RE: Jordan: IT initiatives to network

["Bassem" <belwazir@hally.net>]

Greetings,

Perhaps PITA attended this seminar in Amman on the side of the Palestinian
Products Fair that is sponsored by Pal Trade in Amman, so maybe they can
provide us with more insight.

It would be ideal for PITA to start working with CIDA or other institutions
on implementing the same project here in Palestine. Perhaps merge PITA's
visions with ideas from PITA's Jordanian counterparts and elsewhere and put
a frame work or plan to coordinate with local government / NGOs and other
bodies that can make such a project achievable in the near future.

Regards

Bassem El-Wazir

-----Original Message-----
From: general-request@itsig.org [mailto:general-request@itsig.org]On Behalf
Of Sam Bahour
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2001 10:47 AM
To: general@itsig.org
Subject: Jordan: IT initiatives to network


IT initiatives to network

By Jumana Heresh
August 14, 2001

AMMAN — The Information and Technology Association of Jordan
(Int@j) on Monday invited representatives of Jordan's public and
private sector IT initiatives to get “connected” under a collective
action workshop. And they all showed up at the “Connecting
Jordanians Initiative”, a project launched by the Ministry of Post
and Communications in association with the Canadian International
Development Agency (CIDA) and Int@j.

“I think Jordan has enormous resources and there's a very
motivated business community,” Doug Hull, Senior Director of
Public Access and Learning Networks at the Canadian Advanced
Network for Research, Industry and Education (CANARIE) who was
invited to Jordan to share his experiences in making Canada one of
the most connected nations.

“I am also confident that the initiative will be as much success in
Jordan as it has been in Canada”, he told The Jordan Times on the
sidelines of the workshop.

As former director of Industry Canada, Hull was responsible for
carrying out Canada's successful connectedness strategy in 1997.

The workshop which comes as a first step within the initiative
which aims at gathering Jordan's Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) vision. The vision includes public, private and
educational sectors as well as non-government organisations
(NGOs) to introduce them to the Canadian connectedness strategy
and explore potential solutions that will put Jordan on the
information superhighway.

“It is the first time we're looking for ICT participants to share
programmes they've been working on as well as their ideas and
contributions to get more Jordanians on-line,” said Karim Kawar,
Chairman of Int@j.

Kawar asked participants to learn from Hull's “important
experience” and adapt it within the Jordanian IT framework.

A visit by His Majesty King Abdullah to Canada last September
triggered ICT cooperation between the two countries. The King is a
key driving force behind turning Jordan into a regional IT hub.

CIDA is now administering several projects in the Kingdom to
promote IT learning.

“We are now training 100 Jordanian ICT teachers at Balqa Applied
University on how to teach with the technology rather than about
the technology,” said Ethel Thayer, Educational Consultant at
CIDA.

“We are using computers as an integrated tool for research, critical
thinking and problem solving as opposed to learning how to operate
the machine itself,” she told The Jordan Times.

Thayer sees great potential for Jordan with the advent of ICT as a
strategy for learning. “It is conceivable that Jordan will become the
hub of the Middle East in terms of ICT skill-sets, e-bussiness and
the creation of Arab Internet content,” she explained.

CIDA's projects in the Kingdom will last from between three to five
years while funding from the Canadian government will vary
according to the needs of the nation.

Source: http://www.jordantimes.com/Tue/economy/economy4.htm