Dialogue session hears of digital transformation efforts in Jordan

AMMAN — The Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation (AHSF) on Monday hosted a dialogue session, titled “Digital Transformation Efforts in Jordan”, with Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship Ahmad Hanandeh underscoring the ministry’s efforts and progress in the adoption of digital technology.

The minister, in his opening remarks, said that the ministry is working towards enabling digital transformation for governmental entities, through building an adequate infrastructure

Moderated by Yazan Hijazi, director of the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Excellence at Al Hussein Technical University, the session focussed on the national strategy for digital transformation.

According to Hanandeh, a document was released, relating to the ministry’s strategic plan which aims to shift from digital transformation at the institutional level to the national level, adding that “the strategic digital transformation is citizen-centred, data-driven and secured”.

During the dialogue session, the minister shared his views on the legislative and regulatory environment in the Kingdom, noting that “a significant effort has been made, but the major challenges are related to the entrepreneurship regulatory environment, which needs to be rebuilt from scratch”.

Furthermore, the minister said the legislation governing the telecommunication and information technology sector is “mature”, with the need for some modifications, noting that considerable strides have been made towards developing the legislative environment for digital transformation.

Hanandeh, during the session held via the video-conferencing platform Zoom and live-streamed on AHSF’s Facebook page, also said that the ministry is working on collecting data that holds details of government services provided to the public.

“The ministry until now has collected data on 2000 governmental services, out of 2532 services,” the minister noted.

“Global classifications do not necessarily reflect reality, therefore our focus in the coming phase is on our internal priorities. We do not work to be classified,” Hanandeh said.