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Al Fayez and Abu-Ghazaleh Sign Agreement to Transform the Senate into Smart and Knowledge-based Institution
11-Jun-2017
AMMAN - HE Senate President, Mr. Faisal Al Fayez, and HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org), signed an agreement that aims at transforming the Senate into a smart and knowledge-based institution.
The agreement seeks to develop and upgrade all Senate professional and technical services as well as provide the required training to Upper House personnel.
Commenting on the agreement, President Al Fayez said it comes in line with the goal of developing Senate services, enhancing staff capacity building, reducing manual work, facilitating performance evaluation, fast revision of any errors, and prompt publication of Senate documents.
His Excellency added that other objectives may be achieved as well, including the need to overcome administrative obstacles, technical problems and proper utilization of time, money and effort. He noted that the computerization of Senate’s activities and work conforms to "our own vision, as well as the Kingdom’s tendency towards implementing e-government".
Mr. Al Fayez extended his gratitude to Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization, represented by Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh, highly commending its national role since it volunteered to carry out this significant project, which, he added, will create a transitional leap in developing Upper House services, and upgrading all its activities in the ICT field.
For his part, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh voiced his happiness for signing the agreement, stressing its important objective in transforming this prominent legislative body into a smart institution and a role model for other institutions in the Kingdom.
He also affirmed that coping with technological development is no longer just about saving time and effort; it has become a necessity that we have to coexist with taking into account that there will be no future without knowledge.
The project includes an action plan and a timeframe to set a policy for the use of email, for introducing email usage guidelines, and for developing a new website that incorporates Senate’s news, photos, videos, media information, and laws among others.
The project also consists of developing a Discussion Platform that enables Senators to attend the Council’s meetings remotely, developing an intranet Portal that offers space for discussions and exchanging ideas, in addition to assisting Senate members in easily checking different documents such as minutes of meetings, meeting invitations, agendas and other material.
Another study will be submitted, based on the agreement, underlining the significance of electronic archiving of the Senate’s documents and files, providing training to Senators to enable them to use the Internet and computer, in addition to the provision of digital learning programs through Talal Abu-Ghazaleh University, in all related fields.
The agreement also includes the provision of a media action plan that enhances communication with the local community through various media outlets. It also provides for establishing a knowledge center at the House to be equipped with the required furniture, tools and programs by the Tala Abu Ghazaleh Organization, in addition to preparing the House’s Organizational Structure in terms of digital transformation, as well as evaluating the need of the House for servers, equipment, and software, and to examine the potentials of connecting the Senate to high-speed Internet access.