ITEP receives ECDL's "Society IT Awareness 2006" award

The decision to award ITEP was made during the International Forum for Executive Directors of ECDL which was held in Dubrovnik, Croatia recently. The prize came in recognition of ITEP's distinguished efforts in the field of IT training in the United Arab Emirates.

In cooperation with Dubai Education Council, ITEP's IT programs has covered a large part of the education sector, equipping teachers and administrators with advanced IT skills to be utilized in the educational process and certifying them with the ICDL GCC. ITEP has also contributed in publishing Arab and Islamic heritage on the Internet through "H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Project to Preserve Al Azhar Scripts". More than 27,000 manuscripts (about three million pages), in 63 different fields, were digitally archived to make up the first and largest Digital Library's website concerning manuscripts.

Mr. Damien O'Sullivan, Executive Director of ECDL, awarded the prize to Dr. Abdulla Al Karam, Secretary General of Dubai Education Council and the ITEP director, in the presence of Mr. Jamil Iz'zo, General Manager of the ICDL GCC Foundation, Mrs. Amal Belhasa, Deputy Director of ITEP, and Hind Al-Mualla, Special Projects Manager.

"The award comes in recognition of ITEP's pioneering efforts over the past six years. These efforts aim at spreading IT throughout the social spectrum, thus raising trainees efficiency to positively affect their fields", said Dr. Abdulla Al Karam. "This productive result is attributed to the joint efforts with ECDL in the GCC. We are looking towards broader horizons by introducing IT education to the whole society, and that is what we consider as our real prize," he added.

Commenting on the award, Mr. Jamil Iz'zo said: "During the past years, ECDL, in cooperation with ITEP, has succeeded in promoting IT education in the UAE. We are honored to award this prize to ITEP; our partners in the pioneering vision towards creating a digital society based on knowledge. We would like to thank H.H. Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashed Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE and the Ruler of Dubai, for his interest towards establishing an economy based on digital knowledge."

It is worth mentioning that, since 2000, 85,000 students and 1,400 teachers and executives in the education sector; 6,300 students of higher education; 6,500 policemen and officers in Dubai; and more than 5,300 employees in government institutions received ITEP training. ITEP recently initiated a series of courses geared at women, where a total number of about 100 women received ICDL training, and the same number of people with special needs completed courses at their institution.