Sponsored by Digital Link Corporation, the University of Information Technology and Communication (UoITC) held the 7th Iraqi Information Society Forum under the title “Empowering Developing Countries through Information Technologies”.
The president of the university Dr. Abbas Muhsin Al-Bakri attended the forum along with a member of the board of commissioners at the Iraqi Communication and Media Commission (CMC), Dr. Abdul Adheem Mohammed Al-Saleh and a number of specialists and researchers in the field of information technology from both the public and private sectors.
Dr. Abbas M. Al-Bakri said in his speech that technology has been used in various fields for many years, adding that the importance of technology has increased due to the world’s challenges in the digital era.
Hence, global cooperation is essential to reduce the digital gap between developing countries and the rest of the world in order to make the use of technology accessible, he added. Dr. Al-Bakri elaborated that according to surveys from 2022, approximately 407 million people are using the internet in developing countries thus constituting %34 of the world population. Thus, one of the aims of celebrating World Telecommunication Society Day is to give developing countries the opportunity to use technology.
In his speech, Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, said that the way we think about telecommunications and human communication has changed; digital technology means communication among us, pointing out that a third of the population in the developing countries use it, and that this is why the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is dedicated to empowering these countries by pledging partnership to connect the Digital Alliance.
Dr. Abdul Adheem Al-Saleh, in his speech, congratulated the university on its keenness to hold and organize the activities of the forum in its seventh edition.
Dr. Al-Saleh said that CMC is keen to participate and be present in such events in order to take a look at the accelerated developments in the digital world and to open communication channels with all concerned and working parties of this sector.
Al-Saleh also pointed to the efforts of the E-Governance Committee at the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers to facilitate administrative procedures on a daily basis and to provide the best services to citizens.
Alsaleh added that the national data center had now been established as well as the activation of the Ur gate for electronic services and the the Electronic Document Management Project was completed.
An introductory film was also shown about the efforts in digital transformation at UoITC through launching the digital system for fast low-coding automation at the Institute of informatics for students of higher studies. A number of videos of international and Arab personalities specialized in the field of digital technology were also shown talking about this topic.
Then the forum session began, which dealt with a number of topics by specialized professors.
Dr. Yasser Al-Mi’mar participated in a research paper on digital transformation policies : successful practices.
Mr. Ali Anwar, a lecturer at the university discussed digital transformation and enhancing citizen’s confidence in the government, while Dr. Fouad al-Azzawi spoke about the labor portal platform project for professional qualification and entrepreneurship.
Dr. Laith Tarek presented a paper on algorithms and development, and finally, Dr. Mohammed Qasem spoke about the development and qualification of human staff in the field of information and communications technology.
At the end of the forum, the president of the University presented certificates of appreciation to the participants for their active role in the success of the 7th Iraqi Information Society Forum.
