Within the project Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders in the ESCWA Region (AIGLE), ESCWA held the Second Regional Training-of-Trainers Workshop in Beirut from 24 to 27 August 2015. The Workshop aimed to strengthen the training capabilities in the Arab countries participating in the implementation of the Academy project through the training of trainers on four training modules in Arabic and the preparation of national training plans for benefiting from the project outcome and training modules at the national level. The four training modules covered the following topics: Linkage between ICT and Development; ICT4D Policy, Process and Governance; e-Government: Policies, Strategies and Applications; Internet Governance.

Around 67 experts participated in the Workshop, from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates. Participants included a number of experts who will become trainers of the four modules in their countries, in addition to the focal points representing the main national partners of the Academy project in the Arab countries, and the experts who have prepared the training modules or have contributed to its review. The Workshop has featured the presentation of 10 national training plans by the national partners focal points, namely from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates. There are additional 4 national plans under preparation, which brings up the total number of national plans in the Academy project to 14. It is worth noting that some countries have started implementing their national training plans in collaboration with the Academy project team at ESCWA, and it is expected that these national plans will lead to the training of more than 6000 employees from the public sector in the Arab countries participating in the Academy on the training modules of the themes of ICT for development. The AIGLE project covers the Arab region and builds upon the lessons learned and achievements of a similar academy that was launched in 2008 in South Korea by the Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (APCICT), within the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

Similar to the first workshop in June 2015, the second workshop featured the high-level participation of leadership of the Academy Currently, an online training platform is under development and will contain content related to the Academy project and its training modules, and enable the stakeholders and partners to access this content. Also, efforts are being made to form partnerships with the stakeholders in the public administrations and national public and academic bodies who are interested in benefiting from the Academy and its outcome training modules.

For more information: http://www.escwa.un.org/information/meetingdetails.asp?referenceNUM=3668e