It took an uproar on social media, and several negative reaction stories on both Arabic and English media platforms and newspapers, for the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship to notice the futility of pushing the Sanad app as the “one and only” prerequisite for entering public facilities.
اضافة اعلان
From a lack of attention to detail to its complete disregard for user-friendliness, the Sanad app (aka Sanadjo) has shown us that the Ministry of Digital Economy is mostly short-sighted and, as the case may be, incompetent in its management of the digital transformation issue — and worryingly so.
It takes good governance, and a true intent to serve the citizens of one’s country, for decision-makers to think about the best ways to help Jordanians show proof of vaccination in as many ways as possible (from analogue to digital), without causing them unnecessary confusion or distress.
All it takes is some insight and a basic understanding of how Jordanians function on a daily basis, backed by good research, and the political will to listen and learn before making decisions that affect people on a very personal level. As such, you cannot make decisions that leave no one behind if you do not use the principles of ease-of-use and accessibility as the foundations for your decision-making.
Regrettably, those principles are nothing more than an afterthought, offered by the ministry as part of its crisis management and damage control efforts to contain the voices that have described the Sanad app as “another bureaucratic means to complicate people’s lives,” instead of facilitating them.
Check out the description of the Sanad app on Apple’s App Store and the irony becomes clear. It says that Sanad “allows citizens of Jordan to access Jordan Digital Services with Single Sign On credentials, eliminating the need to be present on site and thus reducing the bureaucratic routine.”
Tell that to the long queues of people at bank entrances, waiting impatiently for the Sanad app to buffer — in some cases up to 15 minutes — as eyewitnesses have mentioned on Twitter and in news reports. If that is not a reflection of bureaucracy, I do not know what is.
On this note, whose fault is it that our banks and telecom companies have all rushed to send us their panic-ridden messages with the dreaded warning (to the effect): We decline to service you if you do not have the Sanad app installed on your phones?
Defense Order No. 46 clearly states (as translated from Arabic), “Malls, shopping centers, banking facilities, telecommunications companies and their showrooms, tourist and popular restaurants, cafes, hotels, offices of electricity distribution companies and water companies, are obliged not to allow anyone to enter or be present, unless they are allowed to be there in accordance with the application ‘Green Sanad.’”
As per the apologetic statements issued by the ministry in the days following the uproar, the Sanad app has finally shown its true lack of popularity among citizens, prompting the ministry to offer further “options’ for those seeking to show proof of vaccination, or the results of a PCR test.
Despite that, the fact remains that the defense order offered citizens no options at all, thus opened the door for all kinds of panicky reactions, including the mayhem that has ensued.
What we are looking at here is much more than just failure in communication. The way the ministry has been pushing Sanad as the future of digital transformation in Jordan signifies a failure in vision, insight, and leadership.
In effect, many Jordanians have concluded digital transformation in Jordan is nothing but a fallacy, judging from how a simple app is incapable of making the average Jordanian’s life easier, but rather unnecessarily more difficult. Many are now of the opinion that technology as the “facilitator of Jordan’s modern life” has fallen flat on its face the minute it was put to the test.
To remedy a grave PR situation, the ministry has also announced a new version that is in the pipeline, and an additional tender to attract a new app developer to give it a facelift. Time will tell if the new version will tackle some of the core issues plaguing the app, which are inherently conceptual rather than technical in nature.
To elaborate, Sanad’s lack of popularity among Jordanians stems from the fact that the ministry has followed a top-down approach, neglecting to incorporate some of the main principles of good governance — such as a public-private “participatory approach” as well as transparency — before starting the process of designing or rolling out the app.
True, the ministry has put out the 2021-2025 National Strategy for Digital Transformation for public consultation. However, we have no information on who exactly offered their feedback, whether a sector other than the “tech and entrepreneurship” crowd has taken part, the gist of their opinions, or whether the Sanad app, specifically, was up for public discussion before it was imposed — with all its shortcomings — on this country’s citizens.
With that said, it is more than apparent that the issue of digital transformation is being managed with an “ivory-tower” attitude. This is truly worrying, especially since this transformation will ultimately affect every single citizen in Jordan, in addition to visitors, diplomats, expatriates, and refugees. Yet, it seems no one has thought to ask any of those, or our civil society organizations, about their thoughts regarding the design of the app, its user-friendliness, or any measures needed to protect the personal data of Jordanians.
I have written two previous opinion pieces on the topics of digital policy and digital ethics in Jordan. The first is dubbed, “Stop Jordan’s digital IDs until the US regulates Big Tech,” while the other is titled, “Jordan’s digital ethics: Who is shaping the moral codes of our e-reality?”
The underlying argument boils down to Jordan’s lack of clear policy when it comes to digital transformation. We also have no laws or regulations to protect personal data, although news reports about the introduction of such laws started showing up in the media as far back as 2014, as online research shows (it could be earlier, though). We also have no national manifesto outlining the country’s digital ethics, which could ultimately inform relevant policy.
Sadly, none of the above seems to be on the to-do-list of the Ministry of Digital Economy, and that is another sign of the apparent lack of vision and leadership defining its stewardship.
To be honest, analyzing its recent press releases, the ministry seems to be focused on publicizing its feats and achievements more than doing its job in educating the public about what this digital transformation could mean to them in practical terms, both long and short term.
In the words of a taxi driver venting his frustrations: Sanad app is an “invasive” tool “with no safeguards to protect our data” and no intention to make our lives easier. Is there a way for this man to make his voice heard? Come to think of it, Jordanians have the right to share their worries about the Sanad app and plans for digital transformation, and we all have the right to be heard in matters that affect us on an immediate level.
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