Intel VP speaks at Palestine Investment Conference

Will Swope, Intel's Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Intel's Corporate Affairs Group, joined other industry leaders at the Palestine Investment Conference to talk about ICT development and education as key to a successful future for Palestine.

'Being in Palestine today and witnessing the great talent that the youth have to offer inspires us to collaborate further with Palestinian educators and technology innovators to up-level education curricula and help drive ICT development.

Intel has been actively involved in education for forty years; we believe that students at all levels everywhere, deserve the chance to develop the skills to become innovators. From local schools to global universities, Intel works to improve the quality of education around the world.'

said William A. Swope.

During his visit to Ramallah today, Swope announced the launch of a new multi-core computer lab at Birzeit University in order for the university to expand their skills and class offerings to include programming models targeted toward multi-core platforms.

Speaking at the launch event for the multi-core lab, Dr. Adnan H. Yahya, Dean of IT Faculty of Birzeit University commented: 'Birzeit University is the first higher education institution to be established in Palestine. In addition to providing students with the opportunity to realize their academic aspirations, we encourage our students to be productive citizens and active members of their community. Our relation with Intel, an active player in enhancing education and technology in the Middle East, will help us work towards achieving this goal.'

Intel also announced the expansion of the Intel® Higher Education Technology Entrepreneurship Program aiming to develop the ecosystem & prepare today's student innovators to become tomorrow's technology entrepreneurs.

Intel with its collaboration with UC Berkeley's Lester Center will offer its global program on technology entrepreneurship curriculum and training to 5 Palestinian institutions. Also Intel in partnership with USAID will sponsor a business plan competition that will be organized by PICTI for students in order to further strengthen the entrepreneur initiatives in Palestine.

Winners of the competition will be given an opportunity to participate at the annual global Intel +UC Berkeley Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge (IBTEC) scheduled at the Berkeley campus in Nov 2008.

The collaboration between Intel and PICTI when some of PICTI's staff members were nominated by Intel to participated in an intensive two-week training organized by Intel& UC Berkeley at UC Berkeley campus in 2007.

Laith Kassis, General Manager of PICTI said 'At PICTI, we design and implement initiatives that support the development of entrepreneurial business ventures with high growth potential. Our partnership with Intel and USAID allows us to further nurture the diverse Arab talents and enhances the growth of dynamic businesses in Palestine. We are indeed proud of this partnership and look forward to building on the successes we have achieved so far.'

Further committing to Palestine, Intel re-opened the Intel® Computer Clubhouse in Ramallah after a full refresh of this community center with state of the art technology.

Khaled Elamrawi, Intel Country Manager for Egypt, Levant and North Africa region said 'This after-school program provides an opportunity for youth in under-privileged neighborhoods to interact with each other, be mentored by young adults from the community, and develop information and communications technology (ICT) skills.'

Intel also started to work with Ministry of Education on a detail multi-year plan to provide Intel® Teach Program in Palestine and to donate 900 units of the Intel-powered classmate PCs to the schools in area to support this initiative.

Finally, in collaboration with USAID, Intel is committed to advancing connectivity in the West Bank to support economic growth and development in the region.