ICT Ministry working to turn governorates into ‘smart zones’

AMMAN — The Ministry of Information and Communications Technology said Monday it was working on a plan to turn the country’s governorates into “smart zones”.

As part of the plan, the ministry seeks to collaborate with municipalities, operators and stakeholders by analysing big data and deploying technology to provide “intelligent services” for users, said Samer Shamaileh, director of the strategic agreements unit at the ministry.

An agreement will soon be signed with the Greater Amman Municipality to start working on turning the capital into a smart city, and another deal will be later signed with the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority to turn Aqaba into a smart city, he said.

“We will start with these two areas and then the rest of the governorates will be covered,” Shamaileh said.

The project entails, for example, analysing traffic data to come up with solutions to inform motorists about nearby parking places, which roads have heavy traffic, and areas where road maintenance is under way, among others, he said.

“The project is about benefiting from increased connectivity and smartphone penetration across the Kingdom… Jordan has a third and a fourth generation network. It has the infrastructure required to go ahead with such a project,” the ICT Ministry official added.

The increased ownership of smartphones, which exceeds 60 per cent of total mobiles in Jordan, is another factor that will help render such a project a success.

“This is still a new concept in the Arab world but it is the future. Dubai for example is leading in this respect… We will exert our utmost efforts to make sure the project is successful and that it helps make a difference in the lives of residents of all areas,” Shamaileh added.

According to figures by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC), the number of Internet users in Jordan reached almost 6 million by the end of the first quarter of this year . 

By the end of March this year, Internet penetration stood at 76 per cent, with some 5.9 million users, compared to 75 per cent at the end of 2014, according to the TRC

TRC said mobile penetration reached 147 per cent at the end of March, with 11.5 million active mobile subscriptions, 10.6 million of which are prepaid.