bul1eng

Information bulletin for members of networks of Mediterranean Information technology Nodes (ITNs)

Editorial

The first workshop devoted to the management of skill nodes was held in Tunis from the 29th of June to the 2nd of July. The second part, in order to finalise the plan of action, will be held on 1-2 October.

The 11 other participating countires in the project will also benefit from this workshop between July and October. The program is taking shape. Already, the specialised workshops have begun to be planned.

However, what is important is the starting-up of the implementation of the nodes in certain countries (sometimes even before the workshop on node management took place!).

The dynamism is in place.

Eric Sutter

Table of contents

• The workshop on ITN management in Tunisia 2

• Forthcoming events 2

• Calendar of training actions 3

• About the Web site 4

• MEDA - ECom 5

• List of national coordinators 6

Opened by the Professor Refaat Chaabouni, the Director of the Department of Planning, Prospectives and Evaluation at the Secretary of State of Scientific and Technological Research, this workshop (the first of the MED-ITN program) brought together, for four mornings, 15 participants representing 7 different organisations: The National School of Computer Science (ENSI), the Faculty of Sciences of Tunis (FST), the Centre for the Promotion of Exports (CEPEX), the Center of Studies and Research in Telecommunications (CERT), the Technical Centre of Textile (CETTEX), the National Computer Centre (CNI), and the Regional Institute of Computer Science and Telecommunications (IRSIT).

Even if the next workshops will undergo some fine-tuning in order to be even more performant, on the whole, the evaluation showed that the participants were globally satisfied. Regretfully, other Tunisian organisations (the technical centres, in particular), did not participate in this workshop. Some elements were provided during the workshop in order to begin to develop the plan of action. Some partnerships were formed for each of the five principal themes and the participants must meet again in order to follow the second part of this workshop the 1st and 2nd of October and to finalise the plan of action.

• Multimedia Technologies Workshop Content, Infrastructure and Expertise towards a Euro-Mediterranean Multimedia Industry, Malta, 29th-31st May 1998. (www.medmultimedia.org)

• Policies and Business Strategies for the Information Society in the Euro-Mediterranean Region, Istanbul, 15-16 June 1998.

These workshops are organised by the Piloting Committee of the Euro-Mediterranean Information Society (the Aldana group) in order to promote the creation of Mediterranean multimedia content.

Please, inform us about any manifestation or event concerning the Information Technology in your country

This Euro-Mediterranean project MED-ITN is yours ! The success depends on your active contribution, on your initiatives, on your ability to demonstrate your dynamism. Don't hesitate to keep us up to date concerning your actions for promoting information technology in your country. We will report it in this bulletin.

These training seminars are intended for persons in charge or specialists of the organisations that desire to be candidates for constituting a node of the network on information technology. The detailed program, the conditions for participating and the practical information will be sent to you shortly, as and when the dates are fixed. Please contact the ITN coordinator of your country (Cf. annex).

There will be a seminar held in each country (4 days). The seminars will be prepared by the Planet Consortium team. The date (during September and October) will be determined soon.

There will only be one seminar held, that is to say one for the 12 Mediterranean countries, and that will be held in Grenoble (France), on the Centre TIME premises, from the 16th to 27th November 1998.

To learn more about the program and the pedagogical team, see the Web site or directly http://www.esc-grenoble.fr/time/medform.htm

was interrupted for several days. The service can nevertheless be consulted indirectly on a temporary site:

Starting as of the 15th of July, you can find a selection of sites devoted to the two following themes:

For each of the 12 participating countries in the MED-ITN project, you will find on the site a data sheet recapitulating the organisations concerned by the project (in one way or another) and a selection of the local sites.

Thank you for enriching these pages, and for indicating to us any or all modifications that you could make. Please do not hesitate to check out the pages of the other countries, you might make some interesting discoveries...

This site is yours: it is up to you to update it with news (directly or by links to your local site). Send us your information, by e-mail to : e.sutter@bvdparis.imaginet.fr or by fax: 33 1 45 24 49 10.

This is a project submitted to the European Commission by the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, at the initiative of Professor Asuman Dogac, Ph.D. Five objectives are targeted via this project :

- To create an infrastructure that will facilitate the coordination, the cooperation and the technology transfer among academic, research and industrial organisations working on electronic commerce in the Mediterranean region in cooperation with the EU countries.

- To support Mediterranean region development by: assessing the currently available technology in the industry; stimulating the transfer of technology between the EU and Mediterranean countries in the field of electronic commerce; and establishing a strong and self-sustained scientific and industrial network.

- To “cultivate” the concept of excellence in electronic commerce in the region by providing the necessary leadership to establish new and coherent research directions, and by efficiently disseminating the new knowledge while assisting the training of both professionals and studentin these technologies of the future.

- To ensure that socio-organisational impacts and legal aspects of electronic commerce are fully taken into account in the region by promoting their discussion at all levels.

- To support harmonised European-wide approaches towards elcommerce and a unique European viewpoint, including support for the several Commission initiatives.

To learn more about the “MEDA-ECom project: A Euro-Mediterranean Network of Excellence on Electronic Commerce”, consult the page on the Web devoted to Turkey (under the METU heading) or directly at the following address: <www.srdc.metu.edu.tr/medaecom>.

In order to receive directly the next issue of this newsletter, please send back to Bureau van Dijk your wish to subscribe, for free, by indicating your name, your company’s name, your position, and your e-mail address (or fax number)

This newsletter is to be largely distributed to the organisations involved in the MED-ITN project. Please, disseminate it to your colleagues or indicate to us the e-mail address of the persons susceptible of being interested in it.

Algeria Prof. Moussa BEHAMADI CERIST 213-2-912136 213-2-912126 benhamadiist.cerist.dz

Cyprus Prof. A. SCHIZAS University of Cyprus 357-2-338705 357-2339062 cspitsilturing.cs.ucy.ac.cy

Angelica KOKKINAKI University of Cyprus 357-2-338705 357-2-339062 csangelturing.cs.ucy.ac.cy

Egypt Dr. Raafat RADWAN IDSC 202-3551551, 56900 202-35448979 rradwanidsc.gov.eg

Israel Meir GOLDMAN PISHEVA Ltd. 972-52-589375 972-3-5250312 meirgo@netvision.net.il

Jordan Prof. Abdel-Rahim SAQER Royal Scientific Society 962-6-844701 962-6-844806 saqer@rss.gov.jo

Lebanon Prof. F. F. SARKIS University of Beirut 961-1-402909 961-1-402909 f.f.sarkisinco.com.lb

Prof. Wajdi NAJEM Universite Saint-Joseph 961-1-500982,201236 961-1-500981 adm-esib@usj.edu.lb

Malta Saviour BALDACCHINO Maltacom 356-484128, 9494632 356-486229 sabaldac@maltacom.com

Morocco Dr. Abdelfdel BENNANI ENSIAS 212-7-779642 212-7-777230 benanniensias.ac.ma

Palestinian Auth. Dr. Marwan TARAZI Birzeit University 972-2-9982072 972-2-9957656 mtaraziadmin.birzeit.edu

Dr. Ghassan AL JAMAL Birzeit University 972-2-9982012 972-2-9957656 itteambirzeit.edu

Syria Prof. Dureid AZZOUZ HIAST 963-11-5132783 963-11-2237710 hiast@syriatel.net

Tunisia Dr. Salah BENABDALLAH IRSIT 216-1800122 216-1-787827 Salah.Benabdallahirsit.rnrt.tn

Dr. Hatem MALOUCHE IRSIT 216-1800122 216-1-787827 Hatem.Maloucheirsit.rnrt.tn

Turkey Prof. Asuman DOGAC METU 90-312-2105598/2076 0-312-2101259 Asuman@srdc.metu.edu.tr

Prof. Selahattin KURU Bogazici University 90-212-2631500 90-212-2658488 Kuru@boun.edu.tr