Inaugural e-learning forum opens in Dubai

Hundreds of delegates from all over the Gulf region, Asia, Europe, and the USA have gathered at the Madinat Jumeirah Convention Centre to focus on the $23-billion industry that is the fastest-growing sector in international education.

For the first time in the Middle East, the two-day event brings together specialists, vendors and users of e-learning and knowledge management.

The conference highlights the latest research on e-learning in business, language learning using computers, and learning technology in schools and higher education.

Leading speakers include Dr Abdullah Al Karam, CEO of Dubai Knowledge Village; Professor Sa'ad Medhat, Chairman and CEO of Productivity4you; Andrew Ettinger of the Ashridge management school; Bobby Yasdani, CEO of Saba; and Shan Mahendren of Oracle.

Delegates will hear new strategic case studies on how e-learning has worked successfully for organisations such as Xerox, Dubai Duty Free, the Saudi Government, the Kingdom of Bahrain, Abu Dhabi Commercial bank, and Sullivan University Healthcare.

One of the largest delegations is from Saudi Arabia, comprising senior decision-makers from universities, colleges, and schools - led by Minister of Education Dr Khalid Abu Hassan.

Similar delegations are present from other education ministries in the Gulf region, as well heads of learning from leading regional and multi-national businesses, including Emirates Airline, Xerox, Dubai Duty Free, ABN Amro, Saudi Aramco, Dubai e-govt, and Daimler Chrysler.

University academics from Jordan, Egypt and Muscat, who are developing an on-line ICT Masters degree under the auspices of the European Community, are also attending.

All the major eLearning players in the Middle East are represented with their partners in the exhibition hall, including Humansoft (Kuwait and Dubai), Naizak (Saudi), Image Systems (Saudi), ITG (Jordan), Edutech (UAE), ISB (Saudi), XpertLearning (UAE), Productivity4u (UAE), and AAST and Harf from Egypt.

Global leaders taking part include Saba, Oracle and Sum Total for learning management Systems; Eduwave, WebCT and Edutech for schools and universities platforms ; Blackboard and FVC for virtual classrooms; Auralog and Global English for language learning; Transware for e-earning localization; Thomson NETg, and Sullivan University for off-the-shelf content; Tata interactive, Ingentatic and CBT&L for content development; and QuestionMark for assessment and testing.

MELT is directed by Sally-Ann Moore, one of the worlds' leading experts in e-learning, who says that on-line learning technologies and services grew to become a $23 billion global industry last year and Dubai is at the forefront of an annual 20 percent growth rate.

There are now about 130 million on-line learners across the world and Dubai and MELT will be the springboard for the next phase of development.

"The Europe and Middle East market is alone estimated at more than $6 billion for 2005, underlining the industry's soaring growth," Moore said. "The Gulf region represents the fastest-growing e-learning market in the world today, particularly the UAE, which has a specific dedication to the use of new technology in the knowledge economy and where IT spending rose to $1.16 billion last year - a growth rate of nearly nine per cent.

"The MELT conference is much more than a seminar -- it's the best place to update skills and competencies for world-class e-learning. Everyone of consequence in this field is represented."