Third Jordan National TEMPUS Day, 4th March

2008

Dr. Saqer Abdel-Rahim,

Director, Information Technology CentreRoyal Scientific SocietyEmail: saqer@rss.gov.jo

Royal Scientific Society Participation in EU Projects Success Stories and Lessons

Learnt

The Royal Scientific Society (RSS) was established in 1970 in accordance with a Royal

Decree. RSS is a not-for-profit institution enjoying financial and administrative

independence. It aims at conducting scientific and technological research and development

work related to the development process in Jordan with special attention to industrial

research and services. It also aims at disseminating awareness in the scientific and

technological fields and providing specialized technical consultations and services to the

public and private sectors. The RSS includes 9 technical centres and four administrative

centres.

Introduction

The Information Technology Centre (ITC) was founded in 1972, two years after the

establishment of the Royal Scientific Society (RSS). It was the first to introduce computerization in Jordan. In 1992 the centre expanded its operations to cover industrial studies and conduct long term specialized training courses in the

field of Information Technology at the regional level in cooperation with Japan

International Cooperation Agency (JICA). ITC is committed to maintaining well-performed applied research and

specialized technical consultation and services based on approved national and

international standards, procedures and methods of software development and studies, ITC

has been ISO 9001 certified since January 2001 and has also adopted RUP (Rational Unified Process) in project implementation.

The Information Technology Centre

At the same time RSS has concentrated on building capacity and professional expertise in important fields like Project Management ( 10 RSS IT Project Mangers attended the 3 week PMP Training and are preparing for PMP certification), Presentation Skills, Customer Relations, Database Design and Administration and Software Development (.NET, Oracle, Java,

PHP ..etc)

- Research and DevelopmentConducting applied research locally and internationally through partnership with concerned international institutions in the various fields of information Technology utilizing an advanced network of computers and the skillful manpower available at the centre.- IT consultations & requirement analysisThis involves the identification of the computerization needs of institutions in terms of information systems, hardware, software, applications, and training. In addition, master plan of implementation, network design, evaluation of bids, and supervision of implementation are provided. Many institutions and ministries have taken avail of these services.

Fields of work:

- Software developmentSoftware development entails establishment of integrated management information systems, including system analysis, design, programming, testing, system integration, acceptance, user training, and documentation. Applications include financial and administrative systems, election systems, web sites & applications, billing systems, WAP application, e-applications, student registration systems, library systems, and so on. Clients include local and international organizations, such as IBM.- Advanced trainingConducting specialized training courses in the various IT fields including short-term and long-term. the center is recognized by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as a regional training center in software Engineering, web computing, multimedia and networking design courses.The centre is also accredited by UNISCO as a training and testing centre for the International Computer Driving License(ICDL).

EU Projects

Completed EU Projects

Project Description:

Textile Application of High Performance Computing in the  Middle East (THEME): THEME project aims at increasing

the uptake of High Performance Computing (HPC) based quality control within the textile industry in the Middle East.

Partners: Jordan, Germany, Greece and Egypt.

Duration: 30 Months (November 1998 – May 2001)

Textile Application of High Performance Computing in the  Middle East (THEME)

Project Description:Mediterranean Science and Technology Information Network (MEDISAT)

Partners:Jordan, Malta, Cyprus, Turkey, Germany and United Kingdom.

Duration: 26 Months (January 1998 – March 2000)

Project Description:

CJIS: to set up a framework to build distributed interactive multimedia networks over the Internet and World Wide Web that would act as Electronic

Roads for cultural and historical exploration in five Euro-Med countries with particular emphasis on

the cross national links of these Electronic Roads.

Partners: Jordan, Egypt, Greece, Cyprus and Spain.

Duration: 36 Months (November 1998 – October 2001)

Project Description:MEDRSSA II: To provide access for European SMEs to emerging markets in the Mediterranean countries.

Partners: Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Morocco, Tunisia.

Duration: 33 Months (March 2001 – December 2003)

WWW: www.medressa.com

Project Description:

HERMES: To boost Euro-Mediterranean collaboration in areas that constitute the intersection of the Information Society Technologies Program & IT Nodes activities. This is part of the EU-EUMEDIS initiative

Partners: Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Greece, Germany and Turkey.

Duration: 37 Months (December 2001 – January 2004)

WWW: http://hayyam.srdc.metu.edu.tr/webpage/projects/hermesProject/

ICT-MED-SMEs

Project Description:

Information & Communications Technology solutions in the Mediterranean SMEs (ICT-MED-SMEs): promoting ICT solutions among Small and

Medium Enterprises from eight third Mediterranean Countries. On a more general scope, it intends to

contribute to facilitate the access to the New Economy to the SMEs from this region.

Partners:Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Cyprus, Turkey, Denmark and Spain.

Duration: 40 Months (October 2002 – June 2006)

WWW: www.ictmedsme.com

Project Description:

EmedTex: development of an Euro-Mediterranean partnership network in the textile sector. This involves the compilation of a database of Mediterranean textile

companies and rendering it available through the Internet, and training of concerned parties in e-

commerce

Partners:France, Greece, Jordan, Syria, Germany, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco

Duration: 24 Months (November 2002 – November 2004)

WWW: http://www.atc.gr/emed-texnet/

Project Description:

Improving Competitiveness of SMEs through IT-based Environmental Planning (SMITE): A

Mediterranean web-based node is to be created to provide information for the food, textile & hotel

sectors and support networking activities.

Partners:Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, Lebanon, Malta, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus and Denmark.

Duration: 36 Months (April 2002 – April 2005)

WWW: http://smite.chemeng.ntua.gr/

Project Name:

Daedalus: to provide the professionals and the mass market with a flexible, dynamic, cost-effective, easy to deploy Mediterranean reference framework that will enable the establishment and the management

of local communities of interest working in the area of tourism and culture heritage.

Partners:Jordan, Tunisia, Turkey, Cyprus, Luxemburg, Italy, Greece and France.

Duration: 58 Months (August 2001 - June 2006)

ONGOING EU Projects

Project Description:

Portable system for analyzing paintings and polychrome objects (InfrArtSonic): development of

an integrated portable analytical system for the non-destructive "sampling" and characterization of

paintings and polychrome objects. The system will be employed at first priority into the investigation of

Euro Mediterranean cultural heritage objects.

Partners:Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Germany, Greece, Italy and Cyprus.

Starting date: Expected 36 Months (January 2006 – January 2009)

WWW: www.infrartsonic.org

The ICT Research Link between Europeand all Mediterranean Partner Countries

20

Mediterranean Information Society

Aims of the Project1. Help the MPC to develop ICT Research Agendas towards EU

research collaboration, and develop a Policy Paper for the EU for targeted research integration of the MPC

2. Create awareness for the opportunities of the EU Framework Programme for Research & Development

3. Identify promising players in the region

4. Train them to become knowledgeable partners in Framework proposals

5. Establish networks across the region and with Europe

Partners

Planet S.A. (Coordinator)……………………………… GreeceIT Consult GmbH………………………………………….. GermanyMinistry of Communications & Information

Technologies………………………………………………. EgyptMinistère des Affaires Economiques et Générales….MoroccoEuromag Consulting……………………………………… AlgeriaCentre National de l’Informatique……………….....……. TunisiaRoyal Scientific Society…………………………..………. JordanPalestine Academy of Science & Technology…..…… PalestineMinistry of Telecommunications…………………………. LebanonMinistry of Communications & Technology…………….. Syria

The Project Workplan

WP 2: Mapping of Research Organisations

Identifying relevant organisations

Mapping of skills and capabilities

Creating the Directory of MPC Organisations

WP 1: The MPC Research AgendaDefining the Consultation Process –

Conducting the Workshops – Recommendations for a Research Agenda

WP 4: Network Facilitation & Dissemination Website development – Promotion in EU

Dissemination in MPC

WP 3: Mentoring Workshops

Preparation of training curricula

Delivery and evaluation of training courses

Set-up of ICT Help Desk Services

ICT-IN-SYRIA

Project Description:

Software Development and Technical Assistance for NISFED. E-Government and ICT Standards

Application in Syria. The project aims at transferring the entire EU experience and best

practices in this regard to Syria,  by designing and implementing a number of complex ICT systems in

a form of three main streams.

Partners: Jordan, Syria, Greece, Germany

Starting date: 24 Months August 2006 – August 2008

Examples of Successful projects

401. ICT solutions for Mediterranean SMEs

This project has been partially funded by the European Commission DG AIDCO under the EUMEDIS initiative. The contet of this publication is the sole responsibility of the project partners listed herein, and in no way represents the view of the European Commission or its services.

Contract number: B7-4100/2000/2165-075 p401Project acronym: ICT Med SMEsProject name: ICT Solutions for Mediterranean SMEsAction line: ICT applied to Industry and InnovationTotal cost (€): 2.374.912 €Commission funding (€): 1.899.930 €

Project Coordinator

Fundació CIREM

Centre of European Initiatives and Research in the Mediterranean

Project Coordinator: Inés GÓMEZ

Address: Travessera de les Corts, 39-43 lat. 2ª 08028 Barcelona SPAIN

Tel.: + 34 93 440 10 00 Fax.: + 34 93 440 45 60

e-mail: i.gomez@cirem.org / f.cirem@cirem.orghttp://www.cirem.org

Partners of the project

F. CIREM (Spain) is the co-ordinator of the project in partnership with DTI (Denmark)

Morocco: Ecole Mohammadia d'Ingenieurs. Université Mohammed V

Ministère de l'Industrie et du Commerce Algeria: Institut Nacional pour le Travail Association Nationale pour l'Entreprise et le Travail Institut de Formation Professionnelle de Birkhadem Tunisia: Cemaref. Centre Mohamed Ali de Recherches,

d'Etudes et de FormationMinistère de la Formation Professionnelle et de l'EmploiJordan: Royal Scientific Society (RSS)National Centre for Human Resources Development (NCHRD)Vocational Training Corporation Lebanon: Centre for Sponsored R+D. Lebanese American

UniversitySyria: Higher Institute of Applied Sciences and Technologies

(HIAST)Intermediate Computer Engineering Institute (ICEI)Turkey: Hacettepe UniversityTurkish Foundation for Small and Medium Business (TOSYOV)Cyprus: Cyprus Institute of Technology

Project Goal

Contribute to SME development in Mediterranean countries by providing IT solutions enabling enterprises to improve their internal work procedures, management of knowledge, transfer of innovations, production and commerce.

Target Groups:

(i) Young graduates and employees who receive training

(ii) SMEs that benefit from qualified personnel and from the ICT advising services

(iii) SMEs who are users of the virtual network

Area of intervention

(*) Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey & Cyprus

Project Specific Goals

WP0 - Management and Co-ordination Promoting the project Monitoring and quality control procedure of the project Administrative and financial report to the Commission

WP1 – Survey• To know the strengths and weaknesses of the Mediterranean

countries for facing the challenges of the Information Society• SMEs needs regarding IT applications and human resource

requirementsWP2 – Training Plan• Preparing people to face the needs of the SMEs regarding ICT• Establishing continuous training mechanisms and procedures

within SMEs

Project Specific Goals (II)

WP3 – Pilot Projects• Setting up innovative ICT solutions in Mediterranean SMEs• Contributing to the north-south transfer of knowledge and

innovations• Acquiring experiences that may then be spread to all SMEsWP4 – Virtual Community• Exchanging experiences and information among the participants• Network at the service of SMEs for information, communication,

experience sharing and benchmarking on best practices in the field

WP5 – Dissemination of the Project• Promote the Eumedis Programme in countries where there are

partners• Disseminating the scopes of the project to achieve the greater

collaboration of authorities, partners and means of communication

WP0 - Co-ordination Results

Establishment of a strong regional network of 12 public and private institutions across the region.

Collaboration of national and regional authorities within the project.

External funding from the Spanish ant the Catalonian Governments.

• www.ictmedsme.com

Design of a virtual platform for the partners communication, debate and interchange of experiences, documents and information.

WP1 – Results of the Study: Computers

Computer Users within SMEs

73%

27%

No users

Users

Portable Computer Users

95%

5%

Non users

Users

< The enterprises have an average of 26.73% of employees using information technologies, witch is consistent with the 27.99% of workers with PC/ workstation in the workplace.

< The number of workers with portable computer decreases down to 5,35% and the proportion of workers with cellular is, the 24,4%.The operating system used by the enterprises of the

survey is Microsoft technology up to the 89,5%.

Internet Connections

The 78,8% of enterprises are connected or have the connection in perspective. The browser used is the Microsoft Internet Explorer with an overwhelming 93,9%. >

SMEs Internet Acces

21%

79%

No internet Internet acces

SMEs Internet Connection

75,2

24,8

0

20

40

60

80

Modem Broadband

Type of connection

Le

vel o

f in

tro

du

ctio

n < The mentioned connection is usually done through the modem+phone line option. Only the 20,1% uses broadbandwidth.

Use of Email within SMEs

The use of external e-mail is widespread among the firms up to the 69,9%. Usually firms have just one mailbox for the whole company (53,7%) and only the 18% have personal mailbox for each employee. Microsoft is again the computer brand used through the 72,5% of firms.

Use of Emails within SMEs

70%

30%

External email Corporative email

In fact the 50,9% of enterprises of the survey have not corporate website even that the 14,1% plan to have it.

WP2 - Training

Development of the training curricula on ICT Basic Skills and Support for Local Networks Administration.

Training of trainers on the internal communication platform.

Training of partners on the MEDSME Platform

More than 250 young people trained in handling basic new technologies.

More than 600 employees of SMEs trained within the project.

WP3 – Pilot Projects

• To develop the DODI Methodology for the Diagnosis and Analysis of the SMEs participant into the Pilot Projects

• Identification of technological needs within 35 SMEs participating in the pilot projects

• Setting up innovative ICT solutions (new technology and training) within 35 SMEs

WP4 – Virtual Platform

Development of the virtual platform www.medsme.com

More than 2000 SMEs registered and acting on the MEDSME platform.

WP5 - Dissemination

• Promotion of the EUMEDIS Programme with the celebration of the ICT MED SME International Conference in Barcelona (Spain, April 2004) within the framework of the Forum Universal of Cultures.

• Dissemination of the activities of the project in the region, through the celebration of seminars and info-days on the MEDSME Platform.

• Publication of news on e-media and local newspapers.

Publications

WP1 WP4 WP5

Impact

• Development of mechanisms of co-operation among the various actors within the MEDA region

•Development of close links among the users of the virtual community

Better performance of the companies where the pilot projects are successful

Adaptation of all the project contents to the particular needs on each country

• Additional value for trained people and improvement in their working life

• Improvement of the education of the young graduates and employees

ICT-MED-SMEs

Amman

RSS Achievements in the project

WP01:Survey of SMEs in Jordan Requirements

Findings : needs for Training on computer

skills ,network management ,and project management

Introducing ICT solutions Using internet for eCommerce.

WP02:TRAINING COURSES

Computer skills course (ICDL) for 20 participants, August 2003

Network management course for 20 participants, September 2004

Project Management for Professionals (PMP) for 20 participants, august 2005

Benchmarking ,Dubai ,November 2005

WP03: PILOT PROJECTS

Computerization requirement analysis study for 5 companies in Jordan representing the following sectors :

Food Pharmaceutical Textile Plastic Electronics

Two of them have implemented integrated manufacturing packages and three have started to partially implement integrated financial and administrative information systems.

WP04 :Virtual Platform

The RSS team redesigned and developed a new user friendly platform using low cost tools.

The website has been hosted at RSS since 2007.

445 companies have been registered to the website

WP05 :Dissemination

Awareness meetings Visits to SMEs Press releases Link to RSS website Info day on 29th march 2006

Conferences attended

Title Date Place

Barcelona Conference April -2003 Barcelona

First EUMEDIS International Conference April - 2005

Dead Sea , Jordan

IT Forum June – 2005 Dead Sea ,

Jordan

Second EUMEDIS International Conference February -2006 Egypt

Seminars/Info days organized

Topic Date Place

Number and people

attending

Awareness Day 1/2/2004 RSS 80

Info Day 29/3/2006 RSS 100

MEDRESSA II

MEDRESSA II

Expanding Mediterranean IT Markets for Europe

Access for European Small and Medium Enterprises in the Information

Technology domain to New Markets in the South Mediterranean Countries

Funded by the European Commission: IST-1999-29058

THE MISSION

•Open New Markets for European SMEs in South Med Countries.•Run Brokerage and Partnership Events for Europeans in 6 South Med Countries. •Run Technology Awareness meetings with companies and associations in the South Med Countries.•Provide Europeans with focused analyses of local South Med markets and business opportunities.

THE MEDRESSA SERVICE

The Brokerage and Partnership Events•EU Companies will be invited to join these events to

present their products / developmentsmeet business partners, both for marketing and joint development

Country Information•Short reports on the local economy•Specific reports on the selected sector•Contact points in the countries

Methodology I

Identify Companies who developed Technology in Europe

Applicability in specific SMCs

Interested Companies and End Users in SMCs

Organize Partnership Events in SMCs

Methodology I

24 Partnership Events until end of 2003

Methodology II

The WEB Information Base

•A repository of all products presentations from the Partnership Events•Contact data of all EU companies who participated•Contact data of the Med Participants•Country and sector reports•Partnership / Technology requests from both sides at any time

The European View

Share Existing Products or Developments•Broaden the scope of their applicability•Direct Exploitation of new markets

Prepare for the Future•Take into account the requirements of SMCs•Identify appropriate partners in SMCs •Pave the way for New Partnerships

The SMCs View

Benefit from existing technology•Adapt and Utilise existing products and technology•Take advantage of the know-how

Participate in the R&D Process•Take into account SMCs needs at an early stage•Establish strong relationship with the European R&D community

The Problems

On the SMC Side:•lack of knowledge of what is available•lack of experience in certain technological areas•small or missing IT Company base

On the European Side:•lack of general knowledge about SMCs•difficulties in finding business partners

The Medressa II Network

•Standardata in Egypt•Centre National de l’Informatique in Tunisia•EMI – Ecole Mohammedia d’Ingénieurs in Morocco•Higher Institute of Applied Science and Technology in Syria• Lebanese University in Lebanon•Royal Scientific Society in Jordan•Consorzio Pisa Ricerche in Italy•Danish International in France•F2i – Fundació Indústries de la Informació in Spain•IT Consult GmbH in Germany (Co-ordinator)

Project Main Achievements

Each of the South Mediterranean partners organized four workshops during the

project.The RSS organized four workshops in Jordan in the following areas:1. IT in the Textile industry2. IT and Cultural Heritage3. e-Procurement4. e-Health