ICT leaders join forces at Jordan ICT Forum III

The announcement of the Forum was made today by Marwan Juma, chairman of the Information Technology Association of Jordan(int@j), following a meeting of int@j's board of directors. Recognising the importance of joining forces between regional ICT sectors, the Jordan ICT Forum III will see the participation of local, regional and international key players in the ICT sector, who will share their expertise, achievements and success stories.

"The ICT sectors in region achieved significant success in the past few years, most of the countries are heading toward knowledge-based economy, which is considered the backbone of the ICT sector nowadays," said Juma. "Therefore, this year the ICT Forum III, will focus on regional achievements and will encompass additional regional leaders that are playing crucial role in the development of their ICT sectors. Several countries in the region made significant progress and have various success stories to share, and this has driven us to redesign the ICT Forum and focus more on regional achievements."

The Forum will bring together regional and international ICT leaders to compare progress made to date, share lessons learned, and offer potential investors with detailed information about the status of ICT's in the Arab World in order to promote the investment opportunities available in the region today.

"Each and every country in the region owns a unique capability, if these capabilities join forces and formed one consolidated market region, definitely we will be able to attract multinational corporations. The Forum will promote this approach as it has been agreed that the Arab World will be regarded as substantially more attractive once it has been consolidated and is being marketed as one region with similar language , culture and social structures." Added Juma.

The Forum which will bring together regional key players will address critical elements of economic development and reform. It will also showcase the most successful models and acknowledge outstanding leadership efforts and accomplishments through the workshops which will be held during the two days. Participants will discuss vital issues and relay their expertise in different topics : The regulatory environment and ICT's, ICT sector development and government support, developing Iraq's ICT infrastructure, e-government projects in the region, financing ICT ventures in the region and Human resources development.

"We call on all regional and international IT leaders to join us in the Jordan ICT Forum III, where we will be able to further identify the future of the region's ICT sector as one market." added Juma

Jordan ICT Forum has been held for the first time in the Kingdom in March 2000, followed by Jordan ICT Forum II in 2002. Both Forums where held Under the Patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II and witnessed a tremendous success by attracting over 1000 attendees. The first Forum attracted regional and international ICT stake holders, where Jordan presented its plans (through the REACH 1.0 framework) to develop its ICT industry to the audience and received feedback and input from participants. The second Forum held in 2002, was designed to showcase the Kingdom's accomplishments, modern infrastructure and the legal environment and at the same time demonstrated Jordan as a major player in the ICT revolution. The Forum attracted major global ICT players including Intel's CEO & Chairman Dr. Craig Barret, Sun Microsystems Chief Scientist Dr. John Gage and many other ICT leaders.