Building on its continued efforts to implement e-government practices, the Jordanian Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MoICT) kick-started a series of workshops in collaboration with members of the Italian-UNDESA Mission for the e-Government for Development Initiative, headed by the Advisor to the Ministry for Innovation and Technology of Italy.
The working visit is a follow-up to previous exchanges between the two governments that aimed at identifying common objectives and areas of work in Jordan's e-Government program. This is all within the “e-Government for Development” initiative aimed at supporting the introduction of e-Government applications in developing countries.
“These workshops are a result of a series of ongoing meetings between the Jordanian and Italian governments, with the objective of taking the model beyond theory and into implementation”, said Fawaz Zu'bi, minister of ICT. “The collaboration helps the Ministry of ICT to gain first-hand experience from the Italian team as they have already undertaken the implementation if their e-Services, and will hopefully achieve the objectives of our program and those of the initiative of “e-Government for Development”.
During the first two days, two workshops will be held in parallel on e-procurement system and the national e-accounting system, whereby the visiting team will collect information, present options and draft with the Jordanian representatives, terms of reference for feasibility studies on the two project areas.
During their stay, the Italian-UN delegation will meet with donor agencies such as the World Bank, the European Union and non-governmental organizations, to present the initiative and explore the potential for partnerships.
Collaboration between the Jordanian and Italian governments and the United Nations started in March 2002, and was followed by further meetings and activities during the International Conference of e-Government for Development in Palermo, Italy where Jordan was chosen one of five countries to partner with in the development of a global e-Government framework.
The Ministry of Information and Communications Technology is responsible for articulating policy in the areas of information technology, telecommunications, and post in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
With the objective of providing Jordanians access to benefits of information and communications technologies (ICT), the Ministry's mandate includes creating an enabling environment for ICT investment, overseeing promotion of ICT opportunities in Jordan, and creating national awareness about the importance of the sector to economic development. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
