IBM, German-Jordanian University ink partnership deal

The deal supports the alliance between Newtek, the leading integrated IT solution provider in the region, and the university to focus on IBM's training initiative and software solutions that will help foster new technical and business focused innovation and encourage new Jordanian businesses based on and enabled by technology.

The President of the German-Jordanian University, Dr. Labib Khadra, said:

"The University's mission has been to educate highly skilled professionals who will be capable of contributing to Jordan's development. The German - Jordanian University has been very successful in building partnerships with the private sector and such partnership will serve as an innovative model that will both build the capacity of Jordanian IT students by involving them in the development of real-life applications, as well as to accelerate the deployment of e-culture among citizens."

The University's vision behind building a technology incubator includes a series of education laboratories and the establishment of a software development and implementation environment at the University's School of Informatics and Computing. The software technology incubator, to be based on IBM technologies, will service a broad spectrum of both public and private sector stakeholders, and will enable university professors and students to innovate in the development of software products and e-services.

Bashar Kilani, head of IBM Software Group, Middle East, Egypt and Pakistan, said: "This is an initiative that will significantly enhance the opportunities for young people at the University to gain access to leading edge software applications, development tools, languages and other platforms to help them in developing a deep understanding of these systems in order that they can use that understanding to innovate. We believe that initiatives such as this begin to answer His Highness King Abdulla's call for reinvigorating the ICT sector in Jordan."

The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research is funding the project, in an effort to enable higher education institutions to foster innovations within the educational systems and develop the skills among students.

"The objective of the SAI initiative is to create capacity and expertise as part of the faculty and students' IT-related curriculum and programs, to understand, enhance, and implement IBM's best practices for computing technologies" said Dr. Salem Al-Agtash, Dean of Informatics and Computing at the German-Jordanian University.

Kamal Haddad, general manager of Newtek Solutions added: "This is a major initiative for Jordan's education sector and highlights IBM's commitment to the region. Partnering with the German-Jordanian University will not only enhance the skills among teachers and students but will also provide new channels for IBM's software and education services to add value to people across a wide range of organizations in both the private and public sector."

By also involving the private sector, this project serves as an example of the emerging public-private-academia partnership in advancing Jordan's ICT agenda, a broadening of the strong public-private sector co-operation established in Jordan over recent years.