik Al-Mualimi, Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology, highlighted the Yemeni experience in e-governance on the first day of the workshop. The workshop also featured speakers from UNDP, International Computer Driving License and IT experts from leading global companies.(KERALAMONITOR.COM)