AICTO is pleased to publish the second edition of its Magazine “SMART” entitled “ICT for Well-being in the Pandemic Era and Beyond”

The Arab ICT Organization, in partnership with the Union of Arab Banks, held a virtual press conference on Thursday, February 11, 2021, for the launch of the second edition of the “Excellence Awards for the Best Arab Digital Financial Institutions 2020” (Innovation – Inclusiveness – Loyalty – Well-being).

During the work of this conference, HE. Eng. Mohamed ben Amor, Director General of the Arab ICT Organization, emphasized the importance of this award by highlighting the efforts of the Arab financial institutions (including the banking and postal sectors), in the setting up of digital strategies aiming to develop and deliver innovative digital services. This initiative aims to lead the way and contribute to the global efforts towards financial inclusion.

From his side, the Secretary-General of the Union of Arab Banks, Mr. Wissam Hassan Fattouh, explained the benefits that the financial and banking sectors acquire by adopting the latest communication and information technology technologies in order to develop this vital sector.
During this conference, were presented the goals of the award, its various categories and conditions and mechanisms of participation with the announcement of extending the deadlines for accepting candidatures to March 31, 2021.

At the end of this conference, the date and venue of the coronation ceremony for the winners were announced, and the Arab Republic of Egypt will host the awarding ceremony during the first half of 2021. (this date can be changed taking into account the evolution of the health status in relation to the Corona pandemic).

For further information about the Award please visit the website at www.adb-awards.org

Within the scope of its will to enhance the interregional and international cooperation, AICTO signed on the 6th of January 2021 a Memorandum of Understanding with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).

This MoU aims to boost the cooperation about the digital trust services and e-signature either on the technical or legal level. Hence, to give the opportunity to the Arab states to learn more abouth the europeen experiences and to open the gate for the exchance and sharing of the Arab ones through the coordination with the Technical Commitee «E-Signature and Infrastructure».

Besides, this MoU is one of the enabler towards the achiement of the goals that AICTO has setup, within the scope of its regional project on « Digital Trust » most importantly the interoperability and the mutual recognition of digital trust services at the regional and global levels.

HE. Eng. Mohamed ben Amor – Director General of the Arab ICT Organization, met with HE. Mr. Mohamed El-Fadhel Karim, Minister of Communication Technologies of the Republic of Tunisia, on Tuesday, 15 December 2020, at the ministry’s headquarters.

This meeting dealt with ways to enhance cooperation between the organization and the ministry and unify efforts in joint Arab action in order to contribute to the development of the ICT sector.

During this meeting, His Excellency the Director General of the AICTO reviewed future programs and projects that the organization is working to implement and which will support the ICT sector in Tunisia and in the Arab region.

From his side, His Excellency the Minister affirmed the continued support of the Republic of Tunisia to the Arab ICT Organization for the important role it plays in the Arab region and presented the National Strategy for Digital Transformation 2021-2025, which the Ministry of Communication Technologies is preparing in partnership with all stakeholders in the sector, from the public and private sectors and civil society and professional organizations related to the sector.

HE/ Eng. Mohamed Ben Amor_ Director General of the Arab ICT Organization took part on 9th of December 2020, as keynote SPEAKER, in Huawei Summit entitled “Igniting Innovation Through Education summit”, held virtually in parallel with GITEX Technology Week 2020.

This summit recognizes the role of education as a catalyst for change, bringing people closer and making society more sustainable and prosperous. With ICT solutions now widely recognized as building blocks of intelligent society, supporting innovation and imagination through education is also increasingly important to the national development agendas of nations across the Middle East.

During this summit, HE/ Eng. Mohamed Ben Amor_ Director General of the Arab ICT Organization highlighted the important role of Digital Innovation in the Arab region with a special focus on EDUCATION IN THE COVID-19 ERA and the key role played by the technology at this level.
He claimed the necessity of reshaping the educational systems basing on 3 main pillars: Education – Technology and Innovation to fit with the next normal requirements and challenges.

He also emphasized the willingness of AICTO to support and contribute to this transformation through its project : “Connecting Schools for a Better Future”, in this respect he stressed the key role of Regional & International cooperation in building and strengthening common Innovation systems and models for the Education of tomorrow.

Within the framework of strengthening cooperation between the Arab ICT Organization and “Huawei”, a meeting was held on Tuesday, November 24, 2020, which brought together AICTO’s officials with their counterparts from Huawei.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Director-General of AICTO HE. Eng. Mohamed ben Amor congratulated Mr. HOU Tao for his appointment as Global Vice President of “Huawei”, wishing him all success in his new duties, then he expressed his deep gratitude for the bilateral cooperation between AICTO and “Huawei” and his pride in the success of this partnership. Afterward, the Director-General of AICTO presented the outlines of the main projects and events scheduled for 2021, shedding the light on the importance of the continuity of this cooperation to accomplish the upcoming projects.
He invited by the occasion, Mr. HOU Tao to attend the inauguration ceremony of AICTO’s first regional office in Baghdad, Republic of Iraq, which will be held during the first months of next year.

Regarding the Smart Magazine project, recently launched by AICTO, HE. Mr. Mohamed Ben Amor thanked Huawei for their valuable contribution. He has expressed his willingness to pursue all forms of cooperation with Huawei in future issues.

From his side, Mr. HOU Tao _ Huawei Global Vice President thanked HE. Mr. Mohamed Ben Amor, Director-General of AICTO for the continued support provided saying: “The last two years of cooperation were very fruitful, we hope to further strengthen this partnership to work together to build a better future”.

Huawei officials confirmed their involvement through their know-how in the various AICTO strategic projects which aim to the development of the ICT sector in the Arab region.

During this meeting, Mr. HOU Tao presented to AICTO the overall R&D investment situation and annual performance of Huawei. He also mentioned that Huawei has always been committed to promoting and developing a better ICT talent ecosystem in the region with the Tech4ALL program. This program, of which education, environment, health, and development are the four major pillars, aims to ensure digital inclusion of all society.

At the end of the meeting, the Director-General of AICTO thanked Mr. HOU for the meeting and for Huawei’s efforts in Tunisia, in the Arab region, and in the world through developing the ICT industry in order to promote economic and social development.
From his side, Mr. HOU said: “We once again thank AICTO for its positive contribution to improving the communication technology sector as a major player in the ICT sector in the Arab region. We hope that by 2021, AICTO will formulate policies that support the digital industry to boost economic development and enhance ICT at the regional level”.

A memorandum of understanding has been signed at Tunis on the 5th of November 2020 between the Arab Information and Communication Technologies Organization (AICTO) represented by HE. Mr. Mohamed Ben Amor_ Director-General and the Canadian-Tunisian Chamber of Commerce (CCCT) represented by Mrs. Souad Siala, President.

The purpose of this memorandum of understanding is to initiate and carry out joint actions in the ICT sector and which fall within the scope of the missions of each of the two organizations AICTO and CCCT and allowing the achievement of their respective objectives. One of the actions on which the two parties have agreed to address in a first step consists in mobilizing the Canadian ICT community by the CCCT to participate in the Francophone ICT Forum that AICTO intends to organize on the sidelines of the Francophonie Summit which should be held at November 2021 in Tunisia. the two parties will also look into other actions to promote exchanges between Canada and the Arab Region in the ICT sector.

The Arab Information and Communication Technologies Organization signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Arab Red Crescent and Red Cross Organization on Wednesday 14th of October 2020.

This agreement was signed during a remote ceremony via video conference by the Director-General of the Arab ICT Organization, HE. Eng. Mohamed ben Amor, and the Secretary-General of the Arab Red Crescent and Red Cross Organization, HE. Dr. Saleh bin Hamad Al-Tuwaijri.

This agreement aims to strengthen joint Arab action and extend bridges of cooperation between the two organizations in order to achieve common goals in the field of humanitarian work and disaster reduction and management and to appraise the key role of Information and Communication Technologies at this end, also to provide technical support to the Arab Center for Disaster Preparedness.

HE. Eng. Mohamed ben Amor explained during the signing ceremony that AICTO has a strong belief that, accurate information and reliable channels for its delivery and dissemination are among the most important factors of coping and dealing with crises or disasters, whether natural or man-made.
AICTO is committed through this agreement to unify efforts with the Arab Red Crescent and Red Cross organization, each from the field of his specialization in order to provide the required assistance to the Arab citizen to deal with the next normal situation by using the facilities and tools provided by the ICTs.