IT Opportunities in Syria

1. IT Opportunities in Syria Jeff Mirek Jennifer Kozik Tad Blankenburg

2. Brief History • Seat of several powerful empires dating before 2000 BC • Center of the Christian religion until 7th century when the area succumbed to Muslim Arab rule • French colony from 1922 – 1946 • Independence gained by UN resolution ordering French troops to evacuate

3. Geography

4. Geography • Total Area: 185,180 sq km (Slightly larger than North Dakota) • Climate: Humid Mediterranean coast, semi-arid steppe zone and hot, dry desert • Long considered a crossroad between Europe and the Middle East as well as Europe and Asia

5. People • Population: 18.8 Million • Religions: 74% Sunni Muslim 12% Shia Muslim 10% Christian • Languages: 90% Arabic English and French widely understood and required for study in the education system • Ethnic Groups: 90% Arab 9% Kurds 1% Armenians, Circassians, and Turkomans

6. People • Education: Literacy – 60% Men 50% Women Syria has a good basic education system. The Baath Party strongly promotes education and accounts for 8.6% of the state budget. Engineering and medicine are emphasized in Syria’s four universities. In 2002 the President founded a virtual university which allows Syrian students to obtain degrees from US institutions. Computer literacy is mandatory at the high school level.

7. Economy • GDP: US$71.42 Billion (2005 Est.) • Per Capita – US$3900 • Agriculture – 28.5% of GDP • Industry and Manufacturing – 29.4% • Services – 42.1% • Inflation Rate: 5.1% • Main Industries: petroleum, textiles, food processing, beverages, tobacco, phosphate rock mining

8. Economy Electricity Consumption: 28.26 billion kWh (2003 est.) Oil consumption: 240,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)

9. Economy US Sanctions: • The sanctions include: • Prohibition on the export to Syria of any items that appear on the United States Munitions List (arms and defense weapons, ammunition, etc.) or Commerce Control List (dual-use items such as chemicals, nuclear technology, propulsion equipment, lasers, etc.); • Prohibition on the export to Syria of products of the United States, other than food and medicine; and • Prohibition on aircraft of any air carrier owned or controlled by the Syrian government to take off from or land in the United States.

10. Government • Type: Republic , in name only, that is dominated by an authoritarian, military regime • Consists of: • Executive – The President is the supreme authority • Legislative • Can only modify laws from executive branch, cannot make law. • The constitution established the Baath party as the ruling party • Judicial – President appoints judges

11. Government • Administrative Divisions: 14 Provinces • Legal System: Based on French and Ottoman civil law

12. Infrastructure - Communications • Telephones: Hard Lines: 2.9 Million Cell: 2.95 Million • 14 TV Stations • 16 Radio Stations • System: - Controlled by Government - general assessment: fair system currently undergoing significant improvement and digital upgrades, including fiber-optic technology

13. Infrastructure - Transportation • Airports: 26 with paved runways • Railways: 2722 km Generally adequate for passenger and freight • Paved Roadways: 18,451 km Extensive and reasonably well maintained

14. Infrastructure - Transportation • Ports: Baniyas, Jablah, Latakia, and Tartus Tartus and Latakia – 2800 Vessels per year - 1.5 Million tons loaded - 6.9 Million tons unloaded

15. Investment Risks Nationalization – The Baath Party is a socialist movement that advocates state ownership of industry. The Syrian government is slowly implementing private ownership. Civil Unrest – Unrest in the Kurdish and Shia Muslim community occurs regularly and is brutally suppressed. The regime has one of the worst human rights records in the world. War – Syria considers itself at war with Israel who currently occupies a small portion of Syrian land, the Golan Heights Human Rights – Syria has a very poor human rights record. Torture, executions, and government persecution are common practice.

16. Perspective on Syria Following the succession in 2000 of President Hafez al-Assad by his son, Dr. Bashar Al-Assad, progress has been slow in delivering the openings and reforms hoped for by many. Economic reforms have started in some areas, primarily banking, but the economy remains dominated by regulations and sustained by the petroleum and gas sector.

17. Perspective on Syria Syria was an ally in the first gulf war and a member of the UN Security Council during 2002-2003, strongly opposing the invasion of Iraq. Syria has been accused by the US of not doing enough to stop the influx of fighters into Iraq across its border. The US introduced sanctions against Syria in May 2004, calling for: • Better Syrian cooperation on Iraq • An end to Syrian support for select Palestinian organizations and Hezbollah, • An end to the Syrian program for chemical weapons • Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon

18. Censorship in Syria • “The Internet is the only way for intellectuals to meet and share ideas in Syria today.”—Aktham Na`issa, President of the Committees for the Defense of Democratic Liberties and Human Rights in Syria

19. Censorship in Syria • “What I want to say to you, my friend…is that you and your friends are being watched constantly. They’re watching you as you walk in the street and in your daily life. They’re watching you as you talk on your home phone, on your mobile, and on the Internet. Don’t be too surprised if they’re watching you in your sleep, in your dreams, and in your silence. Don’t be surprised if they’ve come into your bed at night.”—E-mail from one Syrian human rights activist to another, 2005

20. Technology in Syria In order for Syria to condone a particular technology, it must meet the following criteria: • It should benefit the majority of the Syrian people. Technology geared toward the elite is not favored because such people have the resources and means to get what they want without government assistance • It should not disrupt the social structure or adversely affect the middle class, and should be within the means of the masses • It should have a direct impact on Syria’s overall social and economic development • It should not jeopardize Syrian independence or security concerns

21. Syria’s Emergency Law • Syria’s Emergency Law is at the center of all legislation criminalizing peaceful opposition to the government • Syria has been under a state of emergency since a military coup in 1962 and because of the constant “real threat of war by Israel” the Emergency law persists • The law designates the Prime Minister as the Martial Law Governor • Among its sweeping provisions are “the placing of restrictions on freedoms of individuals with respect to meetings, residence, travel and passage in specific places or at particular times; preventive arrest of anyone suspected of endangering public security and order; authorization to investigate persons and places; delegation of any person to perform any of these tasks”

22. Syria’s Emergency Law • The Emergency Law allows for the censorship of letters, internet, publications, broadcasts and other forms of communication • Certain types of Web sites are blocked in Syria by all ISPs: pornography, fanatic religious sites, and extremist Zionist sites • Some ISPs have their own policy for blocking Web sites that are not applied by other ISPs (e.g. the Syrian Telecom ISP blocks access to Yahoo! mail and MS mail services, while the SCS ISP does not block access to these services)

23. Government Censorship • Syrian Internet users report that they can access the Internet from cafés without showing ID. • Plainclothes security officials monitor cafés logging who goes in and out and their activities online. These activities may be subject to criminal penalties and the government does not need customer logs to monitor the cafés • Activists and bloggers tell Human Rights Watch that security officials can compel café owners to spy on their customers and threaten to close the business on administrative grounds.

24. Government Censorship There are three ISPs that offer service to the general public: • The government-owned Syria Telecommunication Establishment (STE) • The government-funded SCS Network • Aya “the first fully private ISP in Syria” owned by a Syrian entrepreneur known for his close ties with the President • Other private ISPs are in the process of setting up operations or obtaining licenses. • The government intends to maintain its control over data communications within the country via its control of the international gateway and the public data network

25. Anonymity Software • Sites that offered free, anonymous browsing could overcome the Syrian monitoring and censorship programs a few years ago but these sites have been closed within Syria • We feel that there is a strong market for anonymity software such as • Triangle Boy • HTTP tunnel • Socks2HTTP • CCProxy • Peek-A-Booty

26. Anonymity Software Anonymity Software makes it harder to trace visits to web sites, online posts, instant messages and other communication forms back to their authors or users • Some use "onion routes" creating layers of servers that separate computer users from the Web sites they visit to hide a user's location. The software is easy, cheap, it is installed and operates in the background by adding icons in Windows • Some replaces the URL bar with a JavaScript and establishes an encrypted connection from the user's desktop using 128-bit Secure Sockets Layer with cookies automatically disabled • Newer anonymity software goes a step further, allowing users to get to an anonymizer through a third party, the code is open source, allowing anyone to set up third-party access to the anonymizer

27. Anonymity Software • Current demand for existing rudimentary anonymity software is so high that entrepreneurial Syrians have been able to turn software installation (available free or trial basis) into a job charging up to 5000 Syrian pounds ($100 USD) for installation

28. Opportunity to Profit from IT in Syria Host an open source third party anonymizer program allowing anyone in Syria to set up third-party access to the licensed anonymizer server which will be run outside of geographic boundaries of Syria Provide Licensed Anonymity Software to the people of Syria via a shared secure server Charge people to encrypt and log on to an untraceable account providing the ability access the internet using licensed anonymity software

29. Investment Opportunities • IT Services As oil reserves are drying up Syria is in a desperate situation to develop its industry. • One method for IT investment in Syria is through a joint venture with the government to develop IT services • Design and Implementation • Network Management • Security Management

30. Investment Opportunities • IT Services • This proposal will: • Utilize the local, inexpensive, and educated labor market • Take advantage of established, although small, local industry as well as government and educational institutions • Will require minimal investment in assets and thus protect from loss due to nationalization or military incursions

31. Investment Opportunities • Expected Results: These services will result in more efficient industries and institutions that will better utilize the low level of capital investment available.

32. Sources • Anthony Shadid, “Syria’s Voices of Change,” Washington Post, May 25, 2005, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2005/05/24/AR2005052401431_pf.html • Joe Pace interview with Ayman Abd al-Nour, July 25, 2005, http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/Joshua.M.Landis-1/syriablog/2005/07/interview-with-ayman-abdelnour-by-joe.htm • Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Ayman `Abd al-Nur, October 2, 2005. • Megan K. Stack, “Arabs Take Bytes at Regimes,” The Los Angeles Times, September 12, 2005, http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fg-technology12sep12,1,3706022,full.story?ctrack=1&cset=true • Maha Taki, Weblogs, Bloggers and the Blogosphere in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan: An Exploration, dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the M.A. Degree in Communications, University of Westminster, London, 2005

33. Sources • CIA World Factbook www.cia.gov • Country Profile: Syria, April 2005 Library of Congress, Federal Research Division http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Syria.pdf