by

Marwan Tarazi

Director of Computer Center, Birzeit University

tel: +972-2-9982012, email: mtarazi@admin.birzeit.edu

Information Technology has been one of the fastest growing areas of development in this decade, and it will be playing an ever increasing role in our everyday life in the future.

The term Information Technology, also known as IT, is not new, nor does it reflect one particular area or specialization. As the term implies, Information Technology refers to all technologies related to processing all kinds of information. The scope of IT is thus enormous. On the technological side, IT may refer to the computer industry, telecommunications, software industry, publishing industry and others. Vast fields fall under all this such as operating systems, software development, networking, intranets, the Internet, databases, multi-media, video and audio technologies, and many more. On the information side, IT can deal with any type of information in any field: financial, economic, health, trade, industry, education, services, etc., and thus applies to almost every aspect of our personal and professional lives.

In effect, IT has always been there so as many ask, “what is all the hype about?” During the past few years, major technological developments took place which brought IT into the limelight. Amongst the most important two are (1) the advancements in networking technologies which lead to the emergence of immense networking infrastructures such as the Internet. These have made vast amounts of information easily and quickly available locally and at global levels, and (2), the evolution in computer technology which has produced fast and powerful computers at affordable prices. Personal computers are now capable of processing large amounts of information at very high speeds. These factors (amongst others not mentioned here) have created a new reality and new ways of doing things. It is no longer a luxury or an advantage to be IT oriented, it is a must for development and international competitiveness, and it would be dangerous to lag behind in IT.

The majority of the Palestinian population, be it in Palestine, or refugee camps abroad, live in concentrated geographical areas that have very limited natural resources. Movement of humans and goods between these areas are restricted and relative to unstable political environments. This situation makes it very difficult to develop industries and trade of conventional goods and materials and to compete in international markets.

The most likely type of industries to succeed under such circumstances are service oriented industries. Ones that do not rely on movement nor geographic boundaries. IT industries are a perfect example. IT industries rely almost entirely on human expertise, and the level of capital investment in IT need not exceed a personal computer. Production and development can then be undertaken anywhere, and the final products may be delivered through magnetic media (e.g. diskettes) telephone lines, wireless communications, satellite links, etc. Such flexibility makes IT one of the most suitable industries for developing a Palestinian economy.

It is also important to note that integrating IT into the infrastructure of the emerging Palestinian state will have a major impact on its efficiency and rate of growth.

As mentioned earlier, IT consists of two components: information, and technology. The technologies are the tools needed to process information quickly and efficiently. In general, in an IT community, only a small percentage of the population is involved in developing the technological aspect of IT. The majority of the population deals with information and uses the tools developed by the technology group in processing this information. An example of this concept would be an accounting package. It may require a handful of programmers to develop a computerized accounting package, yet thousands may use it to process accounting information.

The level of IT usage for Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza is quite limited. It is mostly confined to standard desktop applications for word processing, accounting and basic information management. For a community that currently establishing a state, IT should be playing a much more significant role in the process of providing a much more solid foundation for development in the future. This is not to mention the economical benefits that will result from the creation of IT industries as discussed earlier.

The problems that hinder the development of IT are various. Some are directly related to the 40 years of Israeli occupation and continuing hostile control of Israel of the Palestinian economy, and the movement of goods and humans into the PA areas. Others are related to human development and expertise. Amongst the most obvious problems are:

• IT awareness and literacy amongst the population is very low.
• IT expertise in modern information technologies is scarce.
• The infrastructure that would support the growth of IT is limited.
• Hardly any educational institution supports the growth of IT (they lack both human and the technological resources).
• There are no national policies and strategies for the promotion of IT in Palestine.
• The Palestinian government is not allocating sufficient resources for the development of IT in Palestine

To develop IT in the West Bank and Gaza there is a need to address the above issues at all levels: Many need to be addressed at the political levels, yet the majority need to be addressed on purely developmental basis.

As mentioned earlier, the development of IT relies mostly on human expertise, and thus one of the most important factors that needs to be addressed is human resource development. This needs to be done at all levels: Professional training, university education, and school education. One of the most immediate needs is to train trainers and teachers that will deliver the training to school and university students and to professionals from the community.

Developing the IT infrastructure is also a primary importance. Human expertise without the technology will not suffice. Acquiring the technology however, is almost entirely a financial issue. What is important to note is that procurement of adequate equipment and knowing what to do with it relies heavily on the level of available expertise. During the past few years, we have witnessed large organizations and governmental agencies acquire various IT technologies and large amounts of computers, with the wrong specifications to use a fraction of their capabilities.

To achieve serious IT development at a national level, a Palestinian IT strategy must be developed. At present, many IT related initiatives and developments are taking place with little coordination or cooperation. Each is heading in a different direction. These initiatives are either duplicating, creating incompatible systems, or using outdated technologies. A national IT strategy must be put forth to guide IT development, to protect individual and copyrights, to guide the economy into an information based economy, and to create IT industries.

Finally, the long term development of IT in Palewill require serious financial commitments from the government. All technologically advanced countries allocate a specific percentages of their national budgets to the development of technologies. In the West Bank and Gaza, financial resources will be needed to integrate IT into the educational systems, to promote research and development, to build information infrastructures, to encourage the emergence of technologically based enterprises and companies, etc..

There are a few initiatives taking place at the moment for the development of IT in Palestine. Amongst these initiatives are a World Bank’s project to develop a national IT strategy. The Government Computer Center (GCC) is also sponsoring a similar activity. A Palestinian IT special interest group (ITSIG) which consists of professionals in the IT field was formed about a year ago, and their objectives are to influence and promote the development of IT in Palestine

Other organizations have begun to promote the return or the involvement of the Palestinian expatriate workforce in the developments in Palestine (in all fields). Amongst these activities are the TOKTEN program of the United Nations Development Project, the MARHABA program - the Palestinian white page directory which is sponsored by Palnet, Baraka, and Birzeit University.

There are some international agencies that have also become indirectly involved in the development of IT in Palestine. Amongst them is the Center for Private Enterprise Development (CPED). One of their immediate targets are IT oriented companies.

Finally there are initiatives at the educational level. Amongst those are the IT Unit project being developed by Birzeit University which targets the professional and the university’s IT community, the Training Center of the GCC which primarily targets the Government employees, and the FUTUREKIDS project by the Welfare Association which targets school children, ages 3-14.

The benefits of developing IT in Palestine are enormous. Yet to create an IT literate society and an IT based economy requires planning, cooperation and resources. The main responsibility for those concerned with the development of IT in Palestine are to promote strategic development of the sector, and to influence decision and policy makers in giving IT a high national priority.