Jordan is looking to position itself as the region’s center of information and communications technology (ICT).
In recent years, the ICT sector has taken on an important dimension in the Jordanian economy. The sector is growing by 50% annually; the income it generates represents roughly 10% of GDP and it employs more than 6,000 people. ICT has also benefited from the government’s push to support its development, through easing investment requirements in the industry, enhancing education in information technology and, most importantly from the point of view of overseas ICT firms, passing legislation to protect intellectual property rights.
Since 1999, with the prompting of King Abdullah, the government initiated a campaign to energize the ICT sector in Jordan. Within this period, revenue has jumped from $60 million to more than $500 million, while last year it saw $90 million of direct foreign investment flow in, up from just $3 million six years earlier.
The booming ICT market has opened many new opportunities. Many software developers or designers of equipment have established companies, while many of the industry’s big names, such as Microsoft, Intel, Cisco Systems and France Telecom have also invested in the country.
Amman takes every opportunity to promote its increasing ICT industry and tries to attract overseas investment. The most recent example of this was the fourth ICT Forum, held on December 6 and 7, which focused on Jordan’s position in the region’s ICT sector and its potential for growth.
Pushing forward
Citing both King Abdullah’s ambitious challenge to the government and the private sector, and Jordan’s commitment to building on the sector, Gerri Elliot, the corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Worldwide Public Sector organization, said that Jordan is unique in the way it uses ICT.
“Jordan has the opportunity to become the technological breadbasket of the Middle East,” Elliot said, though he warned the global economy does not wait for anyone.
As part of the push to place Jordan at the heart of the region’s ICT market, the Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT) is establishing a business college, which will work with the university’s ICT business incubator, iPARK, to train professionals and promote entrepreneurial creativity.
“The college, which will be set up in partnership with the Royal Scientific Society, Jordan Telecom, the Higher Council of Science and Technology and the ministry of planning and international cooperation, will enhance PSUT’s focus on academic, research and business-related activities,” said Princess Sumaya, the chairperson of the university’s board of trustees.
Jordan has also been taking its ICT promotion campaign on the road. While on a visit to India in early December, King Abdullah touted Jordan’s ICT potential to Indian business leaders. He stressed that as one of his country’s leading trade partners, India should look closely at investing in joint ICT ventures in Jordan, thus gaining access to international markets via Amman’s free trade agreements with countries, such as the US.
According to Jordanian ICT expert Zeid Nasser, the next stage in Jordan’s ICT revolution is expected to see well-established local firms hook up with regional or international partners.
“It is only natural that after several years of rapid growth, leading players in relatively maturing markets will look to consolidate their positions by partnering up with firms that will provide a competitive edge in the marketplace,” he said in an interview with the local press.
At the community level, the kingdom is working to expand a network of information access centers, mainly bases in poorer regions, to allow Jordanians to acquire ICT skills. Known as Knowledge Stations, the initiative was launched in 2003, and aims at allowing communities to use ICT in their daily lives and to link into the government electronic information system. The initial pilot stations proved so successful that more than 75 centers have been established.
