A sight on Tunisian ICT policies and e-Infrastructure for Education, Research and Innovation Noureddine Hamdi, Professor Carthage University e-Infrastructures for Education, Research & Development A CHAIN-REDS Workshop organized in association with EUMEDCONNECT3, under the aegis of the European Commission and in co-location with the e-AGE Conference 2013 December 11, 2013 El Mouradi Hotel, Gammarath – Tunis, Tunisia

Tunisia - Key Figures  Geographic position: crossroads between Europe, North Africa and Middle-East  Tunisia has almost square kilometers (64,000 sq mi) in area  It has an estimated population of 11 million  Number of Public Universities: 13  Number of students: 315 thousand in public universities, among them about 80 thousand in ICT

Outline Overview of Tunisian ICT strategies – ICT Policy – Overview of ICT programmes eInfrastructure eInfrastrucure for Education and Research eInfrastructure for Development and Innovation 3 of 22

ICT Policy (1/4) Source: ICT Department Decree n° of 11 September 2012  The Department of ICT proposes general ICT policy and ensure its implementation in order to strengthen the sector's role in economic and social development.  In this context, it is responsible for: – establishing national sector strategy and ensure the monitoring of its implementation, – establish programs and procedures for the development and consolidation of the sector of information technology and communication 4 of 22

The ICT Department develops the national strategy of the sector and ensures the monitoring of its implementation, and this in :  Prospecting developments in the field of ICT and the preparation of appropriate plans in order to monitor technology, support for change and exploiting the opportunities they offer, and by the various stakeholders,  Defining the main choices and directions of steps such as to permit the realization of the state policy in this area and following up on the basis of indicators, criteria and characteristics adopted for this purpose,  Working to ensure the safety of systems, networks, data and cyberspace,  Identifying programs and projects to be implemented within the framework of plans for economic and social development and providing related provisions,  Ensuring continuity of services related to information technology and communication and ensuring their quality. ICT Policy (2/4) 5 of 22

ICT Policy (3/4) The ICT Department working to establish programs and procedures for the development and consolidation of the sector, and this by :  the development of appropriate environment for the promotion of investment in and development of skills and expertise and encouraging the use of ICT,  the implementation of the framework for regulating the sector by working to its consistency with the economic and technological developments and ensuring its implementation,  the development of the info- structure and telecommunications infrastructure in coordination with stakeholders, ensuring the quality of the infrastructure,  consolidation of the adoption of digital technologies in their use, and trust in virtual transactions,  management and optimization of the technology sector of information and communication resources by ensuring good distribution and their proper operation. 6 of 22

ICT Policy (4/4) ICT Department is responsible for developing programs to support international cooperation and relations with international and regional bodies concerned with issues within the remit of the Department. 7 of 22

Departments concerned by Funding  Department of ICT  Department of Higher Education and Scientific Research  Department of Industry  Department of Agriculture  Department of Equipment  Department of Health  Department of Professional Education and Labor Main objective of ICT policies and funding in economic field: aims to promote, research, innovation, entrepreneurship and assist enterprises and mainly SMEs in priority sectors Overview of ICT Infrastructure (1/5) 8 of 22

Overview of ICT Infrastructure (2/5) Broadband Networks and Internet Infrastructure Development  Submarine cables: SEA-ME-WE4, KELTRA 2 and Hannibal, landing points (Bizerte and Kelibia in Tunisia, and Marseille, Mazara and Palermo in Europe,  The National Backbone based on fiber optical cable has capacity of 62 Gbps in international bandwidth Internet. It was founded by telecoms operators and the ICT Department.  Tunisia is connected to neighbouring countries: Algeria and Libya.  Main technologies for Internet infrastructure are available, as: VSAT, Mobile Internet, Passive Optical Network, FTTX, IP-MPLS...  Security Stage of implementation of National Public Key Infrastructure (PKI): international interconnections has been secured by diversifying submarine cables and landing  National Internet eXchange Points (IXP): Agence Tunisienne de l’Internet (ATI) - Tunisian Internet Agency., IXP of telecommunication operators 9 of 22

Overview of ICT Infrastructure (3/5) Existing ICT Programmes  Technological and Cyber parks  Poles of competitiveness  Operational eGovernment Services : Primarily responsible for coordinating and monitoring implementation of decisions, recommendations and projects under the eGovernment program, In charge of coordination between Stakeholders. Ministerial Committee on communicative administration and Technical committee on communicative administration were established to supervise and to approve e-government programs. Ministerial e-Government Coordinators Network : named in each ministry to facilitate and report implementation of e-government program at the Sectorial level. 10 of 22

Overview of ICT Infrastructure (4/5) Online Services More than 151 online services are offered (since 2009), Government portal organized to offer access to most used services based on lifecycle approach., Many online services are used 100% (University orientation, university registration, tax declaration, public job candidacy …). eGovernment and eAdministration Strategy is currently being in place since 2005 under the Name eGovernment Unit. 11 of 22

Online Services  More than 151 online services are offered (since 2009),  Government portal organized to offer access to most used services based on lifecycle approach,  Many online services are used 100% (University orientation, university registration, tax declaration, public job candidancy …),  e-payement solutions are offered and mobile payment was established,  Participatory online services : feedback from users. Overview of ICT Infrastructure (5/5) 12 of 22

eInfrastructure-Overview (1/2) What? e-Infrastructure is the term used for the technology and organisations that support research and innovation, It embraces networks, grids, data centres and collaborative environments, and can include supporting operations centres, certificate authorities, training and help-desk services, etc. Objectives: Integration and access to national and international research infrastructures; Sustainable use, development, deployment and operation of e-Infrastructures. Increase the benefits and use of e-infrastructure by creating a wider user base Ensure that e-infrastructure builds on and shares common core services Adaptive to next generation computing and future networks Cloud computing and the promise of every thing as a service, processor and system architecture, interconnect and data localisation technologies, Everything will be connected to everything: the internet of everythings, software and services, cyber security, privacy and trust, wireless communication and all optical networks, immersive interactive multimedia and connected enterprise 13 of 22

A typical e-Infrastructure Programme could involve the fields: Community engagement and support, e-Infrastructure security, Grid production services and tools, Organization of knowledge and meaningful services. eInfrastructure-Overview (2/2) 14 of 22

Why e-Infrastructure important for education and research communities Research requires intensive computation and networks with high speed communications Research needs multiple international cooperations Learning is increasingly dependent on digital libraries Development of e-Infrastructure in several areas may provide for the research and education communities : Simple access to e-infrastructure for the research and education Communities including the fundamental sciences, health, humanities, etc Enhance communities skills to effectively use of the e-infrastructure Secured access to grid infrastructures Efficient schemes for data management as: retrieving, processing, archiving data, sharing, etc eInfrastructure-for Education and Research (1/4) 15 of 22

e-Infrastructures include services as: – backbone connectivity, – single- or multi-purpose grids, – supercomputing infrastructures, – data grids, repositories and storage, – tools for data management and visualization, – simulation facilities remote access to research instruments, and very large research facilities. – Novel working methods that exploits shared use of ICT tools and resources across different specialties and engineering domains – Building capacity by enabling the circulation of knowledge online eInfrastructure-for Education and Research(2/4) 16 of 22

Khawarizmi data Center is the provider of internet services for public institutions of higher education and research, and manages the network RNU, The network RNU is in upgrading phase toward RNU2 where bandwidth in the core network will increase from 2 Gbps to 10 Gbps. The Access networks are in the process of increasing to 6 Mbps with ADSL and optical fiber with a bandwidth up to 100 Mbps. Available eInfrastructure-for Education and Research(3/4) 17 of 22

Integrated Scientific and Technical Information Centre, CNUDST's core mission: provide information and scientific and technical documentation for Tunisian researchers, whatever their field of activity, Collect, process and share the outputs and outcomes of scientific research and technological development undertaken in Tunisia or on Tunisia, Allow easy access to a collection of documents covering a significant part of the scientific and technological research globally, Shelter virtual library research, Practice documentary watch. Available eInfrastructure-for Education and Research(4/4) 18 of 22

The national network of incubators – offers Custom Expertise (Coach) to start-ups. A business incubator provides entrepreneurs the basis of one half day per week for an expert coach to help on: – The evaluation of project ideas – The Developing the Business Plan – The Support for the startup for its development eres/doc.asp?mcat=28&mrub=275 Available eInfrastructure-for Development and Innovation (1/2) 19 of 22

Elgazala Technopark has developed a comprehensive strategy based on the following elements: Create a critical mass to improve the visibility of Tunisia among ICT countries Promote the creation of ICT companies, Support the process of development of ICT companies, Position in the markets of futuristic and high added value services, Implement technological bridge between research and SMEs and multinationals in Tunisia Involve different economic sectors in the activities of the Technopark Matching supply and demand for ICT systems in Tunisia and creating an environment of trust, Adapt and develop capacities of Tunisian and offer human skills. Available eInfrastructure-for Development and Innovation (2/2) 20 of 22

Conclusion and recommendations e-Infrastructure will continue to be a cross discipline innovation and a driver in changing the way science, education and technology are conducted. Connect to international e-Infrastructure, mainly within European Commission, as Promote e-Infrastructure, connectivity and access Build human skills and competences 21 of 22

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