COVID19 – Arab ICT Initiatives

Digital Initiatives 4 #CoronaVirus in Jordan

1 – “You are not with us, we are with you” : 

Specialists in psychiatry in Jordan launched an initiative under the slogan “You are not with us, we are with you”, to help deal with stress, tension, anxiety, and fear of an outbreak of the Coronavirus which is based on video calling applications to hold therapy sessions. The initiative was adopted by the International Medical Corps (based in London and founded in Jordan in 2008), in cooperation with the Jordanian Psychiatric Association and the Ministry of Health. it provides psychological and social support services, through holding sessions for those demanding, through the use of video communication applications.

The initiative includes all citizens suffering from the symptoms caused by the spread of the Coruna virus. “Those who suffer from fear for themselves and their families from infection with the virus or fear of quarantine, isolation or death from the disease. ”

The initiative also targets medical care providers who are under constant tension, anxiety, and fear of injury, and who suffer from long working hours, fatigue and the protective equipment they wear. The initiative relies on video calling applications to conduct treatment sessions, for those who need them, after a preliminary evaluation by phone.

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2 – mouneh.jo : 

Government officially launches ‘mouneh.jo’ platform for shopping, delivery services

A week after the curfew in Jordan, the activation of the “mouneh” electronic platform launched by the government is started, which is a guide of companies and licensed applications that provide services for delivering goods to homes in all governorates of the Kingdom.

The electronic platform, “mouneh”, includes two main categories:  smart applications and electronic stores, which can carry out electronic ordering operations through itself or by calling, and provide home delivery services, according to the statement of HE. Mothanna Gharaibeh_Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship.

he adds that this platform would facilitate the livelihood of the consumer by delivering any goods needed for the door of his house without his need to go out, by providing the names of groceries and supply stores available in various governorates of the Kingdom, which can deliver goods to the nearby areas within the neighborhoods.

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Digital Initiatives 4 #CoronaVirus in Emirates

TRA INITIATIVES IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19

• Free Internet Data via Mobile phone to enable Distant Learning
• Awareness voice messages when making a phone call
• Availability of a set of applications to support distant learning and work from home
• Online grocery
• Encouraging the use of Service providers mobile applications
• Extension of wireless authorizations and provision of wireless frequency backup
• Network capacity enhancement and re-engineering
• 100% Implementation of Work from Home for TRA employees
• Online training
• Emergency Broadcast
• SMS Alerts to UAE national abroad
• Suspension of deactivation of mobile services due to documents expiry to ensure service continuity
• Assign FM Sound Broadcasting Frequencies for Drive-Through Health Examination Centre
• Enablement of the UAE Government to Work from Home
• Security Advisories on securing systems and infrastructure
• Security Awareness campaigns for the public
• Digital Identity & Signing Platform (UAEPASS)
• Free Internet Data via Mobile phone to Health applications and platforms

Read more details about the TRA initiatives

More initiatives from the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority in coordination with telecom operators (Etisalat and DU), has announced that an additional group consisting of five free educational applications is available on all networks in the country in the context of the procedures adopted to support online learning as one of the means to reduce the spread of the Coronavirus. (Google Hangout Meet, Cisco WebEx, Avaya Spaces, BlueJeans, Slack).

In addition to these ones other applications were previously available namely: (Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business, Zoom, Blackboard).

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The Ministry of Health and Prevention establishes a virtual hospital for the future which enhances the “telemedicine” system to prevent infection by:

– The adoption of digital health technologies to implement the strategy of the Home Hospital of the future.
– The use of advanced smart applications to overcome infection risks through digital solutions.
– The activation of health monitoring services as an essential pillar to support preventive practices.
– Providing specialist care and medical advice to patients at any time.

Telemedicine initiatives: a project with “DU” company; Telemedicine application as a basis for the hospital’s digital platform :

– “ACTIEST” service the first remote monitoring and treatment service for diabetics in the world.
– “Mido Pad” digital application to monitor the vital signs of the body remotely with artificial intelligence.
– “NACILOKOM” initiative for services of rheumatic diseases and arthritis by telemedicine system.
– “Enayati” platform includes smart systems and applications that are linked with a smart predictive bracelet.
– Tele – ICU for Intensive Care, Medical Simulation & Telemedicine.
– The project «On My Way » using the Cloud Computing technology for patients suffering from depression.

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Digital Initiatives 4 #CoronaVirus in Bahrain

1 – “Be safe” initiative from the company, “Zain Bahrain” : 

Zain Bahrain, a leading telecoms operator in the Kingdom, recently introduced their “Be Safe” initiative, aimed at encouraging customers to utilize all Zain digital channels to complete their services in a secure manner from the comfort of their own homes. This initiative aims to support the government directives to encourage citizens to stay at home and be safe during the current COVID-19 situation.

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Digital Initiatives 4 #CoronaVirus in Tunisia

1- Free access for pupils and students to distance education platforms via mobile networks of telecom operators : 

The initiative of the Ministry of Communication Technologies and Digital Transformation in cooperation with telecommunications network operators in the Republic of Tunisia

within the framework of the national effort to prevent the dangers of the outbreak of the Coronavirus, and in order to enable Tunisian youth to have the right to acquire science and knowledge and complete a school and university year that is nearing the end, a move was made towards benefiting from distance education that is provided through digital platforms which are accessed through fixed and mobile internet networks.

To this end, and to allow all pupils and students to access distance learning platforms and in case that this is not possible via fixed networks, the Ministry of Communication Technologies and Digital Transformation informs that all pupils and students can have free access to distance education platforms through the mobile telephone networks of the three telecommunication operators (Tunisie Telecom – Ooredoo Tunisie – Orange Tunisie).

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2 – The Tunisian Ministry of Interior uses modern technologies to implement public quarantine procedures and that through The “policeman robot ” which is a Tunisian industry : 

In a unique experience in the Arab world, the Tunisian Ministry of Interior used a “robot” in the form of a small armored vehicle equipped with surveillance cameras and a thermal camera, controlled remotely, and equipped with a “GPS system” patrolling the streets of Tunisia to monitor the application of quarantine procedures.
The Ministry of Interior published on its Facebook page a video of the public explaining the way the “robot policeman” works by carrying out his monitoring mission and interrogating citizens in the street, to find out their respect for the curfew.

This robot is 100% local industry, by the Tunisian engineer Anis El Sahbani, who founded the “Enova Robotics” company specialized in artificial intelligence and robotic mechanisms after a successful experiment in France, where he was previously assigned the task of making mobile robots to guard French nuclear facilities.

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3 – The Establishment of a platform for electronic proposals to help the health sector in managing the crisis of the Corona outbreak

The National Digital University launches, through this platform, an appeal to all companies in the digital sector in Tunisia, to send their proposals of support and technological contributions to the government, especially the health sector, to help manage this critical stage and confront the COVID-19 in Tunisia.

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4 – Orange Tunisia “and its partners launch two initiatives for digital projects to fight the spread of the Coronavirus

• Orange Developer Center launches the mutual aid platform”M3ak” between Tunisian citizens
• Solidarity FabLabs, supported by the Orange Foundation, have started to manufacture visors for health professionals

Orange Tunisia is keen to support the state’s efforts in the exceptional sanitary conditions. In this context, the experts of the programming school “l’école du code” and the Orange Developer Center with the support of the Ministry of Health designed and develop the digital platform “M3ak” for assistance and mutual cooperation between Tunisian citizens.

« M3ak » allows everyone to contribute in their own way, to support efforts to save the country and reduce the repercussions of the emerged Coronavirus. It aims to facilitate communication between citizens who need help and volunteers who want to help.

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Digital Initiatives 4 #CoronaVirus from Tunisian Universities

1 – Honoris United Universities develops 3D-printed respirator and potentially lifesaving diagnostics and equipment in support of global efforts to combat COVID-19
Université Centrale in Tunisia, a member institution of the Honoris network, has partnered with Digital Industry Tools Expert (DITEX), which brings together the expertise of Dassault Systems, Université de Lorraine in France and industrial engineering company TECH-3D. Together, the team has successfully produced a non-invasive ventilation system that can be made using commonly accessible and inexpensive components, making it affordable and easy to produce globally.

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2 – Teachers and students at the Tunisian engineering and technology institute INSAT developed a web-based platform that can scan lung X-rays and determine whether a patient has the coronavirus infection.

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Digital Initiatives 4 #CoronaVirus in Algeria

The National Bureau for Distance Education and Training (Office national d’éducation et de formation à distance) of the Ministry of Education provides online learning platforms in different subjects for all academic levels.

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Digital Initiatives 4 #CoronaVirus in Djibouti

Digital Initiatives 4 #CoronaVirus in Saoudi Arabia

1 – “We Are All Giving” Initiative : 

The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology launched the “We Are All Giving” initiative through the Digital giving initiative with the strategic partnership of the General Authority of Endowments, many government agencies, specialized technical associations, and private sector partners sensing the importance of technology and the right of everyone to access it, and supporting students with low-income families, by providing the necessary devices to complete their online education at this critical stage, and providing all technical platforms by launching a campaign to collect new and used devices and work to re-maintain them with the assistance of volunteers in the initiative and collaborators from Technical associations and different sectors.

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Digital Initiatives 4 #CoronaVirus in Sudan

Digital Initiatives 4 #CoronaVirus in Syria

Digital Initiatives 4 #CoronaVirus in Somalia

Digital Initiatives 4 #CoronaVirus in Iraq

Digital Initiatives 4 #CoronaVirus in Oman

1 – Marketing platform “BEHAR” : 

Launching of a remote wholesale fish marketing platform “BEHAR” to avoid crowds and the spread of coronavirus “BEHAR”

“Behar”, is one of the most important commercial websites that have been successfully launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in cooperation with the OmanTechnology Fund which is an electronic platform for bidding on fish remotely in the central wholesale market of fish, which is dedicated for traders and companies.

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Digital Initiatives 4 #CoronaVirus in Palestine

Digital Initiatives 4 #CoronaVirus in Qatar

1 – Qatar to use robots to monitor ‘public gathering’ violations (The security robot «Al-Asas ») :

The Ministry of Interior has started using a robot to raise awareness among the community about the importance of social distancing. It will be used “to educate the community on the importance of preventing gatherings to limit the spread of the Corona virus.”

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2 – Drones to spread awareness messages :

The Qatari Ministry of Interior used drones to broadcast awareness messages in several languages via loudspeakers, emphasize the need to adhere to safety measures to limit the spread of the virus, as well as to urge staying in homes and abide by the law that prevents gatherings. This method ensures that citizens and residents are aware of safety measures to limit the spread of the Coronavirus in several languages.

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3 – Distance education and work in Qatar :

The entire life is moving remotely in Qatar. In a move aiming at preventing the gathering to obtain services in an attempt to control the spread of the Coronavirus, all institutions in Qatar have endeavored to provide their services remotely, such as health, education or financial.

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education has approved, since March 22, the application of the distance education system at all levels of education, by activating applications that the student can access, watching the explanation of lessons as well as interaction through this application by doing the homework and obtaining the assessment for each student.

The Government of Qatar has entered into a partnership with Microsoft to implement and adopt modern workplace solutions such as the Microsoft Teams platform, where this step paved the way for the workforce in the country to work remotely in a manner that improves its productivity and contributes to enhancing communication and cooperation between government agencies and thus ensuring that the best services are provided to companies and citizens without interruption.

Digital Initiatives 4 #CoronaVirus in Comoros

Digital Initiatives 4 #CoronaVirus in Kuwait

1 – Drones in Kuwait to urge citizens and residents to break up the gatherings:

Within the framework of the numerous precautionary measures taken by the Kuwaiti authorities to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus in the country, the Ministry of Interior has used the technology of drones to urge citizens and residents to break up the gatherings.

The Ministry of Interior and the official Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) have shared and published on their accounts on various social media sites videos and shots showing the use of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior elements of the drones, and it urges people to avoid gatherings for the safety of citizens and residents in order to reduce the spread of the Corona virus.

Digital Initiatives 4 #CoronaVirus in Lebanon

1- Lebanon Digital Transformation Network Report on the Distance Learning Initiative

A report issued by the Digital Transformation Network in Lebanon on the support of the Distance Education Initiative was issued in March 2020, stating: “In light of the difficult circumstances that Lebanon and the world are going through under the influence of the Coronavirus, the digital transformation network in Lebanon emphasizes the need for solidarity and cooperation between all components Official and popular Lebanese society in order to overcome all the repercussions of this crisis, which affects everyone without exception.

In commitment to this principle, the digital transformation network in Lebanon has worked, since the beginning of the crisis, with all the official authorities within its field of competence, to absorb the effects of the Coronavirus, especially in the field of ability to ensure the requirements of distance education.

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Digital Initiatives 4 #CoronaVirus in Lybia

Digital Initiatives 4 #CoronaVirus in Egypt

Some initiatives of the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology

For the Health sector :

• Increasing the number of free hotlines to answer citizens’ inquiries related to COVID crisis
• Providing for free to all doctors, nurses, and staff working in the medical field, 3000 minutes of communication, and 10 gigabytes of connection per month, in appreciation of their extraordinary efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the Education sector :

• In collaboration with both the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education, MCIT provided school and university students free access to all educational websites during the suspension of schools and universities.
• The government seeks to seize this opportunity to entrench the use of e-learning and distance education culture among students.
• MCIT, in coordination with the Internet Service Providers (ISPs), increased the download quota of home internet packages by 20% to attend to students’ needs in browsing different educational platforms and websites.

For Ministry employees and affiliated entities

• Holding E-meetings via video platform and suspending the fingerprint staff attendance system

For the services provided to citizens

• Increasing the number of post offices operating in the evening period. Number of offices has been doubled from 350 to 2000 to prevent overcrowding in front of offices
  Encouraging citizens to use digital payment methods to pay bills
• Providing all home internet subscribers with additional 20% of their internet to encourage them to stay at home for longer periods.

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The most prominent initiatives from Egyptian technology companies adopted by the Ministry of ICT to fight the Emerging virus COVID-19. 

1- Zoorest application : 

The Zoorest app, which connects pet owners to the veterinarian in addition to various pet services, has launched an awareness campaign to educate customers that dogs and cats do not transmit COVID-19, after many of them have left their dogs and cats on the streets for fear of the virus infection.

2- Widebot : 

It is a robotics platform speaking Arabic for startups, to assist them in maintaining their business despite the risks of transmission of the virus. This platform revealed a promo code “Besafe” that is valid until 3 months and has already launched awareness messages with Careem Egypt and Iraq Pakistan, and the rest of the Arab countries will join them soon.

3-Weelo : 

« Weelo Business » provided a free consulting initiative called “Save your Business” for companies and organizations in the supply chain, to connect them with industry experts and consultants via video and voice calls in order to help them navigate safely during this crisis.
These experts are specialized in distribution, finance, shipping, information technology, logistics, marketing, procurement, production, operations, sales, strategy, and warehousing.

4- Tawfiqia : 

It is a platform that connects car owners with approved car product suppliers, which began to raise awareness for its customers about auto sterilization against the Coronavirus, and also revealed the most common areas of the car that need special sterilization, in addition to providing various ways to stay safe before and after using their cars.

5- Kemitt : 

« Kemitt Company » for Trading in Furniture and Home and Electronic Office decided to exempt those wishing to display their products on its platform since the beginning of the quarantine period, provided that these products are in line with the quality of operation and the standards of the web presentation, and thus reduce the impact of the effects of corona on the furniture designers and manufacturers in Egypt.

6- Agri DB : 

The Agri DB platform for agriculture has created a service for agricultural companies to display their products and communicate with their customers for free for a period of three months, in addition to allowing suppliers to stay at home while communicating with customers, and thus these companies communicate with farmers and traders in different governorates.

More details about the initiatives 

Digital Initiatives 4 #CoronaVirus in Morocco

The Digital Development Agency launches several digital initiatives in favor of Administrations to accompany remote work

Considering the state of health emergency and the lockdown measures implemented to counter the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, several administrations have adopted the digital tool to promote telework and have chosen to limit the physical exchanges of administrative documents and letters.
In order to support this dynamic, the Digital Development Agency (ADD) is launching several digital initiatives to promote and facilitate remote work within Moroccan administrations.

1- The digital Registry:

This is a digital desk platform allowing administrations and public structures to create Digital Registries in order to manage electronically the incoming and outgoing mail flows. Citizens, companies, administrations and public organisms will be able to deposit their letters to the concerned administrations with an acknowledgment receipt.

2- The mail electronic counter:

It allows the automation of the mail treatment process within a given administration. This solution integrates functionalities allowing the administration agents to process and follow the incoming and outgoing mails via assignment and validation workflows.

3 – The electronic signature:

It allows a complete dematerialization of documentary flows requiring a probative value. for that reason, it integrates new functionalities, especially the management of business workflows (human resources management, purchasing, logistics, internal communication, etc.) and the electronic signature of administrative documents.

Digital Initiatives 4 #CoronaVirus in Mauritania

Digital Initiatives 4 #CoronaVirus in Yemen