Palestinian Authority Announces Plan for Information and Communications Innovation

The Palestinian Authority Thursday announced its strategy to introduce latest-generation communications and information management solutions in support of the national state building effort, according to a Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology (MTIT) press release.
It said the strategy for a unified communications and government computer center will build a more connected government, foster national unity and accelerate e-government services.
The PA will adopt the latest innovations in hosted services, cloud computing and person-to-person networking to provide real-time voice, data and video collaboration solutions across the existing government network, it said.
The “whole of government” approach, under the leadership of MTIT, is expected to improve information flow within government, enhance national cohesiveness, and lower operational costs.
President Mahmoud Abbas said that “Information and Communications Technologies have become an essential service for governing in the information age, and the PA is charting a strategic course for the future.”
MTIT Minister, Mashhour Abudakka, said, “We have developed a strategy to modernize public administration to meet the demands of governing in the broadband world. The Unified Communications system will connect people better, enable real-time communications in government administration, and build unity of effort.”
The press release said that a comprehensive, 11-month feasibility study on “Public Sector Modernization through Information and Communications Technology” specified the strategy, the services framework for Unified Communications and a new national data center.
The study was conducted by Network Dynamics Associates of Weston, Connecticut under a grant to the PA underwritten by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.
Network Dynamics President Ken Zita said that, “Palestine is reinventing government operations for the information age. The leadership in Palestine is pioneering a new development model for state-building through ICT that may serve as a guideline for other emerging and transitional economies.”
The new Unified Communications services will be deployed initially in the West Bank, but are designed to improve interpersonal cooperation and collaboration among all PA government departments and public institutions.