RIYADH, 10 May — The Saudi International Conference on e-commerce concluded here last night with a list of draft recommendations calling, among other things, for the early completion and implementation of cyber laws and encouraging the use of Arabic in e-commerce.
The concluding session, held at the King Faisal Hall, was chaired by Dr. Abdullah Al-Rasheed, vice president of King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology for Research. Representatives from various government and private-sector organizations, including the sponsors of the e-commerce conference-cum-exhibition, were also present.
Both the conference and the exhibition were organized by the Ministry of Commerce, KACST and the Riyadh Exhibition Co. with some 40 companies pitching in as sponsors. They were divided into platinum, gold and silver sponsors, depending on the financial contribution they made toward the event.
The Saudi Research & Publishing Co., publisher of Arab News and 15 other Arabic publications, was a platinum sponsor. Mohammed Al Khudri received, on behalf of SRPC, a plaque of appreciation for being a platinum sponsor. Other recipients of platinum sponsor awards were: Saudi Telecom Co., Integrated Visions; e-commerce Co., a subsidiary of IV; Arabian Business.com.
The conference recommended that there should be high quality and reliable communication facilities in the Kingdom to boost e-commerce trade. It also stressed the need for expediting the issuance of rules and regulations to administer electronic transactions and safeguard Intellectual Property Rights.
It also recommended that adequate measures should be in place to ensure security and confidentiality of data and other transactions. To this end, the conference called for the adoption of the PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) system whereby a digital signature could be authenticated before a transaction could go through.
By another recommendation, it said investments in the IT industry should be encouraged as well as the use of Arabic as a medium of transaction in e-commerce.
It also highlighted the need for creating an awareness of e-commerce through the mass media and the role that this new mode of business could play in the development of the national economy.
The need for promoting R&D in terms of the various applications of e-commerce concerning the public and private sectors was also recommended by the conference. On the educational front, it said greater attention should be paid to e-education by setting up a committee to oversee IT education. Further, smart schools should be set up with the accent in the curriculum on teaching the essentials of e-commerce and Internet.
One of the proposals from the participants was that there should be a Ministry of ICT (Information & Communications Technology) to coordinate all e-commerce and e-government activities. The constitution of such a higher authority, it argued, would induce a sense of accountability in the e-commerce and e-government regime. The participants were also in favor of granting industry status to the IT sector entitling it to various concessions.
Another proposal from the female audience called for measures to promote ICT among the women.
