CAIRO: Raya Holding, one of the biggest information technology and telecom solutions providers in Egypt, held a series of presentations and seminars yesterday as part of their three-day annual Raya World 2006 Conference and Exhibition. Among the topics discussed were E-Government solutions. Since the appointment of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and his new cabinet, the government has been seeking ways to ease regulatory compliance burdens and the needs of citizens and businesses. In order to do that, the government has turned to web-based solutions and, as a result, the country is now being run by an electronic government. By web-enabling and streamlining activities such as licensing, permitting, tax paying and so forth, the government is able to increase public access to services and decrease operational and time deficiencies (all part of the norm when things were done manually), via web-based applications. Raya has played a pivotal role in the Egyptian government's modernization plans by providing them with an E-Government Solutions software, and collaboration and information sharing technologies that have succeeded in enabling the government to improve their services and performance as well as reduce costs. "Through automation and the elimination of manual processes, the communication between the government and citizens becomes clearer and more efficient, says Ashraf Sabry, vice president and CEO for the IT line of business at Raya Holdings. According to Sabry, most government activities are intertwined. For example, if a citizen wants to renew his license, he needs to go through the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice and banks. As a result, it used to take a couple of days for citizens just to get their paperwork in order. But by creating an E-Government portal that connects all government entities to each other under one wireless roof, citizens can complete their paperwork online. "Today we are dealing with a boundary-less government, says Khaled El Attal, professional services director at Raya Holdings. "We are working with the government to achieve their vision of integrating the services of banks and government entities to meet the needs of citizens in the fastest, most efficient way possible. "The country now has a full E-Government services infrastructure in place, adds Mohamed Khaled, bid and resource manager at Raya Holdings. "We now have an E-Government portal, E-Traffic (where citizens can renew licenses, pay penalties and fines, and register online complaints). There's also a General Taxation Authority (where citizens can file their taxes and speak with GTA employees online). Prior to the automation of the income tax authority's processes, 50 percent of an average tax authority employee's time was spent on routine tasks. The lack of automation not only wasted time, it also made for mistakes on taxpayer paperwork. In order to increase efficiency and encourage citizens to file their taxes, the government modernized its operations, launching a new, centralized database for tax audit, collection and reporting. Citizens have also benefited from automation when it comes to paying their phone bills, according to Khaled. "Through Telecom Egypt's online phone bill payment site, citizens can pay their phone bills using a computer rather than head to the central and wait in line he says. The phone bill payment solution was in fact one of the most strategic developments offered by Raya and launched by the government, Khaled states. "The phone bill solution was the first service that really illustrated to people the importance and effectiveness of an E-Government, he says. Cultural bodies have also been automated. The Opera House now has a site for ticket reservations, where citizens can view the seating chart of the opera house, reserve their tickets and check out upcoming performances. "This (automation) has helped promote and generate awareness for the Opera House, says Khaled. Yet, while the automation of processes and modernization of the government has been applauded in the West, in Egypt, where many citizens remain illiterate and most low-income households do not own a personal computer, will an electronic government be of benefit? Raya seems to think so. "Egypt has reached a high degree of proficiency in using technology, says Sabry. "The government has also created and launched many IT and communications education workshops to teach youth how to use computers. "Computers have become cheaper and Internet cafes are everywhere, evidence of the widespread use of computers in the country, adds Khaled. But not everyone agrees with Raya's viewpoint. "There are still too many people in Egypt who do not own computers, Amr Sheira, CEO of Compu-Me in Egypt had previously said to The Daily Star Egypt. According to Sheira, the projects and initiatives undertaken by the government to garner greater computer education and a larger pool of computer owners hailed by market insiders, have failed to do just that. The crux of the problem lays in education, according to Sheira. Egyptians simply lack the training and education needed to take full advantage of the benefits of computer technology. "Training is still inadequate, said Sheira. "The trainers themselves are not educated enough or have the full know-how to teach or train others to use a computer. In fact, what we need is a program called 'train the trainer.' "In my point of view, a big part of the problem is education. In school, kids are not learning to use a computer. It has to be imbedded in the educational culture, part of the curriculum, like math or science, Ibrahim El Tatawy, an MIT graduate and software developer for Genesant Technologies in the United States previously said to The Daily Star Egypt. Recently, Raya has been lending its services to regional government bodies. In Kuwait, Raya is working with the Ministry of Defense to create a core defense transactional system. The Kuwaiti government is also planning on launching kiosks on the streets to allow citizens to obtain take-away government services on the road. The Qatar Foundation and Riyadh Principality have also made use of their software solutions, with the latter retaining the services of Raya to automate 20 processes. As a result of its growing profile in the region, Raya has become a publicly traded company listed on CASE in 2005, after an IPO worth LE 400 million. The company's revenues in 2005 reached LE 1.5 billion, a 34 percent increase over last year. Several alliances and subsidiaries were formed in 2005, including a partnership with the National Bank of Egypt and the establishment of Raya E Finance, a subsidiary that provides IT services to the regional banking sector. The company has also established a presence in Algeria and Dubai and has teamed up with two international telecommunication companies: British Telecom and Telekom Malaysia to provide connectivity solutions to the Asian continent.
