22 - 28 February 2001
Issue No.522
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 22 - 28 February 2001 Issue No.522 |
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Web watch
Government online
www.alhokoma.gov.eg
Want to know how to issue a driving licence, a birth certificate or even get a loan from the World Bank to fund your environmental project? The obvious course of action is to go to the relevant government offices, but anyone who has tried this and survived the labyrinth-like bureaucratic channels will tell you it helps to have a leg-up. The other option is to do what most of us do, ask a friend or colleague who might know -- undoubtedly more pleasant, but, sadly, often inaccurate.
This is when www.alhokoma.gov.eg comes in handy. Al-hokoma, or, the government, has gone online. The Web site, as its home page professes, is the "first step" towards a full-fledged e-government, so if one is to evaluate the effort by government standards, it's a good start. That means we should overlook the dull design (the Egyptian scribe statue seated with a keyboard on his lap connected to the pyramids is obviously meant to draw together ancient Egyptian genius and the electronic revolution) and the slow surfing resulting from overloaded graphics.
If anything, red-tape-weary Egyptians will find this Web site particularly useful as it lists most of the paperwork we need in order to get things done in this country. From issuing a driving licence to, God forbid, a death certificate, everything is out there, believe it or not. And in some cases, samples of forms are provided (for viewing purposes only). The same information, albeit without the form samples, is available by dialing 131, a voice service that guides you through the various bureaucratic "sectors."
The site's ministries section, clearly still a work in progress, will be an interesting addition should it manage to go beyond contact information. For now, it mainly offers most ministries' addresses, telephone numbers and e-mails, including that of Prime Minister Atef Ebeid. One last feature certainly attesting to the determination to develop an integrated e-government are links to a wide array of government Web sites. The presidential Web site plays the national anthem, but does not provide the president's e-mail. The Agriculture Ministry's home page is oddly pink-coloured.
One drawback for the hokoma site is that because it is primarily addressing Egyptians, it is in Arabic only. For the expatriate community residing here, this would be a much-needed service.
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina
www.bibalex.gov.eg
The Web site of this long-awaited "beacon of knowledge", unfortunately, does not live up to its name. It offers little more than two things: a picture of the new library (useful for those who haven't already seen it) and 10 images of "rare" manuscripts. Unlike the e-government Web site, the new Alexandria Library's site is in English, except for the manuscript sections, which are also in French. Shocking as this may be for Egyptians -- imagine the Louvre home page in Arabic only -- the fact that very little information is available on the library itself also means they are not missing much.
This takes us back to the manuscripts. You don't have to master English or French to appreciate the aesthetic and cultural value of manuscripts such as the classic poem Al-Borda (1294 ad), a 12th-century copy of the Qur'an, a 14th-century Arabic encyclopedia or a 17th-century copy of the Bible, with verses from the New Testament. However, a tour of these manuscripts is the best the Web site has to offer. If you still want to go through the remaining sections -- Revival Project, Calendar, Current News, BA Collection, etc -- English is a must (and you'll have to endure the irritating frames).
Since the Tour section is under construction, visitors adamant on excavating any possible information on the project are left with only one choice: the Album section. This is a series of photos depicting the different phases of construction from 1997 till the present day. The rest of the content covers some historical background on the ancient Alexandria Library and today's efforts to revive it. Very useful for school essays, but little else.
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