Following her graduation from the
English School at the College of Languages in Salahaddin University,
Miss Abdulrahman unsurprisingly requested a copy of her B.A.
certificate, the related office informed her that they were moving
to another building, so she had to return at a later date.
On the second and third visits she was again disappointed as the
office staff failed to find the folder containing degree files among
piles of dusty and half-torn folders, “I do not know why they lost
my documents, and I do not want to know” said Miss Abdulrahman as
she left the college dejectedly.
Paper-based work is still dominating government institutes in Iraqi
Kurdistan, far to many files and folders have been accumulating in
and around office spaces resulting in an inevitable slowdown of
work. It is really difficult for staff workers to find files and
folders, to add and to store information in addition to the
difficulties of finding space to store newly created folders.
There has always been risks in maintaining such of old-fashion
methods of bureaucracy, during the long period of war in Iraq,
government offices had been ransacked many times and lots of
citizens’ documents, which had been kept for years, were lost,
stolen or burned, the important offices such as those housing I.Ds
and courtrooms being targeted primarily.
In the current world of information technology computers are seen as
the spine of all developed and developing countries, without
exception. The region of Kurdistan, which is now in the first stages
of developing, as most observers concur, is badly in need of
information technology in order to create a firm base to its future
development.
One major problem in that regard is a marked lack of trainers to
instruct the new generation on how to use the computers that have
been prevalent in the region for no more that a decade, “The
Kurdistan Regional Government, with Microsoft support, will have
training courses for ministries. The aim is to make local trainers
so that they can spread skills…. There are plans to open IT
departments in the Kurdistan Universities,” Azad Gailani senior
advisor to the KRG Prime Minister for Information and Communication
Technology said.
Another problem that in some way hinders education concerning
computers is the one of language, the Arabic versions of Windows and
Microsoft office offer little help to Kurdish users, as the new
generation in Kurdistan speak and study in Kurdish. The English
versions are now being used but they are not nearly as applicable as
Kurdish versions might be. This problem however, is being accounted
for, the Microsoft Company is to provide ‘Kurdish versions’ of the
key software programs of windows and Office, Gailani said.
In the future business applications of computer technology is
expected to occur in Kurdistan as its newly formed government is
paying attention to. When that happens, when acquiring, processing,
storing and distributing data are managed by computers in the
government institutes, perhaps this time, the children of Miss
Abdulrahman would not experience the tragic end as their grandma did
at the end of her study.
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