Birzeit University has been notified of the approval of a project submitted to the EU Tempus program with about half-million Euros budget.
Dr. Mustafa Jarrar, the project director, explained that the project aims to bridge the knowledge gap and build the competencies of the Palestinian society with the know-how for implementing and deploying electronic and integrated services, in particular e-government services, which are a national priority. Specialized programs will be developed and delivered to the Palestinian ministries and to private sector; as well as several academic courses that will be introduced into the curricula of the partner universities. The project will focus on the capacity building in three main areas (Interoperability, Security, and IT laws), which are the main challenges in implementing any e-service in general and e-Government in particular. A Palestinian e-governance Academy will be established to disseminate and sustain the project results and outcomes.
The partners of the project are:
- Birzeit University, Palestine (Coordinator)
- Palestine Polytechnic University, Palestine
- Palestine Technical University, Palestine
- University of Trento, Italy
- Vrije University Brussels, Belgium
- University of Namur, Belgium
- TrueTrust, UK
- University of Savoie, France
- The Ministry of Telecom and Information Technology, Palestine
- Ministry of Interior, Palestine
- Ministry of Local Government, Palestine
It is worth noting that Birzeit University is the initiator and the grant holder of the project, and will be fully responsible for the scientific and financial management. Moreover, Birzeit University is the only Palestinian university and one of leading Arab Universities that lead local and European universities in the coordinating Tempus projects. Tempus program is one of the most important cooperation programs between the European Union and neighboring countries, aiming to improve not only the quality of education but also to promote scientific research and transfer of knowledge and develop lifelong learning programs in society at large.
The competition this year was very high, in which 450 proposals have been submitted and only 64 proposals have been approved.
