The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has outlined its strategy for the introduction of up-to-date communications and information management solutions as parts of the national state building effort, the Palestine News & Info Agency reports. The Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology (MTIT) has said that its strategy for a unified communications and government computer centre will ‘build a more connected government, foster national unity and accelerate e-government services,’ and the regulator expects to adopt new innovations in hosted services, cloud computing and person-to-person networking in order to provide real-time voice, data and video collaboration solutions across the existing government network. Unified communications services are expected to be deployed initially in the West Bank, although the Palestinian government expects the project to improve cooperation and collaboration among all of its departments and public institutions. Further, this ‘whole of government’ approach is expected to improve information flow within government, enhance national cohesiveness, and lower operational costs.
Such plans follow an eleven-month feasibility study entitled ‘Public Sector Modernisation through Information and Communications Technology’, which was carried out by US-based Network Dynamics Associates under a grant to the PNA underwritten by the US Trade and Development Agency.
Commenting on the development, PNA president Mahmoud Abbas noted: ‘Information and communications technologies have become an essential service for governing in the information age, and the PNA is charting a strategic course for the future.’ MTIT minister Mashhour Abudakka meanwhile added: ‘We have developed a strategy to modernise public administration to meet the demands of governing in the broadband world. The unified communications system will connect people better, enable real-time communications in government administration, and build unity of effort.’