1. Steps towards E-Government in Syria
Nibal Idlebi
Ministry of Communications and Technology

2. Agenda ICT, a tool for the development of the Government
ICT Status in the government in Syria
Initiatives for E-Government in Syria

3. ICT, a tool for development !
ICT is a fundamental vehicle of how modern
societies may function
E-Government is one enabler to achieve the
modernization of the society.
Effective exploitation of ICT opportunities should
help the countries in achieving economic growth,
competitiveness and transforming the societies
into information and knowledge based societies

4. E-Gov, a tool for development !
E-Government is a long term programme
of change to :
Transform the way government makes policy,
Transform the way services should be delivered,
Transform the way government uses technology,
Change the way the public service is valued.

5. E-Government project Layers
Infrastructure layer and Information level ensuring connectivity and information availability,
Security and service level, ensuring security of transaction and information, authentication and privacy of data sharing
Application level, ensuring different services in various sectors such as tourism, healthcare, transportation, etc
Access level, ensuring the availability of services through different kind of access devices such as mobile telephone, digital TV, call centres, PC, Public Access points.

6. MoCT Objective The use of ICT:
for enhancing the work of the government
in improving the industrial and economical sector
development of social and cultural activities.
Importance of E-Government in:
improving the administrative procedures in all the
governmental bodies,
creating citizen-focused and accessible services.

7. ICT in Syria (2003)….. Fixed phone penetration rate : 13%
Mobile phone subscribers: 1,200,000
Internet subscribers: 120,000
Dial up is mainly used for Internet access
Number of computers : 500,000 half of it in the government offices
23% of citizens have information about computer
Lack of specialized engineers in ICT

8. ICT use in government bodies
A considerable number of projects for the use of ICT in administrative and procedural work
Lack of integration between different ICT applications
ICT is not used professionally in the different governmental establishments
Some high level integrated projects
Information are not used as base for decision making
IT is not used yet as a tool for decision making

9. ICT use in government bodies
The number of web sites has increased recently,
but it is still very low
Most of the web sites are hosted abroad
Lack of legislation for the professional use of ICT,
and lack of cyberspace laws
Web sites for publishing information
Non E-Commerce applications
Non E-Government services

10. To go towards e-Government
Administrative Reform

11. To go towards e-Government
Professional use of ICT
Train People on the use of computer and internet
Improve the penetration rate of ICT
Development of integrated software for the back offices in the government bodies
Development of applications
Development of Web sites and e-services

12. National ICT strategy for socio-economic development
Defined recently by the MoCT
E-Government is one of its directions
Specific national initiative for e-Government

13. National Initiative for e-Government
Creation of National Steering Committee responsible of e-Government Initiative
Establishment of National Information Service Centre
Launching e-Government projects
Re-activation of Decision Making Support System project
Launching projects for public opinion exchange between governmental bodies and citizens
Defining indicators for e-Government project evaluation

14. Legislations needed for e-Gov
Under study
electronic signature law
electronic document exchange law
e-Commerce law
Intellectual Copyright law,
In the future
Electronic payment
Privacy & security
Consumer protection
Electronic Cyberspace Laws

15. National Steering Committee
Coordination between the different government bodies and administrative reform programs
Define the action plan for the best use of ICT in administrative reform
Define the evaluation criteria of e-government initiatives and applications
Define standards for the use of ICT in administrative reform
Launch pilot projects for back office automation
Launch pilot projects in e-government

16. National Information Service Centre
Facts in Syrian institutions
Most of institutions follow one business rules:
governmental working force’s main law,
Contracts rules,
Social Security rules etc.
Most of institutions are very similar in their infrastructure needs
Local Area Network, with one server and few Computers stations

17. National Information Service Centre
The basis of e-government in the country
for back office applications
encourage institutions to use computers and establish a common network.
ease the (financial / administrative / regulation) burden on each institution
establish common rules to all the institutes to follow locally and nationally

18. National Information Service Centre
Key words as base of the NISC :
Simplification and specification of procedures,
Security,
Reliability,
Standards at different level,
National governmental network,
Integrated Information System.

19. Goals of NISC
Establishing a good working environment for the governmental institutions
Establishing complete national rules and information national standard for the information system in Syria.
Accreditation of software programs according to the developed specifications
Creating a complete, comprehensive and integrated computer services

20. Goals of NISC
Specifying the typical institution requirements to achieve their secure interconnect and establishing their LAN / WAN connection
Offering different services to help spreading IT technology throughout most of the Syrian government’s institution and establishing e-Government: Security, Authentication, Login.
Create strategic relationship with the application software providers.

21. e-Government projects
Launching e-government projects in some governmental bodies according to their need and their level
Launching Government Portal as first step for e-government applications
Developing portal for e-government initiative

22. Decision Making Support System
Activate the project
Links with Central Office of Statistics
Deliver periodic indicators about Syrian economic
Publishing information and indicators on the Internet

23. Periodic Public discussions between governmental bodies and citizens

24. Set up Indicators for e-Government & Set up a model for its following up