The new service will be provided under a project implemented by the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology. It involves a total of 15 public agencies and ministries that will send short messages to cellular phones related to announcements and services offered by these agencies, according to Director of e-Government Programme Hassan Horani.
"People will receive an SMS informing them that their national ID cards or passports or family notebooks are about to expire, or they will be sent an SMS that they need to renew their car licences. In addition, the recipients can send SMS to public agencies inquiring about their income or sales taxes, the status of an application for a shop licence or the volume of customs on their imported goods," Horani told The Jordan Times on Sunday.
During the first year of implementation, when at least five million messages are expected to be traded, the e-Government programme will shoulder the financial cost of the public agencies sending SMSs to cellular holders while recipients will pay the usual tariff for an SMS, according to Horani, who revealed that the total cost of the project stands at about JD70,000.
"During the first year, about a total of 75 services will be available to the public via SMSs and there are plans to increase the number of services offered after the first year," Horani said.
The official said a tender was referred to a local mobile provider, which will start during this week linking the partners to a network.
The next step will go beyond informative SMS to a procedure that would allow people to complete their transactions with public agencies via their cellular phones, Horani said.
In their reaction to the announcement, citizens interviewed by The Jordan Times gave the plans a thumbs up.
Yousef Mohammad, a shopkeeper at Jabal Hussein, said: "I think it is a good service. Yes, I would like to be reminded of appointments to discuss my tax statement with assessors."
A university student, Wael Ali, said the service is likely to promote the concept of e-Government among Jordanians. "It's time we saw e-Government services translated from paper to practice," he said.
Quelle/Source: MENAFN, 22.10.2007
