Syria and all sectors of work and life in it depends primarily on qualifying personnel in various fields of work in the public and private sectors in Syria, including employees and those responsible for managing and operating applications, programs, and digital governance.

Digital Community Development in Syria: Qualifying Personnel to Manage and Operate Applications and Digital Governance

Qualification constitutes an integrated framework for digital community development in Syria, with a practical plan for qualifying personnel working in the public and private sectors, particularly employees and those responsible for managing and operating applications, information systems, and digital governance. The approach focuses on linking technical capacity building, institutional governance, community engagement, and the sustainability of initiatives through appropriate policies, training, and infrastructure.

Background and Context

Syria faces multiple challenges in its digital transformation, including disparities in infrastructure, a shortage of specialized skills, and the overlap between public and private sector requirements. Therefore, digital community development here does not simply mean introducing technology, but rather enhancing the capacity of local communities and institutions to design, operate, and maintain digital systems that serve local needs and adhere to strict governance, ethical, and technical controls.

Definition of the Target Group and Target Audiences

To ensure digital community development, communities must be empowered to use digital tools to improve public services, economic opportunities, education, and civic engagement.

Therefore, the target group classification includes the following core groups in society:

• Information systems employees and operators in ministries and government agencies.
• IT managers in companies, NGOs, and small and medium-sized enterprises.
• Digital project executives, application engineers, cybersecurity personnel, and data analysts.
• Staff who use and operate various technologies from diverse platforms, websites, and smart applications.

Objectives of the Rehabilitation Strategy

Establish a technical and skills base to efficiently manage and operate national and local applications, and disseminate a culture of digital governance and privacy within institutions, while consolidating an understanding of cybersecurity practices, information security, and systems risk management. Support for the sustainability of digital projects also comes through building continuous maintenance and modernization capabilities, and enhancing knowledge transfer and community learning within local communities through centers, civil society organizations, and other community entities.

Required Core Competencies

This includes a set of fundamentals, such as providing training to enhance technical competencies in managing systems, servers, and computers using operating systems (Windows and Linux), deploying applications and databases, and working on basic cloud computing systems within the required work concepts for each field and resource management. This also includes managing and operating user interfaces, control panels, and their settings, as well as managing releases.

Operational Competencies

• Monitoring systems performance, incident management, and business continuity.
• Methods and approaches for managing readiness.
• Managing user databases, backups, and data recovery.

Security and Privacy Competencies

• Cybersecurity principles, access control, and data encryption.
• Privacy and compliance policies.

Governance and Policies

• Understanding digital governance frameworks, digital project management, and transparency and accountability policies.

Soft Competencies

• Managing technical teams, communicating with service users, design thinking, and customer service.

Qualification Success Criteria

This is a set of measurable success indicators that can be summarized as follows:

• Percentage of employees with technical certifications compared to the target.
• System availability rate before and after training.
• Average service recovery time and reduction in security incidents, technical failures, and network outages.
• Number of digital projects launched locally without external support.
• User satisfaction indicators for government/private digital services.

Governance, Policies, and Ethical Considerations

Establish clear policies for identity and access management, personal data protection, and transparency in the use of government data. The framework for periodic accreditation and security audits relies on community engagement mechanisms to ensure that digital designs serve diverse groups while achieving inclusive access. Ethical policies for the use of AI systems, technologies, and services are also achieved through proper and disciplined use according to strict rules and principles.

Potential Barriers and Solutions

Lack of Infrastructure: Adopt hybrid solutions such as on-premises standards and use of available cloud services with strict security policies.

Brain Drain: Retention incentives will minimize the loss of qualified personnel by providing promotion paths, competitive salaries, and ongoing training and development opportunities.

Limited Funding: Seek partnerships with international institutions, NGOs, and the private sector for conditionally funded programs.

Resistance to Institutional Change: Awareness campaigns and workshops for decision-makers, employee education, and highlighting the practical and economic benefits.

Practical Short- and Long-Term Recommendations

Developing digital society in Syria and developing the capabilities of personnel in managing and operating digital applications and governance is possible and less risky when a systematic approach is adopted that balances technical training, governance development, and local community support. Investing in building local skills, creating clear career paths, and adopting strong data protection policies will move Syrian institutions toward more reliable and sustainable digital services and enable society to truly benefit from the digital transformation.

To achieve this, rapid training programs for technical staff must be launched, focusing on security and operations, as well as creating a set of applicable national/institutional digital policies (pre-existing policy models can be used and adapted to the Syrian situation). It is also imperative to establish a network of local trainers based on the principle of “train the trainer” to ensure continuity and sustainable expansion.

Finally, sectoral partnerships between universities, local companies, and civil society must be encouraged to provide realistic training projects. It is also necessary to establish a microfinance fund to support training mechanisms and system maintenance and modernization.