ictQATAR kicks off e-citizen program to sharpen Qataris digital skills by partnering with ICDL Foundation

The MOU was signed by Dr. Mohammed Al Ansari, ictQATAR's E-Education Manager and Mr. Jamil Ezzo, Director General of ICDL GCC Foundation.

The two sides have been working closely over the last months in preparing to implement the ICDL e-Citizen project in Qatar. The e-citizen project is expected to play a major role in the implementation of the various e-government services as well as in the transformation to a digital knowledge-based society.

"We embarked into this long-term relationship with ICDL GCC Foundation" said Dr. Mohammed Al Ansari, E-Education Manager "to implement ictQATAR's vision to end computer illiteracy in the Qatari society and provide our citizens with the essential IT skills to be able to utilize e-government services such as paying bills, enrolling in courses, making holiday reservations, shopping, banking, trading, searching for jobs, or taking part in online discussion forums.

Jamil Ezzo, of ICDL GCC Foundation hailed the partnership "ICDL is pleased to collaborate with ictQATAR in its transformation efforts to accelerate Qatar's e-government readiness. This partnership will be essential since it will increase our capabilities and provide us with more opportunities to promote ICDL standards in the whole Gulf region. We are committed to support ictQATAR by providing ICDL accredited training and tests."

ICDL Foundation and ictQATAR will open an office in Doha which will be responsible for accrediting, monitoring the quality of training, administer tests and provide technical support to all ICDL centers operating in Qatar.

ICDL certification is endorsed by governments worldwide as the global benchmark for computer literacy for all qualifying government employees. ictQatar will work jointly with other government sectors to establish a mandate requiring all qualifying government employees to undergo the official ICDL testing, leading to ICDL certification, regardless of their computer background or job level.

ictQATAR will begin the ICDL certification process in two phases (i) by training and testing of government employees and (ii) training and testing of all Independent Schools teachers.