IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The President of the Republic of Algeria, Abdelmadjid Tebboune (pictured), gave his approval to the Ministry of Microenterprise, Start-ups and the Knowledge Economy to implement the Initiative for Digital Transition. The project was presented on 22 March 2020 during the Council of Ministers.

The Digital Transition Initiative will focus on the digitization of the central administration, documents and administrative forms, the generalization of databases based on the National Identification Number (NIN), the creation of a control panel for decision-making and monitoring government projects. The Initiative also incorporates the modernization of the government Internet network to ensure liaison between departments.

"The work of producing biometric passports is part of the process of modernising the administration and improving the security of documents needed by Algerian citizens for their daily lives," Algerian Interior Minister Daho Ould Kablia said at the January 4th launch ceremony.

The high-tech Algeria biometric passport contains an electronic chip with information about the holder, including a digitised photograph, fingerprints and signature.

“We are very excited about finally getting the government to back a number of proposals we have been making to them for years,” said former ministry IT specialist Ibrahim Abouezzine. He added that within the ministry, there were “too many worries over the emergency laws and how this would affect security. But that is all over now, supposedly.”

According to the newspaper, a major initiative is the “One computer per family” that will target schools and introducing computers and Internet education into the system.

The centre's core business is to promote research and development of ICTs, and its research findings will be shared with other African countries in the continent.

According Algeria's minister of territory and structuring, Mr Cherif Rahmani, 9 hectares of land have set aside for the centre and its master plan will be ready by the end of 2007. Meanwhile, South Korea's minister of industry and trade, Mr Suk-Woo Hong declared his country's commitment in implementing Algeria's ICT strategy and sustaining thereafter.

According to the latest figures from the UN’s International Telecommunications Union, there were 4.1m internet users in Algeria in 2009, a penetration rate of 12%. Numbers are rapidly increasing: ASDL subscriptions grew to 830,000 at the end of February 2011, bringing the penetration rate to 10%, the Post and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority reported in March. This represents growth of more than 18% on 2009 levels, when subscriptions stood at 700,000, a figure more than double the 300,000 in 2008.

One of these, the "1 PC per family" initiative will initially target teachers and their pupils. It will involve the provision of computers, broadband internet and training, paid through specific financing mechanisms. It will then be extended to health care facilities, with those located in the more populous north of the country sharing best practice with those in the south.

Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei is set to help Algeria build e-government by digitizing a large volume of official documents of various ministries, a senior manager from Huawei told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"Algeria has launched a performance improvement program of its administration, and Huawei hopes to participate in this project with local partners," said Gao Jie, the general manager of Huawei Telecoms Algeria.

These measures, scheduled in the government's plan, are meant to build an "efficient and transparent administration, based on a modern public service, and free from any bureaucratic obstacles."

The Interior Ministry's action plan aims at achieving e-administration project to ensure quality services to citizens, Minister Noureddine Bedoui said Sunday in Algiers.

Chairing a conference on the modernization of local administration, Bedoui said the action plan of the ministry, based on several lines, tends to "gather the conditions necessary for the establishment of e-administration project."

Morocco-based startup, DabaDoc, a service that allows people book doctors’ appointments online, has expanded to Algeria and Tunisia.

With the expansion, DabaDoc now supports over 2,000 doctors in the three countries.

Founded in 2014 by siblings Zineb and Driss Drissi Kaitouni, the platform features doctors in 72 different specialties across 50 cities, enabling thousands of patients to connect with doctors through the website.

NXP Semiconductors’ partner HB Technologies has chosen NXP’s SmartMX2 microcontroller for the Algeria’s new secure electronic driver license and vehicle registration smartcards.

This strategic collaboration aims to help Algeria prevent driver license and registration frauds and modernize its government system as public services will be digitized and become securely accessible for users and government administrations. The new smartcards are planned to roll out in 2017.

The Algerian officials were introduced to the state-of-the-art back-end systems that drive Dubai eGovernment and briefed on the goals and achievements realised so far. The visit was coordinated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)