AMMAN – The launch of one of the largest consortiums aiming to strengthen contribution to Jordan's e-government initiative was announced yesterday.
The consortium consists of 8 major local and international ICT firms which will work together in one of the biggest initiatives the private sector has ever seen to offer the necessary support on behalf of each of its member firms according to their individual specialization.
Representatives of each of the 8 member firms met to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to launch the initiative and determine the consortium's joint responsibilities and duties in addition to the individual responsibilities and duties of each of its firms.
The consortium, which is considered to be one of the biggest (on both the local and international level) grouping of private sector firms formed to support a government project, includes 8 of the biggest local and international firms, namely: Jordan Telecom, France Telecom, e-Dimension, Sofricom, Abu-Ghazaleh & Co. Consulting (AGCON), McConnell International, Cisco Systems and Global One.
Under the terms of the MoU, member firms of the consortium will be responsible for handling several joint duties and responsibilities in addition to the individual duties and responsibilities set for each member firm with regards to their individual specialization.
The MoU dictates the necessity for each of the member firms to put into practice their expertise and support (in their field of specialization) whatever aims to achieve the goals of the consortium and support its efforts through representatives from the various programs of the initiative. The MoU also calls for the highest level of cooperation between member firms to make available the necessary resources and methods needed to support the various programs of the project.
Each of AGCON, McConnell and Sofricom will be responsible for gathering information and reports for this stage of the project while Jordan Telecom will be responsible for coordinating between the different member firms in addition to managing and organizing the consortium's special events and activities which have included the signing of the mentioned MoU.
France Telecom was assigned the responsibility of providing support to the e-government project through putting into practice its expertise in the field of electronic business transactions and through offering participants of the consortium's events an opportunity to reflect on the experiences of France Telecom in this field and support the consortium in its activities involving the provision of necessary support for the project in Jordan and abroad.
On its part, e-Dimension will present the necessary support for the project through putting into practice its expertise and contacts in the Internet and content development to serve the goals and work of the consortium.
The MoU states the independence of each member firm in respect of its set responsibilities and commitments; however it does not give the right for any member firm to individually represent the consortium or act independently of it.
On this occasion, Mr. Pierre Matthey, CEO of Jordan Telecom said: "We are glad that through this initiative we were able to attract this amount of specialized firms to provide unconditional support to the e-government project in Jordan and thereby directly addresses the calls of His Majesty in this regard. Through this project we present to Jordan and Jordanians an initiative that will play an important role in their future and the future of their country in accordance with His Majesty's vision."
Matthey expressed his sincerest gratitude to all member firms of the consortium which have demonstrated their expertise for the sake of this country that is taking solid steps towards keeping up with the most recent international developments in this and other fields.
Matthey expressed his confidence in the consortium's ability to perform its role given the position and experience of each of the member firms.
The MoU was signed by each of Mr. Pierre Matthey on behalf of Jordan Telecom, Mr. Mark Ripp on behalf of France Telecom, Mr. Maher Al-Khateeb on behalf of Cisco Systems, Mr. Osama Al-Anani on behalf of Sofricom, Mr. Tamooh Al-Khouly on behalf of e-Dimension, Mr. Imat Ayub on behalf of Global One and Mr. Luay Abu-Ghazaleh on behalf of AGCON and McConnell.
France Telecom is considered to be one of the largest international companies working in the field of ICT and works with high adaptability to meet the needs of its clients not to mention its active participation in developing ICT.
Cisco International works on providing IT and Internet solutions while actively participates in providing its expetise to Internet providers and has a proven track-record of experiences in world-wide government websites as well as in the educational field.
E-Dimension, the fourth member firm of the ICT consortium, offers advanced technical tools for websites and IT solutions, aiming to provide firms and institutions with their necessary requirement of solutions.
Sofricom is one of the unique international providers of ICT offering different communication services in addition to fixed, cellular internet and other services. Its services are dispersed to include many regions of the world through ICT providers. AGCON is a holding company that aims to link the Arab world to the global economy. Finally, McConnell is one of the leading companies that contributes to placing its clients in business leadership positions. Its activities are based on providing consolidated support to ICT.