Nizar Ben Néji (born 27 June 1981) is a Tunisian politician, computer engineer, and former minister of communication technologies, serving at this position from 2021 to 2024. Dr. Nizar Ben Neji was appointed in charge of the ministry of communication technologies of Tunisia on August 2nd 2021 and then confirmed later at this position on October 11th 2021 as a member of the government led by prime minister Najla Bouden then prime minister Ahmed Hachani.
Biography Nizar Ben Neji holds a Doctorate degree in Information and Communication Technologies from the Higher School of Communications of Tunis (Sup'com) of the University of Carthage and an engineering degree from the National School of Computer Sciences of Tunis (ENSI) of the University of Manouba in 2005. He also performed postdoctoral scientific research at the University of Massachusetts of Amherst in USA as Fulbright scholar, in 2015.
Career Dr. Ben Neji started his career as a crypto and PKI engineer and later as a project manager at the Tunisian Government Certification Authority (TunTrust) from 2005 to 2013 and was member of several national steering committees and working groups in charge of conducting national IT and E-Government projects in Tunisia. In 2013, he joined the University of Carthage in Tunisia, as lecturer and researcher, first at the Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte (FSB), and later at the Higher School of Communications of Tunis (Sup'com). Dr. Ben Neji was actively involved as Information and communications technology expert at an international level with Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Arab Information and Communication Technology Organization (AICTO), in delivering seminars and projects in wide variety of subjects related specially to cybersecurity and cybercriminality. Recognised for his strategic vision and practical expertise in the design and the execution of ICT strategic projects in the field of information and communication technologies, Dr. Ben Neji was appointed Minister of Communication Technologies, a position he held for more than three years.
Strategic achievements and notable milestones During his term of minister of communication technologies, Dr. Ben Neji spearheaded the design and implementation of the Tunisia’s National Digital Transformation Strategy 2025, structured around 8 axes of development and including an action plan with over 80 projects. During his mandate, Dr. Ben Neji focused on modernizing Tunisia’s digital infrastructure and services. Some of the most notable achievements and initiatives under his mandate include, but are not limited to, the following: Tunisian National Digital Transformation Strategy 2025, along with its comprehensive action plan, was elaborated through a collaborative and inclusive process. It was publicly discussed with key ICT ecosystem stakeholders during a dedicated workshop held on May 27, 2022, at Elgazala Technopark. This workshop brought together experts, industry leaders, and government representatives to ensure that the strategy aligned with the national requirements and expected goals. Following these consultations, the strategy was presented and subsequently approved during a ministerial meeting chaired by Prime Minister Najla Bouden on June 21, 2022. A new cybersecurity legislation, enacted on March 11, 2023, came into force on September 11, 2023 and has established the National Agency for Cybersecurity, replacing the old National Agency for Computer Security that had been in place since 2004. This new law provides a more comprehensive and modernized framework, addressing new aspects previously unregulated which are quite important for the national cybersecurity and digital sovereignty in Tunisia. The new key provisions include the protection of critical digital infrastructure, sovereign cloud labelling, and the security’s certification of software and hardware solutions, whether imported or locally produced. The law also introduces national and sectoral Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) and strengthens the security audit framework by adding further restrictions, obligations, and sanctions. A new cybercrime law enacted on 13 September 2022, aimed at combating offences and defining penalties for the crimes in relation with information and communication technologies (ICT). The law outlines the responsibilities of all relevant stakeholders involved in the digital forensics and the management of electronic evidence. Tunisia becomes the 70th party to Budapest Convention on Cybercrime on March 8, 2024 which is the first international treaty seeking to address Internet and computer cross border crimes, harmonizing national laws, improving the digital investigative techniques, and increasing cooperation among nations. The national IPv6 Task Force was established in November 2021, by ministerial decision, with the mandate to develop a comprehensive action plan to accelerate the IPv6 adoption in Tunisia (https://www.ipv6.tn). The national Internet Protocol version 6 policy was defined in a government circular and published on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. Tunisia officially launched IPv6 on September 20, 2023, initially over the mobile network with the three local telecom operators: Tunisie Telecom, Ooredoo Tunisie and, Orange Tunisie and later over the fixed network with the foremost Internet service provider, Topnet. Within just one year, the country's IPv6 adoption rate skyrocketed from 0% to 20%, positioning Tunisia as the third-leading country in Africa for IPv6 adoption and the country that has done the most significant jump worldwide. With the aim to enhance the country’s international Internet connectivity, the local telecom operators were authorized to invest and supported by the Ministry of Communication Technologies to quickly install new submarine communication cables and they were also required to upgrade the capacity and to renew the existing cables lines. The Ifriqiya cable, Tunisia's segment of the PEACE system connecting Asia, Africa, and Europe, became operational on March 3, 2024, providing to Tunisia an additional high data rate of approximately 3TB/s. The installation of the new Medusa cable began on May 11, 2023, and the new cable line shared between Tunisie Telecom and Orange Tunisia is expected to be operational by the end of 2024, adding another route line for Tunisia. With a total of six submarine communication cables, Tunisia will secure the necessary diversity, security, and capacity for its connectivity in the years ahead. The preparation for the rollout of the 5G technology in Tunisia began in October 2021 with two public consultations conducted respectively by the national telecommunications authority (INT) on 5G use cases and by the national agency of frequencies (ANF) on the eventual radio spectrum allocation strategy for 5G. Then, the spectrum refarming phase was crucial to make the frequency bands 2.6 GHz and 700 MHz available as soon as possible for the 5G deployment in Tunisia. The Ministry of Communication Technologies issued special authorizations for pilot experiments of 5G. Subsequently, the three telecom operators conducted tests and trials to master the new technology and prepare for the transition to the next generation. The feasibility study was updated by a specialized consulting firm and the final feasibility report was submitted to the Ministry of Communication Technologies in March 2024. This report outlined technical options, potential use cases, coverage, and security obligations, as well as an estimated cost range for the 5G commercial license. Smaller and more focused consultations were conducted between the sectorial committee led by the Minister Nizar Ben Neji, telecom operators, and manufacturers to discuss the findings of the feasibility study and the results of the pilot phase. The roadmap for the remaining steps, along with the final decisions regarding 5G deployment, was announced in March 2024. The tendering process and the establishment of a national committee responsible for preparing the granting of 5G service licenses were approved during a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Ahmed Hachani. The tender for 5G operating licenses was launched in June 2024, with commercial deployment in Tunisia expected to begin in January 2025. The project of hardening the process of selling SIM and eSIM cards was initiated by the Ministry of Communication Technologies in collaboration with the National Telecommunications Authority to further protect Tunisia's 16 million mobile phone subscribers. Several measures have been implemented, including deactivating unidentified SIM cards or those with incomplete identification, prohibiting the anarchic sale of SIM cards in the streets starting from January 2025, limiting the number of SIM cards owned per citizen, and assisting citizens in detecting any misuse of their identities with SIM cards through the new, enhanced version of the *186# service and the automatic SMS warning system. The Edunet 10 project was officially launched on March 11, 2023. Co-funded by the African Development Bank and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the project has a total cost of over 132 million Tunisian dinars. Its primary objective is to connect 3,307 schools to a fiber optic network, providing high-speed Internet access to more than 1.5 million students. This initiative also seeks to generalize the connection of educational institutions to the network and provide high-value digital educational services and content. In a next phase, the Ministry of Communication Technologies plans to expand the established fiber communication network to reach the other public entities around schools. A Cloud legal framework was established for the first time in Tunisia in March 2023, accompanied by a government circular defining the "TN Government Cloud First" policy, which was published on July 22, 2024. This policy requires public entities to prioritize Cloud computing services either private, public or community Cloud for hosting digital infrastructure and services. In addition, a new labelling framework to distinguish the sovereign Cloud providers (G-Cloud and N-Cloud) was defined in the order of the Minister of communication technologies of 4 April 2024 and in total, 8 Tunisian Cloud service providers obtained the sovereign label. Consequently, public authorities in Tunisia are facing the end of cooperation with non-certified Cloud service providers when outsourcing the hosting of their infrastructure and electronic services. The Electronic Government (e-Government) policy was published by the Ministry of Communication Technologies in a government circular, on January 19, 2024. This policy mandates that all government authorities adhere to common guidelines, as Tunisia currently has approximately 3,200 administrative procedures, with 75% classified as government-to-business (G2B) services and only 25% as government-to-citizen (G2C) services, many of which are not yet available online. The e-Government policy is composed of 12 rules designed to accelerate digitalization by adopting common building blocks and modernizing how the state serves citizens and businesses through online administrative procedures.