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The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has taken the IT lead in the
Middle East. An initiative to ensure that every Jordanian has
access to Information and Communications Technology has begun;
significantly, these efforts are targeted towards those
communities who, under ordinary circumstances, would not be able
to experience ICT easily. These marginalized populations are
those such as women, the underprivileged and underserved,
children, laborers, farmers, and the illiterate. The majority of
these communities reside in the rural and remote areas of
Jordan, where access to ICT is difficult to obtain.
The Initiative of establishing Information Technology and Community Service
Centers (renamed later Knowledge Stations) was launched in 2001. This
initiative is intended to implement IT in local communities in remote areas
in preparation for the E-government process. The National Information
Technology Center (NITC) was mandated with the execution of the project
after it conducted a study on the best practice in selecting the sites for
the Knowledge Stations in the different governorates and local communities.
These KSs effectively dual as community centers, thus serving two primary
roles; first, as training centers in information technology and social
programs, and second, as walk-in centers providing services such as
internet, fax machine usage and photocopiers. However, the role of the KSs
is beginning to expand, underscoring the relevance of community-based
activities that aid in the sustainability of the centers, and of the
populations around them.
Since its inception, the various Knowledge Stations have trained a total of
(85,634)* people, [55.2% females, and 44.8% males], on basic computer
literacy and other various advanced courses on how to utilize ICT towards
enhancing their businesses, attaining health care information, participating
in e-government, acquiring novel leadership and entrepreneurship qualities,
and general awareness of the various social issues such as gender
discrimination and child development. An additional (84,000)* people have
used the Stations’ walk-in services that include Internet access; fax
machines, photocopiers and various multimedia services.
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