Jordan's national IT strategy introduces decisive homegrown solutions in next phase

The REACH initiative report, named after the components it reviews; Regulatory framework; Enabling environment, Advancement of national IT programs; Capital and finance and Human resource development, is now in its fourth year. REACH 4.0 will focus on identified areas that require fast, decisive action by local consultants and will include the latest industry statistics.

"Our aim is for Jordan to become a regional ICT leader and internationally recognised exporter of ICT products and services, exploiting its core human capital advantages," said Marwan Juma, Chairman, int@j. "What we're doing with REACH 4.0 is really focusing on making significant progress in key areas. To do this, we're being very realistic and using local consultants to get the optimum results in a 12 month timeframe. We know what needs to be done and we aim on making the changes that will give Jordan an even greater ICT advantage."

The purpose of REACH 4.0 is to review the sector's progress since 2002 (REACH 3.0), and to set clear and realistic targets for the coming twelve months. Unlike the previous revisions, the stakeholders will be required to agree on a list of tasks with assigned responsibilities, which will be accounted for in 2004. To ensure completion by 2005, the number and magnitude of tasks is very realistic and in line with the resources available.

"As we've gone through the REACH process, we've noticed that a certain number of action areas have been a constant throughout: they kind of keep cropping up," said Ra'ed Bilbessi, CEO of int@j. "We are aggressively focusing on these points to make sure we make significant changes. So REACH 4.0 is about giving a solid one-year timeframe to address those remaining critical points. For instance, low Internet penetration has been a constant issue for us throughout the past three years, the lifetime of the REACH process, and so we're saying that we'll target that as a focus over the next year and aim to evaluate and address the issue effectively."

REACH was first presented as a strategy document to His Majesty King Abdullah II in 1999. The report laid out a clear plan of action for the growth of a national ICT market and for Jordan to take a place in the global information economy, and outlined a number of objectives to be met in a five year plan. This was subsequently reviewed with REACH 2.0, which added a major focus on legislative reform, identifying the 'REACH legislative package' of 25 laws that required reform (15 of these have now changed and a further 9 are being reformed). REACH 3.0 was released in September 2002 and focused on the business and educational environments. The REACH 4.0 review process was kicked off on 14 October 2003 and will take one year to complete.

The IT Association of Jordan (int@j) represents the interests of Jordan's dynamic ICT sector and is an active agent in promoting Jordan's ICT offering to the global market, since its creation in 2000. The Jordanian country pavilion organized by the association during GITEX Dubai 2003 will house the following leading edge tech organisations and government bodies: Eskadenia Software Solutions, Future Applied Computer Technology (FACT), Globitel, Integrated Technology Group (ITG), Jordan Investment Board, Jordan Telecom, the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MoICT), PaymentCentric and Tantash Information Systems Group (TIS Group).

The Jordanian Int@j pavilion at Gitex 2003 is located in Hall 8 stand B8-1.