The 14th International Arab Conference on Information Technology, (ACIT 2013)

Sudan University of Science and Technology/ Khartoum, Sudan

17-19/12/2013

Note: You can Download Arabic version of final pronouncement.

Under the patronage of the First Vice President of the Republic of Sudan, the opening session of the 14th International Arab Conference on Information Technology (ACIT) was inaugurated at 10.00 am, on Tuesday, 17^th of December, 2013 in the presence of His Excellency Dr. Sadiq Fadlallah/ the Minister of State for Communications, Dr.  Awad Ahmed Jazz/ Chairman of the University Council, Dr. Hashim Ali Salem/ Director of the Sudan University of Science and Technology, Dr. Izz Al-Din Mohammed Osman/ Chairman of the Committee of Computer Studies of the National Council for Higher Education of the Republic of Sudan, Prof.  Abdulsalam Ghaith/ Representative of the Secretary General of the Association of Arab Universities, Prof. Khalid Khanfar/ Secretary General of the Colleges of Computing and Information Society and the Dean of the Faculty of Science and Information Technology at the Zarqa University, Jordan, deans of faculties of Arab universities and a large number of guests, scientists and specialists, researchers and students involved from Sudan and from different Arab and foreign countries.

The opening ceremony started with recitation of the Holy Quran, which was then followed by the following speeches:

·         Pro. Khalid Khanfar/ Secretary General of the Colleges of Computing and Information Society and the Dean of the Faculty of Science and Information Technology at the Zarqa University, Jordan, delivered the first opening speech.  In his speech, Prof. Khanfar welcomed the guests and delegates from sisterly and friendly countries and the members of the steering committee of the conference.  Prof.  Khanfar emphasized on the importance of science in all life aspects, stressing the importance of promoting scientific research and participation in conferences, explaining that 148 papers were submitted to the conference and 87 of them were accepted. These papers covered various areas of computer and information technology. Prof.  Khanfar thanked the former Secretary Generals of the Colleges of Computing and Information Society in recognition of their efforts in promoting the Colleges of Computing and Information Society and the expansion of its activities. He also thanked the brothers in Sudan, the people of civilizations and generosity on the organization and hosting of ACIT. Finally, he thanked the steering committee of the conference on their efforts to ensure the success of the conference.

·         Prof. Abdul Salam Ghaith/ Representative of the Secretary General of the Association of Arab Universities then delivered the second speech.  In his speech, Prof. Ghaith welcomed present guests, and emphasized the role of the deans of the faculties of computers and information technology in the development of the field of information and communication technology and software industry. Then, he thanked Sudan University of Science and Technology for hosting the conference and hoped to culminate these efforts with success.

·         Prof.  Izz Al-Din Mohammed Osman/ Chairman of the Committee of Computer Studies of the National Council for Higher Education then delivered the third speech.  Prof. Osman explained the role of the commission in the organization and planning of scientific research and its role in producing "Faculty of Computer Science Paradigm" document in Sudan. He pointed to the negative impact of the migration of large numbers of academics abroad. He explained that there is a promising investment in this area. Finally, he wished the success and a pleasant stay for the conference guests in their country Sudan.

·         Prof. Hashim Ali Salem/ Director of Sudan University of Science and Technology delivered the fourth speech. He welcomed the guests and the audience wishing that the conference outputs will influence all parts of the Arab world. He also called for the cooperation of Arab countries, including holdings of the minds and the potential to reach what our ancestors have reached who worked on the development of science in all fields. He called Arab universities to exchange students and professors and research with each other, which promotes the development of communication and research base in the Arab world and wished a pleasant stay for all guests. The opening session concluded with providing reciprocal armors honor.

 

The sessions lasted for three days, from Tuesday 17/12/2011 to Thursday 19/12/2011, as follows:

 The First Day: Tuesday, 17/12/2013

·         The Registration.

·         The Opening Ceremony.

·         A keynote lecture by Dr.  Hussein Solomon from the University of Cape Town - South Africa.

·         Three Parallel Sessions:

Session I: Computer Networks and Information Security.

Session II: Software Engineering.

Session III: AI and Expert Systems.

 

The Second Day: Wednesday, 18/12/2013

·         A keynote lecture by Dr. Robert Duane from Delft University of Technology – Netherlands.

·         Three Parallel Sessions:

Session I: Computer Networks and Information Security.

Session II: Software Engineering.

Session III: Algorithms and its Applications.

·         Two Parallel Tutorials:

Tutorial I: A lecture delivered by Dr. Rasha Ezzedine Mohammad Osman from the Imperial College of London - UK.

Tutorial II: A lecture delivered by Dr. David Tax from Delft University of                                             Technology - Netherlands.

 

The Third Day: Wednesday, 19/12/2013

·         A keynote lecture by Dr.  Laurie Botgarit, Adviser Scientific Research and Industrial - South Africa.

·         Three Parallel Sessions:

Session I: Digital Image Processing.

Session II: Databases and Software engineering.

Session III: Algorithms and its Applications.

·         Closing Session

 

 

Participating Countries

The number of scientific research papers registered in the conference (52), and that of (148) researches presented to the conference, and the published papers are coming from 18 Arab and foreign countries: Sudan, Algeria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Yemen, Tunisia, the Sultanate of Oman, Palestine, Lebanon, Libya, Egypt, Bosnia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, France, and Malaysia.

 

·         The number of papers submitted: 148.

·         The number of accepted papers: 87 (59%).

·         The number of registered papers: 52.

 
Other Meetings on the Sidelines of the Conference

Firstly: The Meeting of the Executive Committee of the 2011-2013 Cycle of the Colleges of Computing and Information Society

The executive committee of the 2011-2013 cycle of the Colleges of Computing and Information held its last meeting on the sidelines of the conference at 8:30 am on Monday, 12/16/2013.  The Secretary General thanked the members of the executive committee of the 2011-2013 cycle to the efforts they have made during their cycle. The emphasis was placed on the end of this cycle.

 

Secondly: A Lecture Titled: “Ensuring the Quality of Higher Education”

Prof. Abdul Salam Gaith/ the Quality Consultant at the Association of Arab Universities presented an overview about the importance of workshops for quality assurance in raising the quality of academic programs at Arab universities. Prof. Emad Abuelrub/ Commissioner for Academic Accreditation in the United Arab Emirates also presented a lecture on ensuring the quality of academic programs and their adoption.

 

Thirdly: The Meeting of the General Committee for the Colleges of Computing and Information Society

The General Committee held its seventh meeting on the sidelines of the conference at 12:00 on Monday, 16/12/2013 in the presence of the representative of the Association of Arab Universities, and 46 Deans from various Arab universities. During the meeting Prof. Khalid Khanfar/ Secretary General of the Colleges of Computing and Information Society welcomed the attendees, where he focused in his speech that this work is a collective action to enrich the cooperation and exchange of experiences between the universities of the Arab countries. He also thanked the previous Secretary Generals as well as Sudan University of Science and Technology, and all who contributed to the preparation of this conference.   The agenda of the meeting included:

1.      Ratification of the agenda.

2.      Ratification of the previous minutes of meetings.

3.      Ratification of the financial and administrative report.

4.      Discussion of transforming the International Arab Conference on Information Technology (ACIT) to (Congress), to include the International Arab Conference of Electronic Technology (IACet).

5.      Review and evaluation of a proposed project database to the IT faculty members in the Arab world.

6.      Mechanism to apply accreditation standards for information technology         disciplines.

7.      Review of the proposals for the new plan for the years 2014-2018.

8.      Electronic registration for membership (organizations, individuals).

9.      The Change of the assistant editor of the International Arab Journal of Information Technology (IAJIT).

10.  Election of the executive committee of 2013-2015 cycle.

11.  Honoring the former Secretary General, and the members of the executive committee of the 2011-2013 cycle at the end of its current session

12.  Any other items.

Among the most prominent of the things that were agreed upon:

1.      Assigning the executive committee of 2013-2015 cycle of the status of notes to the differences between the bylaws of the Colleges of Computing and Information Society, edition 2009, and the amended items, which were sent to the Association of Arab Universities for adoption – which is not adopted until now by the Association-.

2.      Authorizing the steering committee of ACIT of the decision on the transformation of the International Arab Conference on Information Technology to Congress.

3.      Election of the executive committee of the 2013-2015 cycle.

 

Fourthly: The Meeting of the Executive Committee of 2013 - 2015 of the Colleges of Computing and Information Society

The executive committee of the 2013-2015 cycle of the Colleges of Computing and Information society held its first meeting on the sidelines of the conference at 11:00 am on Tuesday, 17/12/2013.

 

Among the most prominent of the things that have been discussed:

1.      2009 bylaws.

2.      The venue for the second meeting of the executive committee of the 2013-2015 cycle of the Colleges of Computing and Information Society.

Fifthly: The Meeting of ACIT Steering Committee

ACIT Steering Committee held its 14^th meeting on the sidelines of the conference at 10:30 on Wednesday 18/12/2013, in the presence of 17 members of the committee. The Secretary General commended the continuing efforts of the members of the steering committee of the conference, and in particular mentioning Dr. Qasam, who will be honored, in the closing session of ACIT’2013, as a result of not being absent even once for the meetings of this committee since it began in 2000. During this meeting the following items were discussed:

1.      Ratification of the agenda.

2.      Discussion and approval of the minutes of the previous meeting.

3.      Discussion and approval of the report of the administrative and financial functioning of the Conference.

4.      Considering the formation of the steering committee of ACIT.

5.      Amendment to the hosting form.

6.      Discussion the hosting of the fifteenth session of ACIT (ACIT'2014).

7.      The formation of a committee to draft the final statement of the session ACIT'2013.

8.      A preliminary assessment of the session ACIT'2013 and proposing suggestions about the next session.

9.      Other items, which included:

·         Discussion of the item of transformation of the International Arab Conference on Information Technology (ACIT) to Congress.

·         The addition of Panel Session to the conference program.

·         The role of the steering committee of ACIT in the organization and conduct of the conference.

 

Among the most prominent of the things that were agreed upon:

1.      The mechanism to select the keynote speakers.

2.      Non-diversion of the International Arab Conference on Information Technology to Congress at the moment.

3.      Selection of the University of Nizwa/ Oman to host the fifteenth session of the International Arab Conference on International Technology (ACIT’2014).

4.      Panel session to cover the hot topics in information technology will be part of the conference program.

 

The Conclusions of the Conference:

1.      The participants agreed that the organization of the scientific sessions at the conference was distinctly.

2.      The participants agreed that the prints were of high quality.

3.      The ratio of the selection of the research papers in the current session reached 59%, which is better than the previous sessions

4.      This session was marked by the presence of large numbers of academics and students at the sessions.

 

The Recommendations of the Conference:

1.      Urge ACIT General Secretariat to index ACIT in global databases to help the researchers to increase the accessibility to the scientific production of the Arab and foreign researchers participated at the conference.

2.      Put features to distinguish every cycle of ACIT from a scientific point, so it will be different from its predecessor.

3.      Recommend to publish outstanding research papers of the conference in the Arab Journal of Informatics and IAJIT journal.

4.      Conduct specialized workshops for the students during the period of the conference supervised by the participants Professors.

5.      Concern for the general issues raised by the guests of the keynote speakers at the upcoming conferences.

6.      Provide immediate interpretation for the main lectures of the keynote speakers at the conference.

7.      Organize the sessions’ schedule to prevent a time conflict of the sessions that are interlaced scientifically in order to be attended.

8.      Suggest on the sidelines of the conference of the information technology issues of interest to the Arab and Muslim world.

9.      Provide incentive awards for the best three research papers at the upcoming conferences.

10.  Print the full research papers and not only the abstract in the Proceedings. If it is not possible to print them, it is suggested to put the full research papers on CD’s after numbering them and putting the name of the conference on all the pages.

11.  The necessity of continuing the experiment of the Tutorials sessions at the conference to gain the researchers scientific and educational skills.

12.  Add Posters sessions the conference, and set time to discuss the Posters and choose the best one.

13.  Organize seminar sessions (Panel Sessions) on topics related to information technology.

14.  Organize an exhibition companion of the conference with the participation of computer companies in the host country.

 

General Recommendations:

1.      Work on the development of criteria for assessing the quality of Arabic websites on the Internet and improving the quality of Arabic websites.

2.      Urged researchers and authors to write scientific books in Arabic.

3.      Encourage scientists and researchers in universities and research institutions to develop and conduct the research in the field of information technology and communications towards community service.

 

The participants of the conference expressed their thanks to the Professor/ the Chairman, the Professor/ the Director of Sudan University of Science and Technology, and the Professor/ the Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the Conference and the members of the conference steering committee, who contributed to the success of this outstanding conference.

 

At the conclusion of the conference telegram of thanks and appreciation was raised to His Excellency the President of the Republic of Sudan/ Marshal Omar Hassan al-Bashir, First Vice President Gen/ Bakri Hassan Saleh, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research/ Dr. Summayah Abu Kashawwah, the Minister of Science and Communications/ Dr. Tahani Abd Allah, the Oil Ministry, the Interior Ministry and its former Minister/ Mr. Ibrahim Hamed Ali for their care of this conference. Also conference telegrams of thanks and appreciation were raised to universities: Khartoum University, Future University, International University of Africa, Shendi University, and the Electricity Company of Sudan for their contribution and support for the success of this conference.

The preparation committee of the final pronouncement of ACIT2013:

1.      Prof. Osama Mohammed Badawi.

2.      Prof. Abdel Moneim Qubeissi.

3.      Dr. Abdulkadir Mohammed Al-Abadi.

4.      Dr. Layla Rasheed Hasan.

5.      Dr. Mohammad Mustafa Ali.

 

Final Pronouncement Committee,

December 19, 2013