Owned by the government and telecom companies, in addition to Internet service providers who are willing to be part of the project, the projected company, to be will be in charge of running and resuming the implementation of the network, Minister of Information and Communications Technology Bassem Roussan said in a meeting with the press yesterday.
Work on the project, which started in 2003 with a view to connect all public schools and universities, and was expanded in 2007 to include government agencies, healthcare centres and hospitals, was halted in 2008 when the Kingdom was hit hard by the global financial crisis.
"The completion of the project is a must as many e-government services, e-curricula for schools and telemedicine providers rely on the network, which offers high bandwidth, thus enabling the provision of advanced services," Roussan told reporters, noting that the project will be finished in a maximum of three years.
Once the project is completed, residents of rural areas will get access to the Internet at schools connected to the network.
According to the ICT ministry, about 35 per cent of the project has been completed to date at a total cost of $36 million.
The ministry will complete the required legal measures for the establishment of the company and refer them to the Cabinet for final approval next week in order to go ahead with the creation of the firm, the minister said.
"It will be more cost-effective and convenient to complete the network in partnership with the private sector," he noted.
Roussan added that another company will be set up to promote e-government services and look into other e-services needed by citizens.
The firm, 51 per cent of which will be owned by the government and the rest by private sector companies, will work to enhance e-government services and consult with public agencies on the provision of new e-services, he said.
In the future, the company will open branches in different Arab states to help Jordanian companies compete for ICT tenders in the region.
"Currently, small-and medium-sized Jordanian IT firms do not have the capability of opening branches abroad and competing for tenders. The company will compete for tenders in the region and when it wins certain tenders it will use these local firms to implement the tenders," the minister explained.
"This will help create jobs as many small-and medium-sized firms have either laid off employees or gone out of business because of the difficult economic conditions," Roussan noted.
"The company will help local firms get a bigger share of spending on IT in the Arab world. There is a huge potential for companies in Jordan to grow as they have the required know-how, but need exposure and this is what we will help them with," he said.
Some 5,000 Jordanians graduate from different IT-related majors every year, while annual spending on IT services in the Arab world amounts to about $31 billion, according to Roussan.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Mohammad Ghazal
Quelle/Source: Zawya, 09.01.2012
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