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It is important to note that the Algerian State does not have any
financial contribution in this operation, which is covered exclu-
sively by the PPP. The PC suppliers propose four configurations
of PCs, two desktop versions and two portable versions. They
offer a three-year guarantee for the desktop version and a two-
year guarantee for the portable version.
The software publishers offer the guarantee of functionality for
the operating and office software, and will update the software
while it remains under guarantee. Processor manufacturers will
also take care to maintain well-functioning processors during the
period of guarantee. The postal and telecommunication opera-
tors convey the advertisement flyers free of charge.
The banks grant loans with very advantageous financial condi-
tions, and these can be repaid over 12, 24 or 36 month periods.
Applications for credit will wait no longer than eight days from
the date of depositing the application for it to be processed. Once
the request is accepted, the citizen can immediately take his or
her PC. The insurance companies apply reduced insurance rates
to banks concerned with this operation.
The stakeholders signed an Outline Agreement during a cere-
mony chaired by the Minister of Post and ICTs on 18 July 2005.
Operation OUSRATIC consists of putting on the market five
million PCs between the end of 2005 and 2010, which makes a
total of one million PCs per year. The new market created by this
project will have a value of more than USD4 billion. Each family
will be able to buy a PC thanks to the conditions put in place. Nine
million schoolboys, high-school pupils and students will take part
in shaping the success of this operation and the good use of PCs.
Implementation of operation OUSRATIC
Operation OUSRATIC will be launched in October 2005. All the
provisions have been made for its success. A follow-up committee,
comprising representatives of the families of the stakeholders, has
been created and put in place. It will take care of the good imple-
mentation of the operation, from its launch until 2010. The
committee is mandated to examine and approve the requests made
by new stakeholders. It will modify, where necessary, the config-
urations of PCs in relation to technological progress. A report on
the evolution of the operation will be produced each month, and
actions will be taken according to the results obtained.
Operation OUSRATIC will be a catalyst for capacity building in
the manufacture of ICT and content. Indeed, the telecommuni-
cation operators will have to offer access to the information
infrastructures in terms of capacity and affordable cost. A major
effort will be made to achieve the objectives of connectivity.
It is important to specify that the ICT sector profits from state
aid, which amounts to around USD1 billion thanks to the five-
year support plan for growth (2005-2009), which mobilized
national resources of USD55 billion for the whole sector. In addi-
tion, more than USD3 billion in foreign direct investment has
been accomplished in the ICT sector since 2001.
Several thousand jobs will be created thanks to operation
OUSRATIC. Skills related to ICT will be developed, and the focus
will be laid on the development of software and electronic appli-
cations in order to meet the needs of society.
The activity of the Sidi Abdallah Cyberparc (30 kilometres west
of Algiers) in particular, with its incubator TECHNOBRIDGE, will
reinforce the output of the ICT, the training of ICT-related skills,
and research and development for software and applications. In
addition, specialized higher education establishments will convey
their knowledge in the development of open software and infor-
matics applications.
Public institutions such as libraries and museums are prepar-
ing right now make their stores of information available online
for the ‘linked’ families of the future. It will be the same for insti-
tutions in the sectors of justice, health, urbanism and housing.
Regional cooperation
Operation OUSRATIC will enable Algeria to gain experience that
it can then use to the benefit of developing countries, making
possible a framework of cooperation between them. This coop-
eration will address the organization put in place as well as the
manufacture and sale of sets of PCs with broadband (ADSL)
Internet access.
In fact, the PC providers will reach their optimal production
from the first year of implementation of this operation, and will
have sufficient quantities available for export to countries that
make an application under advantageous conditions.
Regional cooperation will offer a framework of experience-
sharing and exchange of expert knowledge, thus supporting the
economic development of the region’s countries and easing the
burden of ‘brain-drain,’ from which Algeria and many other devel-
oping countries currently suffer.
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OUSRATIC, one PC per household, poster containing the signatures of
The Stakeholders, July 18, 2005