Jordan Times
Thursday, August 12, 2004
ICT leaders to converge at Jordan ICT Forum 2004
Amman (JT) — Leaders of international ICT
organisations are to converge in Jordan on Sept. 14 to share their visions and
aspirations for a thriving ICT market in the Middle East.
Key speakers from Cisco Systems, Microsoft Corporation, Infocomm Development
Authority, MIT Entrepreneurship Centre and Digicel Caribbean Limited, will
address the conference, according to a statement released by int@j on Wednesday.
Cisco Systems President and CEO John Chambers will deliver the keynote address
in the presence of His Majesty King Abdullah.
This year's ICT Forum aims to promote regional cooperation with the support of
the international community.
“We feel certain that the ICT Forum will play a major role in defining the
opportunities and promoting the regional ICT sector this year,” said Marwan Juma,
chairman of int@j (Information Technology Association - Jordan).
According to Juma, the strong interest shown by international partners
emphasises the importance of the forum and reflects the “awareness and
commitment by the international community towards the region's development.”
“Regional ICT competition has moved beyond businesses competing for market
share; each country in the region is now competing to create the appropriate
investment climate in a bid to lure ICT companies and ensure that their market
is accelerating in terms of development,” int@j CEO Bilal Abuzeid said.
The partnerships between private and public sectors have played a key role in
promoting the investment climate in the region, he added, but stressed the
importance of focussing on the “region's development as a whole to further
accelerate growth.”
The Jordan ICT Forum is being organised by int@j in cooperation with the
Ministry of Information and Communications Technology.
Over 600 ICT leaders will be attending the two-day event including Maggie
Wilderotter, senior vice president of Microsoft Corporation; Lam Chuan Leong,
chairman of Infocomm Development Authority and Tae You, vice president of
corporate affairs at Cisco Systems. Representatives of governments and business
delegations will also be participating, presenting case studies, proofs of
concept and new investment practices and structures that aim to deliver real
competitive investment value for the region's ICT growth and economic success.