Jordan Times
Thursday, April 8, 2004
2004 ICT Forum to focus on regional developments
By Jumana Bississo
AMMAN — The third Jordan ICT Forum is slated to be held in the capital in
mid-September, shifting its focus from Jordan to regional developments in the
sector, according to Information Technology Association of Jordan (int@j)
Chairman Marwan Juma.
“This year's forum is a follow-up to the previous one held two years ago. The
change in theme, focusing on the region rather than Jordan specifically, is a
way to discover how countries can benefit from each other,” he went on to
explain.
The two-day conference — divided into six core sessions is expected to cover a
slew of topics ranging from the region's regulatory environment and e-government
projects to human resource issues and the new topic of local companies' role in
building up Iraq's IT sector, according to Juma.
Parallel to the core sessions, meetings will be held on the peripheries,
showcasing different products and capacities from countries around the region,
which would act as the forum's “commercial aspect,” said the chairman.
These meetings will have a regional focus, providing Jordan and other Arab
countries a means of displaying their “capabilities and the development of
quality applications, and not an international showcase of IBM or Microsoft,”
said Juma.
“It is time for us [Jordan] to showcase our talents specifically, stating where
we are succeeding in specific rather than claiming generalities... We are not
the only country in the region aiming to be an ICT hub, we need to go into
details,” said Ramzi Kawar, int@j board member.
“If a country or company has a story to tell then this is their opportunity to
tell it,” Juma added.
The forum will bring together regional and international ICT leaders to compare
progress made to date, share lessons learned and offer potential investors
detailed information about the status of ICT in the Arab world, promoting
investment opportunity, according to an int@j statement.
“Our [the region's] interests are common, and investment opportunities are not
restricted to [individual] counties but are regional opportunities,” Juma
explained.
“We want to have a foothold [in the sector] as a region,” added Kawar.
The development of flagship companies is also a priority in pushing the
country's economy forward, with Ireland being a point in case.
“Sixty per cent of Ireland's GNP (gross national product) comes from only three
international flagship companies. This is what we want to achieve here in
Jordan,” said Juma.
The conference will charge an entrance fee to all attending and showcasing at
the meetings, placing emphasis on quality rather than mere quantity.
“Though numbers are important we are trying to focus on the quality of those
coming in,” he said.
“Our single greatest challenge will be the amount of people wanting to
participate, we will be flooded. But we want to select the right calibre of
participants,” he added, “if someone is serious to attend then they will, the
entrance fee shouldn't be an issue.”
With a projected match of the Forum's 2002 participants, approximately 1,200 are
expected to attend this year's conference, according to board members.
int@j is a nonprofit organisation with the aim of representing, promoting and
advancing local software and the ICT services industry in the global market,
according to an int@j statement.