A high level delegation of influential ICT figures from Arab Government are currently preparing for participation in the second round of the Governmental Technology -GT- Summit and Exhibition, organized by the Dubai based World Development Forum, which will be held from 19 to 21 November, 2007.
Delegates expressed their optimism about the future of ICT in the Arab World, despite of the barriers at the strategic level, as well as planning and implementation levels. .
Amongst a line-up of highly respected speakers, Dr. Yasar Jarrar, the Executive Dean of Dubai School of Governmental and Strategy Advisor at the Executive Office of Dubai, commented that there have been several successful experiences in e-government development in the Arab region " Dubai is the most obvious example" despite of the low level of success in e-government projects globally.
He pointed out that the "UNDESA" estimated that 60% of global e-government projects have failed completely or partially in 2003 and the World Bank estimated 85 percent failure in 2004
Jarrar said that market research companies estimates that the government IT spending in the Arab countries is between 1 and 2 Billions USD; but some Arab governments suffer from a productivity paradox, where more spending on IT does not necessarily lead to higher productivity, efficiency or eventually citizens satisfaction, added Jarrar.
Referring to the results of the research conducted by Dubai School of Government Jarrar pointed out that there are several barriers to e-government development in the region , the study showed that the capacity deficit in the public sector and Arab societies at large, the digital divide within Arab societies, the poor technical infrastructure, the shortage of funding, the lack of proper institutional and legislative frameworks, and the government instability are the main barriers, concluded Garrar
Khaled Eid, Managing Director of The World Development Forum the Organizer of the Summit, said that further progress can be achieved if Arab Governments look at ICT from a holistic perspective and not to stop short at web presence or even e-services. Technology must be perceived as a core element for developing the government administrative system as whole.
He explained that the current administrative system in the Arab World is building its strategy on 3 key elements (laws and legislation - human resources - budget) without considering technology. Therefore such elements always act as an obstacle to the optimization of technology, as the need always emerges for new legislation or human resources development or short on funding; upon launching new technology initiatives.
Eid asserted that despite of this, some successful Arab projects emerged as an exemplary model for the effective use of ICT for development; one of which is "Al Madinah Knowledge Economic City" The $7 Billion hi-tech project is designed to turn the Al Madinah region into a centre for knowledge based industry where young Saudi entrepreneurs can be trained and nurtured, It also intends to attract the best Muslim ICT talents from around the world to the second most holy city of Islam, Added Eid Mohammad Shah, CTO of (Madinah Knowledge Economic City) , Saudi Arabia, said that ICT is a key enabler in the growth of the economy, KSA is currently witnessing a quantitative and qualitative transformation in use of ICT for development, Shah addedShah pointed out that Madinah Knowledge Economic City will be a new regional center for Knowledge Based Industries with a capacity of 150,000 residents and generation of 20,000 new jobs in various Knowledge based industries such as Information Technology, Medical Science, Education and support services,
Shah asserted that ICT plays a pivotal role in the city, Business and Residential users will have access to a very high speed network to access their applications using ultra mobile personal computers , in addition a centralized administration systems have been built to reduce operational costs and maximize service Said Shah
Madinah Knowledge Economic City will be one of the world's first truly integrated Smart City compared to other cities in Europe, US and Asia which have certain components of Smart City but have had to be limited by old legacy IT infrastructure, concluded Shah
Eid pointed out that the round of this year will focus mainly on discussing the hot issues including ( the shift from e-governments to information governments, Arab Strategy for ICT approved by the ICT Council of Ministers at the Arab League, Security Solutions for e-Government a case study from Saudi Arabia, Smart IT Infrastructure for the City of the Future, evaluation of the Arab e-governments progress, the successful IT management in the governmental sector in addition to other technical topics related to information security, networks, e-government applications, data management and IT infrastructure) Said Eid
The Summit is held in cooperation with the Arab League, and is sponsored by Oracle and Juniper.
Confirmed delegations at GT Summit represent Arab government officials from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Morocco, Yemen, Muritania in addition to the UAE.
www.gtsummit.com
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About GT Summit
The Governmental Technology Summit ( GT Summit ) is an exclusive event held in association with the League of Arab States for IT decision-makers & strategists in Arab Governments.
the event is dedicated to government officials in communications, commerce, education, finance, health, infrastructure and public works, and public services including chambers of commerce, municipalities, the judiciary, utilities and tourism in addition to the leading IT experts, vendors and IT solution providers.
For press information:
Meriem Alouane
Tel : +971 4 2949475
Fax: +971 4 2949468
press@wdfweb.com
© Press Release 2007
