Preparing the Arab Digital Agenda / The Arab Strategy for Information and Communication Technology

Document preparation is divided into 4 stages:

  • Configuration Stage

The Arab Council of Ministers for Communications and Information, in its 23rd meeting on December 18, 2019, authorized the Arab working group responsible for developing the Arab Strategy for Communication and Information Technology to make the necessary decisions regarding the methodology proposed by ESCWA for preparing, developing, and implementing the Arab Strategy for Information and Communication Technology (the Arab Digital Agenda). This methodology was based on observations made during the 31st meeting of the Strategy Working Group, held on September 19, 2020. The document was prepared in cooperation with experts from Arab countries and international and Arab organizations involved in developing the strategy, according to a matrix to determine the responsibilities of each party involved in the work.


  • Stage of building partnerships and mobilizing resources

In accordance with an official request from the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States to the Executive Secretariat of ESCWA, the two organizations are launching a joint project for research and technical cooperation aimed at implementing the proposed methodology (within a week of the report of the 31st meeting of the working group).

ESCWA, as a UN expert house of international and Arab character, is well-known for its expertise in designing and managing such framework projects and supervising a network of international, regional, and national experts. This includes: (1) designing and managing a joint framework project for research and technical cooperation, (2) building partnerships, managing the process of authorship, preparation, and designing workshops, in accordance with international best practices, and (3) establishing a central mechanism for research and technical cooperation focused on developing the scientific content of the agenda, strategy, and executive action plan, with the goal of implementing the intended joint cooperation.


  •  Stage of writing and technical drafting 

The agenda was adopted based on a number of successive drafts in incremental development, which were discussed during a series of three types of meetings: the Core Research and Technical Cooperation Mechanism, Joint Technical Committee and the Arab working Group.

Meetings for the Preparation of the The Arab Digital Agenda/ Arab Strategy for Information and Communication Technology
  Meetings Documents (available in Arabic Only)
1

First ESCWA-LAS Joint Workshop on Developing the Arab Digital Agenda / ICT Strategy A standalone Side-Event in parallel to the 32nd Arab Working Group on the Arab ICT strategy

Virtual Meeting, 23-24 March 2021

 

2

First meeting of the Joint Technical Committee

Virtual Meeting, 27 September 2021

3

The second meeting of the Joint Technical Committee Including a workshop dedicated to researchers and experts from countries and organizations that have joined the project within the core research and technical cooperation mechanism

Hybrid Meeting, Semiramis Hotel, Cairo, 25-23 November 2021

4

2nd Meeting: Core Research and Technical Cooperation Mechanism for the Arab Digital Agenda

Hybrid Meeting, Royal Maxim Palace Kempinski Hotel, Cairo, 7-10 March 2022

5

Regional expert group meeting on the Arab ICT Strategy (Arab Digital Agenda) and national digital development reports; Progress, and Lessons Learned (mid-term Stage)

Hybrid Meeting, Semiramis Hotel, Cairo, 23-26 May 2022

6

A series of events on the development of the Arab Digital Agenda (Arab ICT Strategy), in preparation for the fiftieth meeting of the Executive Bureau of the Arab Telecommunications and Information Council of Ministers.

(The third meeting of the Joint Technical Committee, the second joint regional workshop between ESCWA and the League of Arab States, and the thirty-fourth session of the Arab Working Group on the Arab ICT Strategy
)

Virtual Meeting, 4-7 July 2022

7

Consultative Conference and Expert Meetings on the Arab Digital Agenda and the Arab International Digital Cooperation and Development Forum

Comprising:

1- The Fifth Meeting of the Joint Technical Committee and Core Research and Technical
Cooperation Mechanism on producing, developing and implementing the Arab Information
and Communication Technology Strategy (The Arab Digital Agenda)

2- The Consultative Conference on the Arab Digital Agenda and the Arab International Digital
Cooperation and Development Forum

3- A Special Session with the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on
Technology in New York

4- The First Preparatory Meeting of the Arab International Digital Cooperation and Development
Forum 2023, comprising the Fourth Arab High-level Forum on the World Summit on the
Information Society and 2030 Agenda (Arab WSIS), and the Seventh Conference of the Arab
Internet Governance Forum (Arab-IGF 7)

Hybrid Meeting, Dubai, 25-27 October 2022


  • Termination and Approval Stage

It is noted that the data presented in the agenda is accurate and precise, and it contains all the necessary information for the required review. The design presented in the agenda targets the Arab people and allows them to interact with the document easily, and ensures the necessary privacy and security.

Meetings for the Preparation of the The Arab Digital Agenda/ Arab Strategy for Information and Communication Technology
  Meetings
1

Workshop for the Joint Technical Committee and the central mechanism for research and technical cooperation, in the framework of the thirty-fifth meeting of the Arab Working Group on the Arab ICT strategy

Virtual Meeting, 16-17 November 2022

2

Fiftieth Meeting of the ICT Standing Committee

Egypt, 23-24 November 2022

3

Fifty-first meeting of the Executive Bureau of the Arab Telecommunications and Information Council of Ministers and the twenty-sixth meeting of the Council

Egypt, 22-23 January 2023

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