Tech Tragedy Waiting in the Wings

ALKHOBAR, 7 September 2004 — Learning online is a wonderful concept. I myself am a big advocate of using the Internet to extend educational resources to people living in even the smallest, out of the way places on our planet. But not every subject lends itself well to the virtual environment.

Last week I received information from OverNite Software, an Angleton, Texas-based company, about new online courses it was offering for protection specialists and civilian contractors planning to take up employment in Iraq.

The course content for these survival training courses was written by Tom Powell, supposedly a veteran training and protection specialist (www.securityconsultant.us) and then the material was developed into a computer-based course by OverNite to run on OverNite’s web-based learning management solution, ExxTend Learning. Information on course enrollment may be accessed through www.overnitecbt.com/iraq.

In discussing the course, Tom Powell commented: “This course contains content directly relating to Iraq that everyone going there should know. There are many well-intentioned courses out there, but this one hits home. Nothing is worse than believing you have been prepared for theater only to learn that the information you received is not relevant to any substantial degree.”

Armando Caceres, president of OverNite Software, added: “We are very excited about Mr. Powell choosing our technology for his courses. We have been delivering web-based courses and tests to literally thousands upon thousands of petrochemical workers both domestically and abroad for years and this new course is a welcome addition.”

That may be so, but I had some questions to ask of OverNite Software and so I telephoned them in Texas to get some details concerning the course. An OverNite Software employee named “Ditto” was very willing to take my $30 and he assured me that from Saudi Arabia with a broadband connection I could follow the course very nicely online. Unfortunately, Ditto didn’t know anything about the course except the registration process.

I was instructed to call John McNerny, who handles OverNite’s sales and marketing for the “Online Iraq” courses. McNerny has a very nice receptionist. I have chatted with her several times over the past week. Unfortunately, McNerny is never in his office and his cell phone is set to take voice mail messages, which he never returns. Could it be that McNerny is avoiding me?

Perhaps this is so because the “Surviving Iraq” courses are one of the most terrifying examples of online learning gone wrong. Supposedly in “about 45 minutes,” OverNite’s Mission Iraq course for Protection Specialists “will tell you what to expect as you hit the ground in Iraq, as well as vital information for the survival of you and your clients.” If you’re a contractor going to Iraq, in less than one hour, OverNite’s Surviving Iraq course will provide you with the information to avoid kidnap and assault, drive in Iraq and avoid ambushes. According to the course’s promotional material, “staying alive (in Iraq) means avoiding as many dangers as possible. By knowing what the dangers are, you have a much better chance of keeping safe.”

Who’s fooling whom here? Iraq is not Disneyland. Soldiers with at minimum months and more often than not years of military training can’t survive Iraq and OverNite Software is actually promoting 45-minute online courses that are supposed to keep civilian contractors alive! I can just imagine the length of the disclaimer that comes attached to each course.

And speaking of disclaimers, I hope everyone in Saudi Arabia read that little notice that arrived along with this month’s Saudi credit card bills. The notice, from an organization called SIMAH, advises:

“In our endeavor for further transparency and fairness in terms of credit facilities to our clients, we are pleased to inform you that all banks operating in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the supervision of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) have jointly established the Saudi Credit Bureau (SIMAH), a company that will be provided by all banks with the data on individual clients who had or have obtained credit facilities.

“As such, this data will include, but not be limited to, personal finance clients, residential finance clients and holders of credit cards issued by Saudi banks. Such data will include the following: Name of the client, contact data, employment data, guarantor’s data and the client’s performance record in terms of promptly meeting his financial obligations.”

The letter continued by stating that the SIMAH database would “cancel or substitute” the existing “C list” of individuals banned from receiving credit facilities at Saudi banks. The letter also added that the establishment of SIMAH would give customers of Saudi banks a better opportunity to utilize the credit system.

SIMAH has only been staffed since April. Their website, www.simah.com, isn’t scheduled to go live till mid-September. If you’re not familiar with credit bureaus, get prepared for some probable misery once the SIMAH database becomes the primary means of determining credit worthiness in the Kingdom.

We’ve all heard the nightmare tales of individuals being presented with massive bills for Saudi Telecom services to which they never subscribed. There are also numerous incidents of people who have neither vehicles nor driver’s licenses finding that they have been charged with Saudi traffic violations. Just imagine the implication of mistakes in the SIMAH database.

In the United States, where credit bureaus have been established for decades, people’s lives have been destroyed by errors in the credit bureau databases. In recent years in the US, identity theft has become a major crime. Often individuals don’t discover that their identity has been taken over until they attempt to apply for a loan, are turned down as poor credit risks and find that someone has been taking out loans and credit cards in their names. There are some means to rectify errors in the databases of US credit bureaus, but the process is often lengthy, complicated and can require many documents.

With the establishment of SIMAH it is essential that Saudi banking customers immediately start keeping good records of all their personal finances. It is important to save copies of all bills and payment receipts. It is also advisable to sign up for telephone or online banking so that it is easier to make loan and credit card payments — even from abroad. People might want to consider automatic payment of loans and credit cards. Frequent late payments of loans and credit cards can have a negative effect on an individual’s credit rating.

Also, Saudi credit card holders should be aware that in the event their credit card is lost or stolen they can be liable for the full credit limit of their card until they notify the credit issuing agency in writing. Plus, most credit card agreements state that clients have just 20 days after the issuance of a monthly credit card bill to notify the card issuer in writing of any discrepancy. After that time the charges are binding. Folks might want to consider cutting down on the number of credit cards they are holding. Even when people are seriously ill or unemployed, credit card bills must be paid and the service charges mount. Failure to pay damages one’s credit rating.

This has been a really depressing column thus far, so it’s time for a bit of laughter from the Saudi Telecom (STC) follies. STC has a lot of nasty rules and the nastiest ones are reserved for women. In Saudi Arabia women must have guarantors for their phones and women have severely restricted credit limits on their phones. Also, to get a telephone line, women must show the original family card or a Ministry of Information issued ID card. I know about all these regulations because recently I had to go to apply for a new telephone line. Even though I have had a full time job for 15 years and have never in my entire life paid an STC bill late, my 20-year-old son had to guarantee my new home phone line.

While I was sitting in the STC office at Alrashid Mall, a parade of female customers passed through. I was the only woman who managed to get a phone line that morning. The others simply didn’t have all the documents, didn’t have a male guarantor in tow or hadn’t paid the SR200 required before a prepaid mobile number can be issued.

“Sonny, you want me to go all the way down to the bank and pay SR200 and then walk all the way back here before you’ll give me a telephone,” asked one aged woman. “Can’t you see that I’m old and crippled. I don’t have any family to help me. Can’t you help me out here? Why don’t you go and pay the money at the bank downstairs and I’ll sit here till you get back?” The STC employee declined. The old lady eventually shuffled away.

“Do you mean to tell me that you won’t accept my Saudi passport and copy of the family card as ID?” one young lady demanded to know. “How can you expect other countries to accept my passport as ID and you, STC, a phone company won’t do so? Isn’t that ridiculous?”

The young lady called up some friends who were at the mall and they all decided to come and argue forcefully with the STC employee. He backed away from the counter, out of their reach, until they stomped out of the office. There was also the poor Filipina without her original iqama. It’s being held by her employer. She’ll never get a phone.

Fortunately, somehow my application for a home telephone was accepted. After waiting a few days with no technician in sight, I called STC’s customer service to complain. It was soon after that the most unlikely of events took place in Saudi Arabia. On a Friday evening after sunset my mobile rang and behold! It was an STC technician. He claimed that he’d be coming over to the apartment building in 30 minutes to switch on the phone line. And he did. I believe this is a certifiable miracle.