The first meeting will took place on October 15th. During this meeting a general discussion of the status of computerization at Palestinian municipalities and the current projects were discussed. Birzeit University Computer Center director Marwan Tarazi attended.

The following are the minutes for the meeting:

The status of computerization at Palestinian Municipalities varies widely from one municipality to another. Nonetheless, almost all municipalities face serious shortages in computer resources. These resources range from human expertise, computer systems, and applications.

Current Status:

The total number of Palestinian municipalities and town councils is approximately 600.

• Amongst these approximately 100 use some type of computers in their operations.
• Sixty of the larger municipalities are using a minicomputer based Municipalities Information System that was developed around 1987 by Arab Computer Systems . This system is old and limited, and does not meet the current needs of the municipalities. Nonetheless, this system is the only available choice for most Palestinian municipalities at present.
• many municipality representatives stated that they wished to carry out modifications and developments on the system. However the source code was the property of ACS and the representatives stated that any changes were subject to an agreement with ACS and ACS did not have the human resources to carry out any further developments on the package
• As a result, almost all of the 60 municipalities have introduced PCs and used them for specific small applications to compensate for functions missing from the existing system. Almost none of these applications are integrated together or with the Municipalities Information System.
• Almost all Municipalities have shortages in computer hardware, both in terms of quantity and up to date equipment
• All municipalities have shortages in computer skills, both at the user level and the developer/programmer level
• At present, there is dire need for computer systems to be applied for almost all aspects of municipality operations: administration, finance, engineering services, mechanical works, water and electricity services (not offered by all municipalities), personnel, project management, and Inventory control.

Recent Developments:

• The Ministry of Local Government will be coordinating the development of the Information systems being developed for Palestinian Municipalities. The general objectives of the ministry are the following:
  1. Coordinate the development of a modern Palestinian Municipal Information System
  2. Build a team of experts (local and expatriate) that will assist the ministry in developing its systems.
  3. Develop a strong support information system at the Ministry that will cover the following areas: Engineering and town planning, GIS, communication systems (to link the municipalities), budgeting, training, etc.
  4. Develop programs that will turn municipalities into profit centers.
• Around the end of 1995, the World Bank sponsored a pilot project to build a new Information System for Palestinian Municipalities. This pilot project targeted the municipalities of Gaza and Nablus, the two biggest municipalities.
• This project is divided into three phases:
  1. General Ledger. To be completed at the beginning of 1998
  2. Inventory Control, Purchasing, Payroll
  3. Citizen Management Information System and Billing. It is not yet clearly defined whether this will be within the scope of the municipalities or not.
• Arthur Anderson won a bid to carry out the system’s analysis for phase 1 of the project. It was decided to use Oracle General Ledger, a financial application package by Oracle Corp . Arthur Anderson will carry out the implementation and training for the two pilot municipalities.
• With regard to developing computerized systems for the rest of the municipalities, the following action plan has been developed:
  1. Expand the newly developed information systems to Jenin and Rafah, and the Bethlehem area municipalities (in preparation for Bethlehem 2000). These are: Bethlehem, Beit Jala, Beit Sahur, Doha, and Jericho. In order to do so, a quick analysis based on the Nablus/Gaza one will be carried out
  2. This team will begin to implement the systems at the specified municipalities
  3. Begin expanding the system to cover all other municipalities, the larger ones first. Priority will be given to municipalities with more developed resources (human and infrastructure).
• Hebron Municipality is currently developing its own information system. The development is being carried out by TEAM. The Ministry has requested that they would coordinate with them in order to ensure compatibility with the systems being developed for the rest of the municipalities.

General Responses:

• Most Participants were displeased with the way the Gaza/Nablus and Hebron systems were developed. They felt that had there been better planning, the resources spent for the three municipalities would have been sufficient to develop a system that belonged to all Palestinian municipalities, rather than the proprietary system that was currently chosen, and which will make the system beyond the reach (financially) of the majority of the municipalities.
• The development plan for the implementation of the new system will mean that the municipalities will have to wait for a number of years before new information systems are implemented in their municipalities.
• Participants discussed the possibility of creating technical teams from the municipalities to become involved in and speed the computerization process that is taking place.
• Many participants showed renewed interest in exploring the feasibility of developing the existing system (on the HP3000), at least until a new alternative becomes available.

Recommendations:

1. The creation of technical working groups specialized in carrying out system analysis at the various municipalities. It is suggested that four working groups are created according to the geographical areas: North, Center, South and Gaza.
2. The organization of periodic meetings and in between different municipalities.
3. Coordinating with the Union of Municipalities for the development of the municipal information systems.
4. Requesting the Ministry of Local Government to adopt the recommendations of the working groups.

A follow up meeting will be held on December 13, 1997. The agenda of the meeting is as follows:

1. Reviewing the minutes of the first meeting that was held in October 97
2. Update on the latest IT developments at the Ministry of Local Government
3. Update on the latest IT developments at the various municipalities
4. Formulation of the Municipality Technical Committees.
5. Identifying IT training needs for the municipalities
6. Recommending specific IT related requests to the Ministry of Local Governments

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