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e-Government
- e-Business
- e-Health
- e-Environment
- e-Content
- e-Culture
‘Information and Communications Technology can support sustainable development,
in the fields of public administration, business, education and training,
health, employment, environment, agriculture, and science within the framework
of national e-strategies.’
WSIS Plan of Action, December 2003
Progress towards an Information Society must show benefits in all levels of
society, from the poorer rural areas to the international businesses of the
major cities in Egypt. The Digital Divide is large within Egypt, however it can
be seen that application of ICT technologies is assisting in closing this gap,
and providing a platform for development in all areas.
Introduction of ICT applications requires customer confidence in the product.
The Egyptian government is aware that it needs to have society’s support in the
success of any schemes that are implemented. Where possible awareness campaigns
are carried out to attract users and allow projects to fulfil their potential.
The National Plan for Communications and Information Technology paved the way
for the initiation of the Egyptian Information Society Initiative (EISI), and
proposed development in areas below, as presented in the document ‘Building
Digital Bridges’ presented in Phase I of WSIS in the way of objectives,
solutions, and progress.
e-Government
‘Implement e-Government strategies focusing on applications aimed at
innovating and promoting transparency in public administrations and democratic
processes, improving efficiency, and strengthening relations with citizens…and
develop services adapted to the needs of citizens and business to achieve more
efficient allocation of resources and public goods…’
WSIS Plan of Action, December 2003
The main drive of the e-Government initiative is to modernise the citizen’s
experience of public services and to improve the functionality of the Egyptian
government by increasing the ease with which citizens can access services and
bring greater efficiency to government operations. The e-Government initiative
will also help encourage local markets and boost demand for ICT, since the
public sector is one of the largest consumer groups in the country.
The initiative has focused on developing services that will have a high demand
and attract users, such as services for business, investment, taxation, health,
directory assistance, and results of the national yearly secondary school
exams. In addition to offering users easily accessible services designed and
built around their needs, the initiative is also working on projects to improve
productivity within the public service itself. In August 2004, with the
appointment of the new cabinet, responsibility for the e-Government programme
was transferred to the Ministry of State for Administrative Development (MSAD).
MCIT and MSAD are now working closely with relevant ministries, authorities,
organisations and centres to integrate automated services into the e-Government
Portal.
Microsoft have demonstrated successfully a story of perfect partnership with
government and local companies in closing the Digital Divide in Egypt.
Microsoft has been operating in the Egypt since 1995 and ever since that time
it has been growing dramatically, investing more than US$ 20 million annually
in Egypt. Microsoft Egypt’s business strategy depends on establishing effective
partnerships with the government and the private sector, and having an active
role in developing the IT industry in Egypt. The government adopted open and
transparent policies in sharing Microsoft’s vision. The e-Government initiative
is one of the best examples of the Public Private Partnership strategy adopted
by MCIT, with Microsoft being a primary partner with the government and the
local companies. Currently nineteen public services are being offered online
such as paying electricity bills, renewing car licenses and applying to
universities. As a token of success Egypt has seen that now eleven countries
sent delegations to study the Egyptian e-Government project and model their own
efforts on it.
e-Government Concept
In order to achieve its goals the government is relying heavily on
collaborative efforts in the form of Public Private Partnerships and
outsourcing schemes, with sustainability remaining a key element. Under such
partnerships improved document exchange systems have been developed for MCIT
along side the new e-Government Portal. The Portal is now managed by a team
from MCIT and the Ministry of State for Administrative Development. Both
organisations are working closely with other ministries, authorities,
organisations, and centres to integrate automated services in the Portal. The
initiatives are relying on decentralisation of pubic services delivery through
providing new and improving existing telecommunication options, and a firm map
for investment to shorten the process. The e-Government programme proposed a
set of solutions to meet the challenges involved and to aid a more seamless
transition to the Information Society as follows:
Authentication. Challenges of authentication are being met through two
major initiatives. The first is the e-Signature Law, recently approved by the
parliament, which allows for acceptance of authenticated documents between
entities, and the second is a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) framework that
allows for remote authentication.
e-Payment. A complete and comprehensive e-payment framework that
allows for many payment options such as credit cards, pre-paid cards, transfer
of checks, payment on fixed and mobile telephone bills with both Telecom Egypt
and the National Postal Organisation (NPO), is currently being developed to
meet all citizens’ demands. See later for details on the restructuring of Egypt
Post.
Automation. Standard specifications for networking, document
management, security, and interoperability have been developed and will be
applied by the government in automation efforts to assure a minimum level of
consistency between applications. Awareness programmes aimed at pinpointing the
benefits from the new systems will be designed for government officials to gain
their support for the programme.
Process Workflows. Business cycles and process workflows will be
studied and redesigned to ensure efficiency and cost reduction, through the use
of ICT technologies.
Networking. A government network will link all government bodies
through an internal network (intranet) and will furthermore allow them access
to the Internet. The network will allow for efficient, quick, and secure flows
of information and documents, improving government communication and
interaction. A government portal that integrates multiple back ends and gives
the user a citizen-centric friendly interface and provides him/her with all
government services through a convenient ‘one stop shopping’ technique will
increase citizens’ satisfaction.
Access. Access problems will be solved primarily by programmes which
are currently deployed and reflecting positively on the penetration rate such
as the free Internet and PC for Community. In addition projects are being
developed that assure an increase in the penetration of PCs by deploying
mediators. These would mainly be employees with Internet access who will help
citizens access government services online, in post offices, kiosks, IT Clubs,
and community centres, to ensure the majority of the population benefit from
the new model of service delivery.
e-Government Projects
The Basic Infrastructure Project
Legal and Regulatory Issues
The target here is to introduce the concepts of the security and privacy
of networks to the Egyptian legal environment. In this respect, the e-Signature
Law has been considered a milestone for EISI government implementation. Other
laws are currently in the pipeline to address subjects such as the cyber crime
and electronic contracting.
Standards
Four documents were drafted by the EISI government workgroup which was composed
of government representatives from different ministries, private consultants,
vendors and academia. The documents are the basic recommendations that should
be followed when implementing a system in the government. Published documents
can be downloaded fromwww.mcit.gov.eg
and are described below:
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Networking and messaging. This document defines the framework
requirements to provide networking services, and to implement a standard
messaging and collaboration system for the government. The document explains
some of the industry standards for the networking and messaging services, and
extracts from them the basic recommendations and standards. The document
focuses on a network operating system service, and messaging and collaboration
services.
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Document classification and handling. This document deals with the
procedures for implementing a document management system and electronic
archives. It explains the document lifecycle from the creation through the
disposal, addresses the access control issue, and defines the requirements for
an electronic document management system.
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Interoperability. The document explains the standards, solutions and
disciplines, required in order to achieve seamless integration between
different e-Government application layers.
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Information security. The document describes the code of practice for
information security management. The document provides a set of guidelines for
those responsible for initiating, implementing, or maintaining security in any
government organisation. |
Public Key Infrastructure
This programme is working on designing and deploying an Egyptian Public Key
System (PKS) for the purpose of security and privacy of government networks.
MCIT has cooperated with ministries and government bodies and collaborated with
ICT companies and scientific quarters and have prepared an initial study for
PKI design and deployment in the Egyptian government.
ICT Readiness
ICT Readiness is being developed in cooperation with large multinationals, such
as Microsoft and Oracle, to avail licenses and development tools to all
government bodies and by the establishment of a secure government network that
securely allows the seamless flow of documents between government bodies.
Government Gateway
A government portal gateway was designed and implemented by Egyptian ICT
experts. The portal integrates multiple back ends and provides user with a
friendly citizen centric investor focused interface. The gateway is composed of
a registration and authentication engine, a transaction routing engine,
multiple service provider connectors and is supported by a payment engine.
Service Delivery Project
The target for the Service Delivery project is to launch a comprehensive
e-Government programme that touches positively on the lives of citizens by the
beginning of 2007 by new models in service delivery. This project is about
tailoring government services to meet citizens and investors needs and
expectations. The project introduces the Customer Relationship Management
culture (CRM) to the government, where citizens are being viewed as customers
and government organisations are constantly seeking their satisfaction.
Investors come out as main beneficiaries from that project; government services
along various stages, including start up and operation, are being reengineered
to condense them in a single step and avail them through the EISI Government
gateway.
The Ministry of Finance has benefited from the initiative by improving
efficiency in performing its main functions, including the performance levels
of other ministerial and provincial financial units. The project started at the
beginning of 2005 and over 1600 financial units will have been automated
nationwide by 2010. Increased effectiveness is being achieved by the provision
of tools for calculating cash flows, and analysing the speed of extracting the
state's final balance. A great deal of bureaucracy was removed by connecting
major financial units and their affiliates. In addition to this one of the main
examples of government service progress is within Egypt Air’s online services
as described below:
Egypt Air Online Services
The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Egypt Air coordinated the
introduction of an online ticketing system which greatly improved Egypt Air’s
competitive edge in the market. The system allows nationals and foreigners to
book airline tickets online, and for Egypt Air to apply an adaptable and
flexible pricing system, improve services, and increase profits. The project
was begun in April 2005 and will be fully operational by the end of 2006. The
introduction of the system has also given the opportunity for training of human
resources in the field of ICT, considerably improving employee output.
Connected to Egypt Air services is the procurement of the Ministry of Civil
Aviation's improved information system that is increasing efficiency of
aviation protocol and raising security levels for aircraft. Services are now
offered to the public and passengers online regarding its operations, such as
air traffic information. The system has been developed around more effective
administrative and financial management, and support to decision making. The
project started in April 2005 will be procured in three phases until completion
in March 2009. The first phase will tender and procure private ICT companies to
develop the systems necessary, and establishing guidelines for performance
evaluation and use. Second and third phases will be used to test automated
features, such as cargo services, and finalise training programs.
The Government Portal
This project is designed as a ‘one stop shop’ for all government
services ranging from simple queries, submitting forms and full transaction.
This project has been designed and implemented in cooperation with Microsoft
and its Egyptian partners. It is the gateway to government services providing
citizens and businesses with essential government services through connecting
with multiple service providers, this way the citizen can request the service
he wants regardless of the service provider and the portal performs all the
back office operations. Currently nineteen services are available online, some
of them target citizens while others target the business community.
The Portal is providing opportunity for a complete change in government working
culture by its linking of government bodies, and its availability to all
citizens. Ministries are able to use the Portal to support and manage their own
initiatives. As an example the Ministry of Finance has
developed a comprehensive information system for the General Taxation
Authority linking all outlets with a main centre. The project also
provides a public tax information system, delivers online services, and offers
training to staff. In a similar way, The Egyptian Accounting Authority is
working with MCIT to upgrade its systems with regard to wages and human
resource, general accounting, warehousing, and purchasing. An electronic
archive is being created, and its services will be available with the Portal in
the near future.
The main services provided by the Government Portal are listed below:
Public Services
- The Birth certificate and national ID replacement
- Educational enrolment guidelines
- Car license renewal
- Tourism Complaints
- Egypt Air flight inquiry service
- Cairo Airport traffic
- Electricity bills inquiry
- Irrigation, drainage, and groundwater advice service
Business Services
- Taxation and Customs services
- Export Guide
- Telecommunication licensing
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Automation of Governorates
The Automation of Governorates project includes a special track for the
automation of local governorates. It aims at simplifying procedures at local
government bodies and establishing backend systems to support the online
delivery of governorates services. Through this project rural area residents
will not have to go to the service providers in the capital or the big cities
and waste time and money. The first pilot was implemented in Safaga governorate
and will be replicated in other governorates shortly.
The project also renovated and developed the Higher Council of Luxor city by
improving the level of performance to better serve the public and tourists.
This has been done by introducing the latest technologies and improving the
information infrastructure in the city council, and by providing training to
employees. Administrative work has also been improved by automating financial
and administrative procedures. The scheme began in September 2005 and will be
completed at the end of December 2005.
Back Office Automation Projects
The Back Office Automation project intends to encourage the use of ICT
technologies for the sake of efficiency and cost reduction. The project
proposes automation through a unified EISI government applications package
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) that includes payroll, accounting, budget,
personnel, inventory and procurement. MCIT has been fully automated and ERP
deployment in other ministries has started. Document management and electronic
archiving is the second arena that is being sought. Business process automation
was also targeted in several high demand citizen service areas and over twenty
eight projects have now been implemented in courts, notary public offices, and
other areas.
The project is currently being implemented within Ministry of Justice
offices in Ezbekiya, Qasr El Nil, Ismailiya, and recently in Al Zaytoun since
June 2005. Follow up evaluation will be undertaken of each office in mid 2006.
With an overall aim at improving performance of services to the community, the
project able to improve security of documents, monitoring and administration,
and the technical skills of staff.
The Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS)
is providing support for the project by providing an industrial establishment
and products database and also MCIT is assisting the Administrative Supervisory
Authority to update its network and information system which is also providing
training to its staff.
The Corporeal Agricultural Land Registry will undergo an
automation programme that will enable efficient settling of ownership disputes
and will protect both state and citizens’ rights. Also simplified procedures
and services will be put in place within the Land Registry Office
and the Egyptian Survey Authority (ESA), providing the
facility for electronic transfer of ownership of agricultural lands. The
project starts in October 2005, by collating maps and real estate details into
a central database, and full automation will see the project complete in April
2008.
Economic Databases and Decision Support Projects
This scheme aims to provide accurate information for decision makers through
compiled, linked and mined databases that cover different economic sectors.
This will be invaluable to investors to complete their feasibility studies, and
will assure reduced risk to their targeted projects.
The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Industry (MFTI) is
cooperating with MCIT with the Egyptian Public Authority for
Standardisation and Quality Control project in a scheme intending
to establish a database of standards specifications, with a backlog of data
entries from Egyptian standards, drawing precedents, and quality control. Part
of the project is to develop portals so that MFTI can offer its services online
and manage specifications more efficiently. Another ICT scheme that MFTI
involves itself with is one to develop a residue system of the National
Export Supervisory Authority. An information network is being
established to allow flow between main data collection centres. The system is
intended to compliment the Foreign Trade Data Warehouse project. In a similar
way, the Ministry of Supply and Domestic Trade is developing a
supply card automation system, using advanced Smart Card technologies. The
scheme will establish a beneficiary database of approximately 50 million
individuals, and a retailer database of approximately 40,000. The system will
also be used in the training of staff.
e-Business
‘Governments, international organisations, and the private sector, are
encouraged to promote the benefits of international trade and the use of
e-Business, and promote the use of e-Business models in developing countries
and countries with economies in transition.’
WSIS Plan of Action, December 2003
A complete integration of ICT into Egyptian businesses is a major goal of the
Egyptian government. The Internet is still reshaping the way companies do
business and is a vital feature of the global competitive landscape. e-Business
is considered shorthand for the extent to which a country’s business
environment is conducive to Internet based commercial opportunities. It is a
concept that spans a wide range of factors, from telephone penetration to
online security to intellectual property protection.
e-Business Concept
One of the primary objectives of the e-Business initiative is to build and
expand a strong information and technological infrastructure that contributes
to supporting the business community and encouraging foreign direct investment.
This includes the development of tools involving e-commerce and document
exchange. To see the objectives put in place, it is considered crucial that a
solid legal and regulatory framework be provided, and support provided to
promote e-Business in Egypt. The Egyptian Parliament approved the e-Signature
Law No.15 in 2004, marking the first Egyptian cyber-law that works on enabling
regulatory and legal environment for conducting online transactions. The
Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) that has also been
established under the same law, carries the mandate of implementing the
e-Signature Law and its executive directives.
This law is forecasted to have a major impact on the development of a thriving
e-Business in Egypt. Signing transactions online will soon become a reality,
making both banking and e-government services in Egypt faster and easier to
use. The law authenticates e-signatures and recognizes electronic documents as
formal documents. The law has been drafted in cooperation with all concerned
public and private sector partners. ITIDA will act as the e- Signature Law
regulatory body to avoid disputes and complaints regarding the new law related
applications. Also ITIDA is working on stimulating the expansion of a critical
mass of e- business end users by raising awareness of IT and specifically e-
business applications and their opportunities.
In general, within a proper e-Business environment, economic activities and
investment opportunities will be readily available for entrepreneurs, and it is
intended for the private sector to receive a maximum amount of outsourcing in
partnering roles. Special attention shall be paid to encouraging small or
medium sized businesses to implement them.
To optimise e-Commerce, there is a need for a framework with integrated systems
that include producers, suppliers, investors, and distributors, in addition to
services such as, marketing, shipping, transportation, insurance, e-payments
and others. Also the rapid pace of change in the global business environment
requires that businesses remain flexible and entrepreneurial in order to
capitalise on opportunities. Flexibility has to be built in to any initiative
as technologies rise and fall and industries appear or become obsolete
seemingly overnight. The pace of change and an increasingly globalised and
competitive environment will not permit a lengthy transition process or
tolerate bureaucracies that stifle innovation and investment. Businesses must
locate sufficient capital to initiate projects, hire managers and other
employees skilled in the new business environment. They must also be able to
develop and obtain approval of the required legislative and regulatory
frameworks to deal with problems such as hacking, spam, network crimes,
invasion of privacy, and intellectual property rights.
Changing or amending existing laws and legislations is difficult, and requires
a lengthy process of debate and approval. Likewise, there is a need for clarity
and expedition of the traditional judicial process. The government must
disentangle duplication and overlap of responsibilities among public entities
and authorities. There is a need for an intermediate sole entity for commercial
contacts. In addition, the initiative must ensure that the facilities available
to businesses in urban areas are made available as well to those small and
medium enterprises in more rural areas. The complexity of restructuring and
reengineering businesses to adopt mechanisms and tools of e-commerce is a case
in point and requires innovative and flexible solutions taking socio-economic
conditions into consideration.
The government proposes that an incremental approach moving from analysis of
needs and problems to offering advice and solutions should be provided. Focus
on e-Readiness of the sector in terms of the necessary infrastructure, then
offer road shows and pilots with various relevant stakeholders, and support and
promote best practices, as well as consistency in delivery integrated services
and move from simple applications to more sophisticated ones.
On the legal level, the government works on development and promotion, the
promulgation of a range of new laws dealing with issues relating to e-Business.
The committees entrusted with these efforts include members of the relevant
ministries, governmental entities, and academia, as well as from the private
sector. Also on an international level, ITIDA promotes international
cooperation in the setting of standards, the regulatory environment, and other
areas related to e-payment and electronic fund transfer networks.
e-Business Projects
e-Business concerns itself with not only creating a forum for a change in
working culture, but to provide assistance to traditional industries and their
related institutions for more effective working methods. An example is where
the government assisted the Egyptian Federation for Construction and Building
Contractors to establish an information system providing a network of
contractors and data entry for all its member companies. The system details
applications for importation and implantations, and also includes a variety of
technical tools, and membership information. A portal is also being developed
to deliver its services to the public.
Working culture is affected by certain national organisations in their
efficiency and variety of services provided. The restructuring of the National
Postal Organisation has had an instrumental effect in e-Business activities.
National Postal Organisation
The National Postal Organisation (NPO) is one of the main elements in the
government’s information infrastructure. MCIT coordinated a restructuring of
Egypt Post with the World Bank and several specialised consultancies. The
Egyptian postal service is also engaged in twinning activities with its
counterparts in European countries as part of its plan for reform. The main
aims of the reforms were to improve services by the introduction of modern
technologies, and at the same time improve revenue. To date, MCIT is supporting
an ambitious sector modernisation programme, providing post offices around the
country with computers, LAN lines, and local servers.
With an interest to increasing revenue, there was a keen interest to develop a
certified mail system, based on Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technology. In
addition to this the approval of the new e-Signature Law gave Egypt Post the
opportunity to pioneer the new legislation.
NPO has concluded many Public Private Partnerships to utilise scarce resources
and expertise. Examples of such schemes are listed below:
- An agreement with Vodafone to sell mobile phone recharge cards
through the
post offices.
- An agreement with Federal Express to provide a new shipping
service called
Net Courier for overseas shipments. This service
allows Egypt Post to deliver
courier services with the same standard of speed,
accuracy, tracing of items,
and customer service at an economic rate.
- A contract with Banque Misr to introduce interest bearing
savings accounts.
- The formation of Giro Nil, an Egyptian joint stock company owned
by Egypt
Post, Commercial International Bank (CIB), Banque
Misr, and Inclusion Group
(a Dutch company), which enables citizens to pay bills
and salaries
electronically.
- Development of a hybrid mail system in cooperation with Al Ahly
Communication Co.
- An agreement with a consortium of several private companies to
utilise smart
card technologies in the e-Government initiative.
NPO is seeking to build an alliance with a major international IT company to
provide coordination with a selected local partner to handle IT operations. The
IT systems required will include ERP system, financial services, Geographical
Information System (GIS), counter automation, address information systems,
tracking and tracing, and logistic support. In addition, 18,000 PCs are
expected to operate in the network of 3,600 offices, seven main mail storing
centres, and thirty four postal districts. It is currently estimated that NPO
will spend about LE 100 million over the next four years to acquire and operate
its IT systems.
NPO is also seeking a major investor to build and operate up to eight hundred
new retail outlets to be opened in major Egyptian cities over the next four
years targeting a twenty million customer base. A revenue sharing model will be
used to finance the development at an estimated to cost of around LE 400
million. The revenue stream is estimated to reach LE 800 million per year of
which approximately 25 percent will represent net profit.
e-Agriculture
e-Agriculture can be seen as a subdivision of e-Business, in that farming and
agricultural businesses in Egypt form a major source of employment and
opportunity for ICT to improve development in these areas. Rural industries in
Egypt tend towards the lower technology side of business within the country,
and the government sees it an important issue to adapt policies and schemes
that will filter down to such enterprises under the umbrella of a ‘better
service for all’ policy.
The Government Portal initiative now delivers an irrigation, drainage and
groundwater advice service, but further governmental reforms are being put in
place to provide a better environment for agricultural businesses to exist.
Application of ICT in the Petroleum Industry
The petrochemical industry represents a major contributing factor in Egypt’s
economy, and application of ICT technology in the industry has had a
significant impact in the last years. Most of the ICT successes have centred
around the implementation of systems that allow real time and immediate
management particularly related to discovery, exploration, extraction, and
refining. Other application has been applied to improving communication with
foreign partners and industry related state organisations. Systems that apply
the concept of risk management are also being used, particularly where running
costs are high in the operations of excavation, seismic research, and risks
attached to gas extraction and refining.
The industry has seen a global hardware update to cater for the use of modern
petroleum technologies, such as 3D seismic research and rotary drilling.
Communication has improved within the industry by the establishment of a
private communications network connecting the Ministry of Petroleum to
local relevant authorities and affiliate holding companies. The network is part
of the new e-Government service to the industry. The Internet is now heavily
relied upon for observing the market, publishing information worldwide on
Egyptian petroleum, and offering international bids on new exploration
projects.
e-Business has been particularly improved by the development of a connected
group of applications aiming at communicating company activities and projects,
with the principal objective being to facilitate communication in the
petrochemical industry using the Internet. APEC Systems and an Echem team have
implemented the project which started in January 2003 under a budget of LE
250,000. The resources are currently being used to attract international
investments, and supply investors with the information requisite for
preparation of feasibility studies. In addition to this secured correspondences
and documents are now being exchanged internationally via the Internet.
Employment Creation from the Integrated Migration Information System
The Ministry of Manpower and Emigration is collaborating with MCIT and
the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to develop employment
services for both prospective employers and employees. As part of the
government’s overall scheme to address employment issues, the Integrated
Migration Information System (IMIS) hopes to assist industries in more
efficiently sourcing employees abroad and within Egypt. IMIS addresses the
problem of the lack of accurate and updated information on the migrant
population abroad in addition to the lack of official channels for promoting
labour migration towards new markets particularly Europe. The aim of the IMIS
project has been to support the Emigration and Egyptians Abroad Sector (EEAS)
in building a structured line of communication between Egypt and its migrants
abroad to acquaint them with the development projects in Egypt and to preserve
the necessary spiritual and cultural ties with their home country. Moreover,
the IMIS project provides Egyptian expatriates with a secure channel of
information regarding investment opportunities in Egypt that would lead to
increased benefits from migrants’ remittances, and respond to the need to
enhance the possibility of using the Egyptian expertise abroad in development
projects in Egypt.
The IMIS project has identified, through the new ICT technologies, a mechanism
for promoting the placement of Egyptian workers abroad with particular
attention towards the European countries. The system is now operating as an
effective forum for foreign employers and prospective professional working
migrants to source each other. The scheme is connecting 288 offices and twenty
seven domains, and staff training is also an integrated feature.
e-Health
‘Promote collaborative efforts of governments, planners, health
professionals, and other agencies along with the participation of international
organisations for creating a reliable, timely, high quality, and affordable
health care and health information systems. Also efforts should be made in
promoting continuous medical training, education, and research through the use
of ICTs, while respecting and protecting citizens’ right to privacy.’
WSIS Plan of Action, December 2003
The Ministry of Health is keenly aware of information and communication
technology’s potential benefits to the healthcare system. As a result, the
ministry has established the e-Health programmes to bring these benefits to a
wider segment of Egyptian society. MCIT is facilitating the integration of ICT
in different key public services such as health, where new technologies can
provide critical value added services.
MCIT’s e-Health team, working in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and
Population, is using ICT technologies as a medium for health
administration, clinical consultation, and to bring continuing medical
education to remote or underserved areas of Egypt. Distribution of health
services to remote parts of Egypt, as well as serving the growing needs of
urban areas requires developing the use of the IT-based technologies and
various applications in the medical sector. Our strategic objective is to
mobilise ICT whenever appropriate to secure equal access to improved health
services throughout the country.
e-Health Concept
There are significant challenges to introducing the use of ICT to the health
sector in Egypt, a sector that is already stressed by a lack of resources to
address the needs of a growing population. Problems faced are that medical
consultants and qualified physicians are concentrated in a small number of
medical centres, and pressure from patients for consultancy and the increasing
trend of patients to travel to Cairo for medical care. Stemming from this many
patients are now travelling abroad for medical care. Many hospitals exist in
somewhat isolation and there is scarcity of training opportunities for their
staff, and a lack of continuing education for medical personnel.
Solutions revolve around securing a focus on deeper penetration and
exploitation of existing advancements in ICT in Egypt to overcome the issues
posed to the health system. These advancements include using existing
digital/ISDN lines in most exchanges and using the broadband digital backbone
network. Contact Centres, telemedicine and health informatics projects are
initiatives meant to respond to these challenges. In addition, awareness must
be raised among medical personnel of the potential of ICT and encourage their
involvement in developing programmes and finding solutions to these challenges.
The initiative intends to synchronise efforts between health authorities and
ICT organisations and to increase use and availability of patients’ medical
history for medical practitioners and hospitals by different media. Egyptian
medical centres will be linked to Arab, African and international centres to
exchange expertise and knowledge. Databases for patient information to be
exchanged electronically between medical centres will be created.
e-Health Projects
Egyptian Telemedicine Network Project
The provision of modern health services to all citizens, regardless of their
geographical location, is a major goal of the health services. ICT is being
used to establish a simple and effective way of delivering expert opinion on
special or serious cases, in the event of crises, or accidents at remote areas,
and making the necessary decisions regarding treating cases in Egypt or
referring them abroad.
The main aim of the Egyptian Telemedicine Network is to assist in relaying
patient information and indicators that would help the local medical doctor to
provide a better diagnosis for the patient. This network will improve the
health services provided by public hospitals all over the country. The
Telemedicine Network will also provide the transmission of a live video of the
patient, and allowing the exchange of medical opinions and consultations
between the attending physician and a specialised consultant at a distant
specialised centre. It will also facilitate the transfer of other information
such as X-ray, CT, MRI scans, and Ultra sonic, and the like for diagnostic
purposes and medical consultations. All the different communications and
information exchange will be performed using known international standards such
as HL7 and Dicomm.
The first phase of the project has started in five hospitals around Egypt. Four
of them are central hospitals and the fifth is a mobile ambulance unit. The
hospitals involved with the project are the Nasser Institute (Cairo), Bani
Sweif, Kom Ombo, and Mahalla El Kubra Heart Unit. The mobile ambulance unit
will be used around Egypt to assist in the diagnostic process in different
locations. This phase has been completed and the testing period for operations
started in June 2005. The second phase is to add nine more sites to the network
in rural areas in Egypt. The final phase will cover the rest of Egypt. The
scheme will take place over the period between July 2005 to October 2007 in a
total of twenty four sites.
The Integrated Health Record System
As modern medical services currently benefit from patients’ health records, the
building up of health records for citizens becomes of the utmost importance.
Personal and detailed information of citizens also play an important, and a
fundamental part in drawing the current health policy of the Ministry of Health
and Population as the information affects the distribution of all
levels of health services. The scheme is being implemented in three phases to
encompass 6500 medical units and hospitals from December 2005 to October 2007.
The health record is a complete record of the medical history of the individual
that includes the diseases he/she suffered, treatment methods and medications
received, and concentrates on the medical phenomena that affect the
individual’s future. Such information is recorded by specialists and service
providers. The electronic health record is the medical record of the individual
recorded on the computer through an information system for the sake of rapid
retrieval of all data, health indicators, consultations and medical opinions
concerning the individual.
Within this framework comes the Integrated Health Record System project aiming
to build the means and provide the necessary tools to create an electronic
medical record for every citizen, and to provide some data on the surrounding
environment. These records are to be stored in the national network of medical
information with the aim of providing the citizen with a better health service
and provide a better management method for human and financial resources at the Ministry
of Health. The first phase was in operation at the end of 2003 using
innovative technology as the central Data Warehouse, Data Mining engines, and
GIS systems, with six hundred medical units distributed over five governorates.
The second phase will extend the project to include all the medical units in
the rural areas in Egypt.
The Information System and National Network for
Citizen Health Treatment by the Government and Cancer Registry Network
The right for health care is governed by the constitution for all citizens
entitled to it. Numbers have risen significantly over the past five years to an
extent that surpassed all expectations due to the increase in demands for
medical treatment, and the increase in health awareness. This led to an
increase of the work load of the different medical boards that exist in the Ministry
of Health and Population. The workload has risen significantly to cater
from 100,000 to 751,949 citizens over the past five years. Moreover, the
administration of the process was not empowered by a unique identification of
the patient. This project will provide an integrated and distributed system for
managing and administering the different processes in the medical boards for
citizen medical treatment by the government. The scheme will take place in
twenty two medical councils and forty hospitals, phased in two stages between
July 2005 and July 2007.
The information system consists of a central node that contains the total
depository of the data about all concerned entities, such as patients, medical
hospital for treatment, cost, and medical doctors. The system will provide a
clean and efficient solution of multiple identities and how to control
expenditures for providing the service. In addition, it will provide a
distributed system where citizens can apply remotely for getting the medical
help and with no need for expensive transportation to central Cairo.
The project aims to develop quality control and performance evaluation systems
to guarantee the delivery of subsidy to those for whom it is intended, and
guarantee system efficiency. It also aims to develop the information systems
and databases of the central department for citizen health treatment by the
government, and connect all peripheral departments and hospitals through a
Virtual Private Network.
Ambulance and Medical Emergency Contact Centre
Project
The ambulance and medical emergency contact centre project is the outcome of a
fruitful cooperation between MCIT and the Ministry of Health and Population.
The scheme is to establish the most modern automated systems to develop a
central medical emergency call room, and control and direct ambulances. The
project will first be put into operation within Cairo, starting in October
2005, and will have spread countrywide by the completion of project in October
2009.
The Ambulance and Medical Emergency Contact Centre project aims to build a
central communication unit that would receive and respond to medical emergency
calls rapidly, precisely, and neutrally, whenever they come in, and wherever
they are, by being in contact with all ambulances and directing them as quickly
as possible to the site of the incident.
The current project covers only the larger Cairo area which includes the three
governorates, Cairo, Giza, and Qalubia, and will provide the service for about
24 million citizens. The scheme is to use a fleet of two hundred ambulances,
with an up to date contact centre with AVL and data transfer facilities. This
stage will be tendered and is expected to be operational by first quarter 2006.
The next stage is to cover the northern regions and Delta by a similar centre
in Alexandria and in the southern governorates by firstly a centre in Asyut.
The three areas will act to cover most of Egypt. A fourth and smaller centre is
envisioned to be located in Sinai and the Red Sea area.
e-Environment
‘Governments, in cooperation with other stakeholders, are encouraged to use
and promote ICTs as an instrument for environmental protection and the
sustainable use of natural resources.’
WSIS Plan of Action, December 2003
Countries with economies in transition face difficult choices in the name of
economic progress when also trying to implement their desired environmental
policies. Environmental issues can often be contradictory to government
strategies and at the same time costly. ICT has been used in many cases to
great effect to progress Egypt’s strategy for conservation and environmental
reform, with particular attention being paid to preserving its Red Sea marine
environment and also water and wastewater management systems. Other examples
include the cooperation between MCIT and The Ministry of Agriculture and Land
Reclamation in developing its own economic sector and information
system aiming to link nineteen relevant databases, and projects of the Ministry
of Water Resources and Irrigation as described below:
e-Environment Concept
The governments policy in developing e-Government initiatives evolves around
creating ongoing, simple, and effective projects, with easily achievable goals.
The government is keen to try and involve the public, private, and civil
society sectors to take an active role in implementing e-Environment
initiatives. Whilst project implementation is a reasonably straightforward
action, Egypt requires effort to achieve a vision of an environmentally aligned
nation. It is appreciated that alongside any project, awareness and educational
campaigns are necessary for them to gain value and sustainability in society.
ICT projects are principally aligned to addressing the conservation of water,
Egypt’s natural environment, and the disposal of waste.
e-Environment Projects
Water Resources and Irrigation Management
Egypt faces continuing problems related to increasing demand for water and the
available resources. ICT technology can be gainfully employed to assist in the
management of water sources and canals, and the mechanical methods employed
along the water channels, to maximize efficient use of resources. The Ministry
of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWRI) has seen that adoption of ICT
technology is a great benefit in providing a better service. Resources are also
being channelled into ongoing training programmes and research and development
into improving water quality. Examples of ICT application can be seen in the
following projects:
National Surface and Subterranean Water Quality Monitoring Network
The project is involved in surface and subterranean water quality monitoring
and a follow up network within Egypt, covering Lake Nasser, the Nile and its
branches, canals and drains, and groundwater reservoirs. The use of an
Environment Monitoring System (EMS) was crucial in providing decision makers
with information required to evaluate the current and future water quality to
formulate the water plans. It was equally crucial for water users and those in
charge of water resources management and uses in all competent authorities. The
EMS plays a key role in predicting the effects of future water management
scenarios and accordingly adopt the appropriate measures to redress effects
resulting from future or previous policies. Is also identifies pollution
problems in the priority monitored areas through developing an integrated
information system for data classification and analysis. It also provides
access to the information required to formulate policies and strategies.
Monitoring and Forecasting Support Programme
The Nile Flood Monitoring, Forecasting, and Simulation Centre was established
in 1992 enabling decision makers to have access to data and information on the
hydrological and meteorological phenomena over the River Nile basin. The centre
also provides daily forecast and analysis of floods that reach the High Aswan
Dam in order to identify the ideal policy for its operating. It has been
equipped with advanced technologies and methods for data classification and
processing, the latest hydrological and meteorological models, and computer
applications, oriented towards interpretation of satellite imagery and
collecting databases on weather scenarios.
Integrated and Decentralized Water Management Systems Project
The project goal is applying water resources integrated management concept, and
extending the scope of decentralisation in water resources management,
particularly fields of irrigation, drainage, groundwater, mechanical and
pumping works. The project also aims at forming water users associations, and
contributes to the development of the rural community capacities to improve the
management of solid waste, and drainage water, and provide some examples of
treated drainage water reuse. Particular success has been achieved in
establishing information systems and networks at the irrigation engineering
units level to collect and analyse water resources data in order to estimate
the water needs of water users, and determine the priorities.
Egyptian Environmental Information System
The Egyptian Environmental Information System (EIS) has been developed to
establish and maintain information related to environment and its various
components. It is concerned with collecting and classifying environment
information and data relating to specific Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency
(EEAA) activities. The system provides EEAA management and different sectors,
branches and other organisations, with data needs to help them prepare policies
and plans and to rationalise decision making.
The system documents EEAA information systems and databases, and issues reports
especially related to environmental socio-economical situations. It monitors
recent international development related to information technology hardware and
software, and conducts the necessary studies and research useful for the
development of different activities of EEAA.
The EEAA's features the following:
- A free service of Environmental Information to the public,
specialists, and
researchers.
- Identification of governmental and EEAA activities.
- Provision of public service and support.
- Education to the community regarding environmental awareness
- A forum for community feedback.
The website is regularly updated with new information on the policies,
activities, and services of the government and EEAA. A public complaints system
has also been established for receiving the environmental inquiries and
complaints via the website.
Industrial Unit Website
The Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs has established a new
Industrial Unit in February 2004 within the Environmental Affairs Agency
(EEAA) under the environmental management sector. The mandate of the unit is to
coordinate with local and international stakeholders' activities, projects, and
setting industrial environmental policies including different curricula aiming
at environmental compliance and different enforcement procedures as economic
incentives and promoting awareness of environmental management systems and
cleaner production.
Building on previous cooperation between the Centre for Environment and
Development for the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE) and the Environment
Pollution Abatement Project (EPAP) on establishing the first industrial related
website, CEDARE cooperated with EEAA to develop the industrial unit website.
The objective of the website is to provide environment related information for
industrial enterprises and act as a means of communication between the unit and
industrial investors. The website is integrated in the EEAA website.
The Industrial Unit Website Objective aims to provide environment related
information for industrial enterprises and acts as a means of communication
between the unit and industrial investors. It also provides historical memory
for all the industrial related activities conducted by different departments
and projects of the EEAA.
The website provides information regarding Egyptian environmental standards and
legislations for industrial enterprises and also information about available
funding opportunities for Egyptian Industrial enterprises to comply with the
Egyptian standards. The website acts as an inventory for all activities
relevant to the industry conducted by the EEAA. It also provides a
communication channel between the industrial unit and its users. The industrial
unit website is a component of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency
website.
The Industrial unit website is considered a dynamic tool for disseminating
environment related information for industrial enterprises and acts as a means
of communication between the unit and industrial investors. The updating of the
website regularly with information would increase its success. The website has
friendly user interface that allow users to allocate the required information
from one menu.
CEDARE Environmental Information Systems
For the last decade, CEDARE has been active in building and enhancing
capacities of national, regional, and international organisations in terms of
developing environmental information systems and networks. Numerous national
environmental Arab organisations have acquired CEDARE's information systems.
These include institutions in Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Syria,
Jordan, and Egypt. CEDARE has also cooperated with the Regional Organisation
for the Conservation of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA) to establish the
Red Sea and Gulf of Aden GIS Website that publishes information about the
different components of PERSGA and acts as a communication media to enhance
cooperation among the Red Sea countries. The information systems that CEDARE
are involved with are the following:
Strategic Environmental Information System (SEIS)
Environmental Information System is a wide concept that includes several tools
to manage environmental data and information such as databases management
systems, geographic information systems, remote sensing, and Internet.
Red Sea and Gulf of Aden GIS Website
The Regional Organisation for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red
Sea and the Gulf of Aden (PERSGA) cooperated with CEDARE to develop GIS website
for Red Sea and Gulf of Aden to act as a portal for all information that is
being gathered by the PERSGA. The website enables PERSGA member countries to
integrate centralised GIS and remote sensing data sources with Internet data
sources for display, query, and analysis in an easy to use web browser.
Development of Remote Sensing Data covering Red Sea and Gulf of Aden
CEDARE has finalised the integration of Landsat data to cover all Red Sea and
Gulf of Aden region. Orthorectified Landsat Thematic Mapper Mosaics provided by
NASA were integrated and clipped for all the Red Sea Coastal region. The
Integrated Remote Sensing data also included some high resolution images
covering the regions’ major coastal cities. The data are registered and
projected at the PERSGA GIS project and can be used for verification for the
developed GIS data as well as any newly or updated added data.
Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Marine Turtles Information System
The objective of this information system is to provide information about the
existing species of marine turtles in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The
information systems assist in gathering data from the surveys conducted by
specialists to monitor marine turtle's existence along the Red sea and Gulf of
Aden shores. In addition, the information system can provide information about
the species of the marine turtles, nests, and marine turtle's eggs. The
information system can assist in proposing protected areas to conserve
locations of marine turtles' nests.
Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Birds Information Systems
The objective of this information system is to provide information about the
existing species of Birds in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The information
systems assist in gathering data from the surveys conducted by specialists to
monitor birds' species available at the Red sea and Gulf of Aden. The
information system provides graphical and tabular reports, with the ability to
link spatial systems to provide spatial reporting capabilities. The information
system can assist in proposing protected areas to conserve locations of birds'
species from development.
Nubian Aquifer Regional Information System (NARIS)
In cooperation with the Programme for the Development of the Sandstone Nubian
Aquifer, EIU developed NARIS to assist decision makers and researchers to
manage the valuable aquifer. NARIS provides complete information about the
quantity and quality of all the available wells in the concerned four
countries; Chad, Egypt, Libya, and Sudan. NARIS is designed to be the standard
information system to manage the aquifer in the four countries and to
facilitate data and information sharing. A copy of NARIS was provided for each
country of the Nubian aquifer.
Development and Registration of Admiralty Charts to cover all the Red Sea and
Gulf of Aden Region
CEDARE has completed the integration of Raster Admiralty Charts which are
provided by The UK Hydrographical Office to cover all the Red Sea and Gulf of
Aden Region. The Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Region consists of over seventy six
navigational charts and provides coverage at a range of scales to suit the
requirements of professional and commercial activities as well as researchers.
Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Living Marine Resources Modelling Software
CEDARE has developed modelling software that assists in the data analysis and
data entry of the studied Red Sea and Gulf of Aden fishery (finfish, sharks,
ornamental fish and equisetic survey). The software is intended to possess
(upon the availability of data provided by the LMR Lead Specialist) a complete
data base for the above mentioned species. The overall objective of the
developed programme is to assist in the development of a sustainable management
strategy for trans-boundary fish stocks and invertebrates.
Alexandria Solid Wastes Complaints Tracking Information System
The Complaints Tracking Information System (CTIS) objective is to provide an
easy tool for storing and retrieving information concerning complaints received
by Alexandria governorate solid wastes complaints contact centre. The CTIS
provides different types of outputs that assist decision-makers and technical
staff for having reliable and accurate information about the complaints and
their status. CTIS assists in the analysis of the complaints received and
provides complete information about the frequency and type of complaints. The
information system has Arabic Interface as requested by the governorate of
Alexandria.
North Africa Environmental Web Portal
In cooperation with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), CEDARE
developed the above mentioned Web Portal. The objective of the portal is to
provide an easy navigation website for environmental information about the
North Africa countries (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Sudan) on
the Internet. Top priorities are given to information published locally in
these countries. The information on the portal is categorised by countries and
by environmental themes. Through country category users have access to
environmental related web sites in each country such as the main environmental
governmental body, NGO's, international organisations, experts, country
profile, and available environmental information.
e-Content
‘Provide content that is relevant to the cultures and languages of
individuals in the Information Society, through access to traditional and
digital media services.’
WSIS Plan of Action, December 2003
Egypt has set an example as a purveyor of providing quality Arabic content for
various media, and MCIT has set about implementing its e-Content initiative.
The scheme will promote the development of materials in a wide range of
categories including books, media, arts, education, sports, and entertainment.
Arabic content on the Internet is still scarce, with total Arabic content on
the Internet reaching only an estimated 0.3 percent.
e-Content Concept
The e-Content Initiative seeks to enrich Arabic digital content, introducing
real value to the users, as well as develop local, regional, and global demand
for content. This will ultimately serve the Egyptian community and the national
economy in different ways. It will strengthen the benefits of ICT in developing
the national economy and society by offering and expanding distinguished
services related to the culture and education to the general populace. The cost
of the accessibility and acquisition of information and knowledge will also be
greatly reduced. Furthermore, it will help increase both personal and
professional competence of Egyptians, especially within youth, fresh graduates,
and local ICT industry personnel. Diverse and comprehensive e-Content will
assist in meeting quality requirements in local, regional, and international
markets and will also offer a multitude of job opportunities in an elite
business sector.
MCIT is cooperating with the e-Learning and Business Solutions Union and the
Egyptian Publishers Association in this initiative. e-Content penetration at
all levels depends on overcoming problems of illiteracy, change in working
culture, and Internet access within the community. It is hoped that this
cooperation with these organisations can assist in the success of the e-Content
initiative. In addition, local initiatives are being implemented, such as with
the Publishers Union and Educational Software Associations to develop new and
sustainable business models for e-Content delivery and it is hoped that this
initiative will have a great regional impact between 2005 and 2008.
Egypt also places high regard in preserving Arabic e-Content, that forms the
basis of intellectual and cultural inspiration for future generations. Arabic
e-Content permeates and compliments all other areas of e-Content material, and
is seen to provide an opportunity to increase export possibilities in content
material and provide opportunities for content producing businesses to develop
in Egypt. From June 2005 to May 2008 it is intended to procure the digitisation
over 2000 Arabic books over three phases, giving opportunity to publishers,
programmers, and hosting companies alike.
e-Content Projects
Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Bibliotheca Alexandrina, has established a working partnership with the
California based organisation The Internet Archive with a combined aim of
creating a digital library for ‘Universal Access to Human Knowledge’ and
preserving heritage for future generations. The cooperation allows sharing
between libraries allowing readers and researchers everywhere to leverage
unique or rare materials. Newly digitised holdings will also be duplicated at
the Internet Archive for preservation and access in other parts of the world.
Bibliotheca Alexandrina will become the central library for Middle Eastern. The
biggest advantage of this digital library will be focused on providing digital
access through the inter library loan programme, which will be done on a larger
scale without the delay, costs, and risks associated with shipping physical
materials.
The partnership includes six months internship programmes for the Bibliotheca
staff in California, and now access to up to one million books from the
Carnegie Mellon University. Plans are to begin with expanding the Internet
Archive concept with a third centre in Europe and a fourth in Asia, with the
hope of connecting libraries worldwide and creating a universal digital library
system.
Bibliotheca Alexandrina is also involved with the Arab Info Mall project in
collaboration with the Arab Reform Forum. The Mall is a tri-lingual web portal,
in Arabic, English, and French, through which Arab NGOs will present their
activities, providing the opportunity for their local, regional and global
exposure. The portal allows access to documents, papers, research projects and
lists of activities prepared and accomplished by participating civil society
organisations, and also a forum where events can be announced and knowledge
shared. At present the database extends to twenty NGOs from Egypt and within
the region. The portal can be viewed on
www.arabinfomall.org
Cultural e-Content
Bibliotheca Alexandrina is establishing itself as a regional hub for cultural
content with projects such as the Digital Manuscripts Library as detailed
below. The library is a major actor in the provision of e-Content in general.
Websites providing good examples of extensive cultural content material are
www.eternalegypt.org concerning the Egyptian culture and history which
was developed by CultNat. Also Bibliotheca Alexandrina developed
www.nasserbibalex.org concerning former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel
Nasser.
The Digital Manuscripts Library
The main objective of this project is to preserve the manuscripts and rare
books from damage resulting from direct contact or poor preservation
conditions. The library has been developed in a partnership between Bibliotheca
Alexandrina and the National Centre for Documentation of Cultural and Natural
Heritage. The digital laboratory digitises these manuscripts and rare books and
copies are then saved on various media so that they are rendered accessible to
as many readers as possible.
Educational e-Content
Bibliotheca Alexandrina is playing a key role in amassing educational content
with its Digital Arabic Library Project detailed below. There are also several
websites that offer educational services at all levels such as
www.bayanonline.com or
www.ostazonline.com Also there are websites that have books and
magazines online, like
www.elm.net.eg and
www.rewayty.com
The Digital Arabic Library
Bibliotheca Alexandrina is working to establish the integrated Digital Arabic
library on the Internet. The number of books projected for the first stage of
this library will reach twenty thousand with the aim of presenting some books
to the world through translation into English. Bibliotheca Alexandrina has
cooperation agreements with a number of Arab cultural institutions to build the
content of this library. Some of these agreements include the Arab Writers
Union, the National Council for Culture, Arts and Literature in Kuwait as well
as the United Arab Emirates Heritage Club in Abu Dhabi. The project offers
three areas of services.
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- | Arabic Library Electronic Portal - The portal includes the construction of a
knowledge portal in the field of libraries depending on a network technology
and search system taking into consideration the Arabic language nature and
needs.
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- | Arabic Technical Tools - The tools provide categorisation and reference
tables relevant to the Arab world including a list of writers, publishers, and
Arabic geographic locations linked through an Arabic coding system synchronised
with the international country and city codes.
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- | Information Services and Issue of Publications - As part of its service it is
planned to deliver bibliographic services and electronic trade to several
information pools and databases and market them through this project. In
addition, it will construct several complete text bases, rare in the Arabic
world despite its importance. The project will also be able to provide advanced
training services on the management of electronic libraries and all relevant
technological and technical requirements. Throughout this stage, publishing the
guidelines, work system, standard and uniform specifications of the Arabic
library prepared in Phase II of the project will take place.
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Science and Technology e-Content
The Ministry of Scientific Research is cooperating with various
faculties and research centres to provide an e-Portal for Science and
Technology, in an effort to provide scientific content for use in research
projects, and contribute to development. A bibliographical database will also
form part of the portal. The project began in 2005 and will be completed by the
end of 2007.
News and Economic e-Content
Most Egyptian newspapers are now available online such as Al Ahram, Al Akhbar,
Al Tahrir, Al Osboa, and Al Wafd. Examples of sites providing economic and
market information are
www.askzad.com or
www.arabfinance.com.
Sports and Entertainment e-Content
There are several websites available on the Internet for entertainment of users
of all ages such as
www.egypty.com, www.masrawy.com,
and www.nemra1.com
Examples of sites dedicated to Arabic musical content can be found on
www.6arab.com and
www.oghnia.com.
Social e-Content
This Community Development Portal has been a main contributor to the field of
socially oriented e-Content. It provides a based community portal to provide a
starting point for suburban and rural citizens to more easily find and access
information that they may need in their daily lives. Examples of information
provided are within health, agriculture, and family planning. The portal
bridges urban, suburban and rural divides and hopefully fuels additional demand
for services and infrastructure.
The Portal is being used effectively by local NGOs and its use is being adapted
to suit the current community needs. As an example some have concentrated
efforts in offering special training courses for kids, and others used some
available feasibility studies to launch new businesses. Others contributed to
content generation by feeding the Portal with their knowledge related to SMEs,
health, and culture, and some opened new classes for illiteracy eradication.
Particular attention is made to try and encourage traditional industries and
handicraft skills.
Also www.fekrzad.com
which is a website dedicated to creating social knowledge. Both these projects
have been implemented through the ICT Trust Fund.
The Award of Egypt for e-Content
The Award of Egypt for e-Content competition was held in July this year
with the aim of fostering the Arabic e-content industry in Egypt. Its
intentions were to encourage individuals, private entities, and the civil
society to take part in developing e-Content production through participating
in national and international competitions. The productions of the highest
ranking winners in the competition were nominated to participate in the World
Summit Award for e-Content Developers scheduled to be held along side WSIS
Phase II in Tunis this year.
The Community Portal
www.kenanaonline.com
The portal aims to provide information, support and services related to
community development in the form of an Internet based interface. It is
targeted to both individuals and the development community, with special focus
on the Civil Society. The portal is divided into several sections described as
follows:
Small & Medium Enterprises Centre. This section provides useful resources
for individuals to set up new businesses. Information available would typically
concern news events, case studies, project profiles and the like. The scheme is
hoping to attract use by providing related studies, ideas, and knowledge.
Provision has been made for free online stores, advertisements, and network of
daily business updates.
Skills Centre. The role of the Skills Centre is simply to provide resources to
increase capacity building. Attention has been paid to IT skills, personal
development, and advice on career advances. The Skills Centre features updates
on opportunities, news and events, and access to training materials. Free
advertising is provided to training agencies.
Civil Society Centre. The Civil Society Centre provides information on how to
establish a civil society organisation, NGO, or university group. It explains
the legal issues, the practicalities of networking and fund raising, and the
skills required for operation of such an entity. The service provides current
news specific to the field and details events in progress. Relevant
developments projects are detailed and also free advertising is offered.
Agriculture Centre. The Agriculture Centre provides essential resources
regarding agricultural practices, and animal husbandry and breeding. Typical
resources provided are crop advice, breeding behaviour, fish farming, and
machinery information. In addition to this advice is given relating to
occupational health and safety.
Family Centre. The Family Centre is providing services relating to family
planning, and basic health issues relating to disease diagnosis and prevention.
One of the aims is to increase awareness of basic health problems such as drug
addiction and personal hygiene. Issues of balanced dieting and basic fitness
regimes are also addressed.
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e-Culture
‘Cultural and linguistic diversity, while stimulating respect for cultural
identity, traditions and religions, are essential in the development of an
Information Society based on the dialogue among cultures and regional and
international cooperation. It is an important factor in sustainable
development.’
WSIS Plan of Action, December 2003
In the digital age, as the world becomes more global and interconnected, it
grows smaller as knowledge, values, and history can be readily shared around
the world. In the current networked world, new technologies can be a vital
instrument in documenting Egypt’s natural and cultural heritage for the
preservation of the Egyptian identity in this age of globalisation.
In the Information Society framework, actions for the promotion of Egyptian
cultural heritage are self evident. The relevant strategy takes advantage of
the capabilities of information and communication technologies and multimedia
for managing and protecting cultural heritage, promoting cultural content,
supporting artistic creation and new ways of expression, and reinforcing and
cultivating the Arabic language.
e-Culture Concept
A national plan for cultural documentation has been designed and is being
implemented. The plan includes measures to improve the skills and efficiency of
units working in the field of cultural and natural heritage by introducing
automation concepts and IT in documentation and publishing. The learning curve
in developing the system is shortened by obtaining expertise through agreements
with international organisations and associations. All information is
disseminated on the Internet in accurate and comprehensive websites that are
powered by user friendly search engines. Compact discs and textbook
publications are also made available to the public.
The challenges involved in introducing ICT into the field of cultural and
natural resource preservation are related to building trust and confidence
between ICT experts and culture specialists. There needs to be effective
coordination between relevant organisations, and identifying the key players
who will establish an e-Culture in Egypt and reach younger generations. In
addition to this, the cost of technology in this area is a considerable
limitation to e-Culture ambitions.
The initiative has confronted these challenges by forming alliances between ICT
establishments in the field of culture and government organisations. This
enabled the introduction of ICT hardware and training to government employees
responsible for cultural heritage. Representatives from both fields of
specialisation work jointly on the implementation of projects. A systematic and
conscious effort is made to enhance the ICT skills of government employees in
charge of heritage management especially in the lower hierarchies of management
as they are directly involved in the material remains of the heritage.
Labour intensive methods are used to harness the cost limitation, especially in
data gathering. The same personnel are then retrained as operators of the
implemented IT systems. Coordination is essential for funding and technical
assistance with international organisations that are interested in sharing the
documentation of this unique human heritage.
e-Culture Projects
CultNat
The mission for Egypt’s National Centre for Documentation of Cultural and
Natural Heritage (CultNat), is to use the latest technology to document and
preserve Egypt’s cultural and natural heritage. It is to build a strong network
of professionals in the field of conservation and documentation of cultural and
natural heritage, and increase awareness using available media. CultNat is
affiliated with Bibliotheca Alexandrina, and is working with the library to
establish itself as part of the global network of organisations involved in the
field of cultural digitisation. The centre is also acting cooperatively in a
project manager role for certain schemes, such as that involving the creation
of a database and digitisation of the holdings of The National Archive of Egypt
(Dar El Watha'aq) with the Ministry of Culture and MCIT. In a similar
way CultNat is involved with MCIT and Luxor City Council on the Little Luxor
project.
CultNat has been working on various projects documenting and preserving
cultural issues. As an example a UNESCO funded project is in place to preserve
manuscripts, including the Scientific Islamic Manuscript Heritage, Al Sirah Al
Hilaliyya, and the CultNat library. The French Cultural Centre, in cooperation
with MCIT, has also now published material on conservation, and the UNDP is
supporting efforts by funding research studies, human resources, and capacity
building.
In September 2004, CultNat located its headquarters in the Smart Village, a
series of successful exhibits were held, such as the Star Riders Exhibition
concerning the field of astronomy. Participating in exhibitions to advertise
Cult Nat’s expertise is a crucial part of activities, such as The Frankfurt
Book Fair. Production of The Archaeological Map of Egypt gained international
recognition by receiving awards at the Stockholm Challenge in Sweden 2004.
CultNat is pursuing continuing recognition and excellence by publishing
documents such as The Wild World of Egypt, Cairo’s Architectural Heritage, and
the Asyut and El Minya Governorate Atlases. Examples of projects currently in
progress are The Natural Heritage of Egypt, Egyptian Folklore, The Musical
Heritage of Egypt, and The Photographic Memory of Egypt.
CultNat is establishing its international presence by participating and
organising numerous conferences, exhibitions, and events. Recent events in
which CultNat was involved include the 1st Eumedis International Conference,
Jordan (April 2005), in the 6th Global Forum on Reinventing Government, Korea
(May 2005), and The World Summit Contributory Conference on ICT and Creativity,
Austria (June 2005).
Archaeological Map of Egypt Project
The overwhelming number of sites, monuments, and artefacts scattered all over
the country, and the ever increasing pace of urbanisation around archaeological
sites, as well as environmental hazards, make the task of archaeological site
management a real challenge. The documentation, protection, and restoration of
sites for future generations has become a vital matter best achieved with the
availability and an extended archaeological Geographic Information System
(GIS), which gave rise to the Archaeological Map of Egypt project.
The Archaeological Map of Egypt offers three consecutive levels of information.
The first is a national one, allowing the user to zoom into different regions
and select sites based on certain criteria. Information available includes
recent and old photographs as well as information about related objects in the
Egyptian Museum. At the second level, a detailed map displays each site and its
components, and the third level portrays in depth data of the selected
monument, a plan of the monument, and an overview image. A complete description
of each wall’s artwork accompanies each photograph, and for some monuments, a
3D model is displayed with the possibility of a virtual visit.
Introduction
The
Foundation for the Information Society
e-Access
Innovation
Capacity Building
Enabling
Environment
Industry
Development
ICT Applications: Benefits in All Aspects of Life
International and Regional Cooperation
Conclusion
References
Appendix
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