Upon an Invitation from Damascus Chamber of Commerce ...Abu-Ghazaleh Tackles the Significance and Advantages of E-government

E-government without e-people is a government without people- HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh

DAMASCUS------ October 24, 2011------- Upon an official invitation from Damascus Chamber of Commerce, HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman and CEO of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org) and chairman of the Arab Society of Certified Accountants (ASCA) delivered a lecture on the “Significance and Advantages of E-government”.

Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh started the lecture by defining e-government, saying: "It is the development, dissemination and implementation of policies, laws and provisions necessary to support delivery of public services via the Internet as well as deliverables of digital community and the economy as a whole."

He added that e-government is considered a government without people if citizens do not have the knowledge, incentives or resources to make use of e-services provided by the government online.

Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh made it clear that Syria is in the process of developing the government strategically, which necessitates transforming internal and external government processes into a new advanced form of citizen-centered services.

He also indicated that by adopting e-government, the Syrian community will become completely advanced in using digital technology at work, education and home.

"Therefore, e-government becomes a crucial component in the knowledge society plans requiring the establishment of infrastructure and regulatory frameworks at the state level to facilitate e-transformation as well as data verification and approval," he said.

He pointed out that e-government implementation provides numerous opportunities such as public services to citizens, knowledge-based development of industries and social development motivation.

Abu-Ghazaleh emphasized that Syria has the opportunity to benefit from other countries’ experiences in implementing e-government, and will therefore be well-positioned to overpass the developed countries.

"Consequently, there will be an increase in using ICT among Syrian citizens, higher rate of knowledge workers, further growth of technology projects as well as increased ICT potential and skills so that the society becomes an effective participant in knowledge creation and economy," he said.

"This would provide new life and new hopes for the future of the Syrian people and contributes to promoting Syria as increasingly attractive destination for foreign investors," he concluded.

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