Lecture introduces Palestine’s e-governance approach

The Computer Science Department at Birzeit University sponsored a lecture on February 7, 2017 on strategic development of electronic government systems in Palestine. The lecture, “Toward Mature Software Systems in E-Government," was presented by Salam Turkman, engineer at the e-government unit at the Ministry of Telecommunication and IT.

Turkman described how most e-government systems face problems in technical expertise. The outcomes of e-government projects that are handed by the government to the private sector are not compatible with each institution’s function.

The e-government project is a national initiative that seeks to improve the quality of governmental services in cooperation with the private sector, she said. “Governmental electronic systems try to ensure that ICT become the enabling instrument of an integrated reform process that will make the Palestinian government easy to reach, easy to understand, easy to trust, more responsive to change, accountable for its actions, transparent in its processes, financially responsible and efficient, and, through monitoring and evaluation, more effective,” she said.

However, Turkman continued, better knowledge and understanding of project phases are needed to enhance the project’s outcome and reduce efforts.