A VIRTUAL SUCCESS: JORDAN'S ICT FORUM

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 006060

SIPDIS

DEPT PASS FOR ANE/MEA KIM FINAN
USDOC FOR 4520/ITA/MAC/ONE/PAUL THANOS
USDOC FOR 6400/ITA/TD/OEC/KFERGUSON
TREASURY FOR PIPATANAGUL
TDA FOR SIGLER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECPS BEXP EINV JO
SUBJECT: A VIRTUAL SUCCESS: JORDAN'S ICT FORUM

REF: Amman 4595


1. (U) SUMMARY: Jordan's second ICT Forum was held Sept. 30-Oct.
1 in Amman. Featuring addresses by King Abdullah, Intel CEO Craig
Barrett, John Gage, Chief Researcher and Director of the Science
Office for Sun Microsystems, and AOL Strategic Advisor George
Vradenburg, the event attracted more than 1200 participants from
the Middle East, Europe, the Far East, and the U.S. The event,
funded through USAID's AMIR program, highlighted the strengths and
potential of Jordan's ICT industry. A presentation by IT
consultant firm McConnell International gave a candid assessment
of the sector's challenges in Jordan, and a progress report on
Jordan's national IT strategy, REACH, provided an update on the
Jordanian IT sector. End Summary

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Where Can I Get More of These Virtual Ministers
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2. (U) As a successor to the premiere forum held in March 2000,
the ICT Forum opened September 30. With most of the Cabinet,
including PM Ali Abul Ragheb, flanking the King, the Forum's
energetic setting--featuring rock music, high-tech special
effects, and polished presenter BusinessWeek's Scott Shuster--
succeeded in grabbing the participants' attention at the outset.
In addition to the keynote speakers, the two-day agenda included
workshops in e-government, industry development and capital and
finance in Jordan, and the unveiling of the "REACH 3.0" report.
The event was hosted and organized by the Ministry of Information
Communications and Technology (MOICT) and the Information
Technology Association of Jordan (INT@J).


3. (U) Minister of ICT Fawwaz Zu'bi launched the opening session
in the form of a "virtual minister", a computer-generated
depiction of Zu'bi, using technology created by Rubicon, an up and
coming Jordanian IT firm. The real Zu'bi, a progressive minister
well-known to the Embassy, frankly acknowledged Jordan's IT
challenges while emphasizing the sector's strengths. He said that
further progress is needed in developing e-commerce, e-security,
and continued IT training in the Kingdom. He said that if Jordan
has a niche, it must be in the field of education, given its rich
human capital. He stressed that the government was concentrating
on education, and to that end was moving forward by leaps and
bounds, having increased the number of schools connected to the
Internet (the result of the government's "Connecting Jordanians"
initiative) from 40 in June to over 400 in September. Zu'bi
closed by saying that Jordan "must take the tide" now, to further
build on its strengths and become the regional IT leader it is
capable of being.


4. (U) INTEL CEO Barrett's high-tech presentation focused on the
future of IT and a balanced appraisal of IT in Jordan. He said
that Jordan has "moved aggressively" in educational policy,
infrastructure capability, and the use of IT by the government
itself, all preconditions for Jordan to "unlock its IT power."
Barrett pointed out that students below the age of 15 represented
one-third of Jordan's population, presenting Jordan with the
perfect opportunity to work now to develop the human capital vital
to the knowledge-based, tech-driven that will bring Jordan to the
cutting edge in ten years. At the same time the government needed
to do more to foster entrepreneurship, and remove residual tax,
tariff, and intellectual property rights barriers that continue to
hinder the growth of IT in Jordan.


5. (U) After asking Zu'bi where he could find "more of these
virtual ministers", King Abdullah urged the private and public
sectors to "get their acts together" to continue to develop
Jordan's IT sector, upon which, he said, the country was placing
high hopes. The King dismissed the idea of a brain drain, saying
that IT-savvy Jordanians throughout the world had formed a
Jordanian network that amounted to a "brain gain". Still, he
said, it was important to keep the best and brightest in the
Kingdom in order to continue Jordan's impressive momentum in IT.
The King urged all in attendance "to think outside the box" and
said that he needed to hear from anyone who had ideas on what may
be required to help Jordan's IT industry continue to grow.

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AN ACTIVE CHILD UNDERGOING A GROWTH SPURT
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6. (U) The Forum's most-awaited presentation may have been that
of Rosslyn Doktor of McConnell International (MI),billed as an
objective assessment of ICT in Jordan. Doktor opened her remarks
by comparing the sector to "an active child undergoing a growth
spurt". She said that Jordan's "could be among the successful
economies looking at ICT as a ticket to economic prosperity", but
the country's current e-readiness position was "average".


7. (U) In presenting the final report, Doktor stressed strategic
actions, such as the demonstrated resolve of the King to make
Jordan e-ready, the success of active public/private initiatives,
the country's commitment to further develop its young, well-
educated population, and some achievements in regulatory and legal
reform, in which Jordan had made some progress. However, she
added, "the glass is half full". Describing five attributes,
connectivity, e-leadership, information security, human capital,
and the e-business climate MI used to measure Jordan's e-
readiness, Jordan was "exactly in the middle" when compared to 18
developed and developing countries that had various commonalities
with Jordan.


8. (U) In terms of connectivity, Jordan was ranked low to medium.
Doktor said the immediate challenges were a monopoly telecom
provider in place until 2005, low internet user penetration, and
the absence of a strong regulator. E-leadership is one of
Jordan's strong suits, judged medium-high by MI, given the King's
"tireless" support, the coordinating role of the MOICT in e-
policy, and the recognition of the importance of e-government by
nearly all government agencies. The report assigned low to medium
marks to the Kingdom for e-security due to a lack of a public e-
security infrastructure and encryption policies, and an inadequate
government and private sector approach to the monitoring and
protection of information security. The human capital attribute
was graded medium, with a need for increased network access
throughout primary and secondary schools, expansion of e-learning
initiatives for the currently employed and unemployed, and more R
& D. Finally, Jordan was given low marks for e-commerce, with a
low adoption rate by IT on the part of the private sector, too few
programs that address the needs of small and medium enterprises,
and a lack of electronic payment facilities.



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JORDAN IS GOING TO HAPPEN, BUT . . .
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9. (U) At a gala Forum dinner by the Dead Sea, AOL-Time Warner's
George Vradenburg said that Jordan was on the right track. He
opined that, with educational reforms, a greater emphasis on e-
commerce, and more legislation on e-security, "Jordan is going to
happen; it's just a matter of time". But, he cautioned, a
conflict in Iraq could disrupt Jordan's progress, with economic
dislocation, an influx of refugees, and a negative impact on
infrastructure all possible outcomes. Nonetheless, he urged his
audience "to be prepared to ride out the short-term instability"
with an eye toward "becoming the regional IT leader in a post-
Saddam Middle East.

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REACH 3
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10. (U) The updated "REACH 3.0" strategy for developing IT in
Jordan emphasized the country's commitment to its strategic IT
vision, despite market corrections and regional instability that
have affected regional trade and foreign investment. (Note: The
REACH national strategy for IT was initiated in 1999 by a core
group representing Jordan's IT sector, with the assistance of
USAID and other international consultants, in response to the
King's challenge to prioritize and program Jordan's IT
development. The original targets set by REACH 1.0 call for the
creation of 20,000 IT and 10,000 IT-related jobs, $550 million in
annual exports, and $150 million in foreign direct investment in
the sector, all by 2004. End note)


11. (U) Ra'ed Bilbessi, CEO of INT@J, the local IT business
association, presented the REACH 3.0 report to the Forum, and said
that, while progress had been made, much more work remained. Out
of the 52 strategic actions that came out of REACH 1.0, eight had
been completed, five were ongoing, 30 were partially completed,
and only nine were pending, that is, no action had yet been taken.
Regarding the REACH 1.0 targets, Bilbeesi noted that 5000 IT jobs
had been created in Jordan as of 2001, with IT companies
generating $27 million in exports, and FDI amounted to $60
million.


12. (U) Bilbessi stressed that the development of human capital,
Jordan's richest asset, continues to be the priority for the IT
sector. He noted the Connecting Jordanians Initiative, the
national campaign introduced by the MOICT to "incorporate ICT into
the daily lives of all Jordanians", improving and ensuring
Internet access throughout the Kingdom. With United Nations
Development Program (UNDP) assistance, the Ministry of Education
was investing $67 million in training 6000 teachers in basic
computer literacy. Roger Guichard, USAID-funded Advisor of Policy
and Strategy for the MOICT, pointed out that putting more
disposable income in the hands of Jordanians would increase
Internet penetration rates, currently at 1.3% of the population.
To that end, he said, REACH 3.0 called for a telecom price
benchmark and Internet study, a national campaign to raise
awareness of the Internet's benefits, and the expansion of
Jordan's IT Community Centers, currently numbering 20 across the
country. USAID is beginning a study, through the AMIR Program, to
ascertain the best means for the centers to achieve long-term
sustainability.

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DEALS ANNOUNCED
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13. (U) At the Forum, Jordanian paging services company Mirsal
announced an agreement to operate a digital public trunked radio
network based on Motorola's IDEN technology, which allows "push to
talk" radio access, primarily for police and other emergency
service applications. The $47 million investment will create over
200 jobs in Jordan, with completion of the network expected by the
end of 2003. In addition, wireless communications company
Qualcomm announced plans to locate its regional CDMA (Code
Division Multiple Access) business development center in Amman.

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COMMENT
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14 (U) Following the King's admonition at the Forum's close that
Jordan's IT industry "has the opportunity to set the standards and
show the way to build a better region for all," most of the
attendees waxed enthusiastic about the content and presentation of
the event, but agreed that while Jordan was on the way to becoming
a regional IT player, it had some work to do to get there. If
anything, some participants told us, the challenges were even
greater, given Jordan's creaky IT infrastructure, lack of adequate
IT training throughout the educational system, and the high cost
of connecting Jordanians nationwide. Still, the Forum showcased
well the King and the Government of Jordan's commitment to pursue
regional leadership in ICT through educational reform, a more open
IT market, and a commitment to ensure IT access to all Jordanians.
GNEHM