Jordan ICT Forum 2006 Information Technology Association Jordan

Background The “Jordan ICT Forum” Is a bi-annual international ICT industry event held in Jordan under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II, and is the platform to showcase Jordan's efforts and achievements to position the country as a major player in the Information revolution.

Jordan ICT Forum 2000 Held for the first time in March 2000, the forum attracted an extensive number of international and local industry stakeholders to discuss related issues, network, and establish business ties and contacts. During this forum, Jordan presented its plans to develop its ICT industry to the audience, and solicited feedback and input.

Jordan ICT Forum 2002 Held two years later in Amman and organized jointly with the Ministry of ICT – the Forum was designed to showcase the country’s enormous accomplishments, attract national, regional and international media attention, demonstrate Jordan as a major player in the ICT revolution, present investment opportunities in the Jordanian ICT sector, and increase export opportunities. Keynote address delivered by Greg Barrett, intel Corporation.

Jordan ICT Forum 2004 The third Jordan ICT Forum offered potential investors and business partners detailed information about the status of ICT in Jordan and the region and simultaneously joined together regional ICT leaders, development programs, local and international private expertise, to compare progress made to-date and share lessons learned. Keynote address delivered by John Chambers, President and CEO of Cisco Systems.

Jordan ICT Forum 2006 The Jordan ICT Forum 2006 will explore the future of information and communication technologies and their impact on business and society, bring together global analysts and decision makers to uncover the latest in technologies and discuss the impact of the most important ICT trends and ideas affecting enterprises. His Majesty King Abdullah has graciously accepted to hold the event under His Royal Patronage.

Sessions Outsourcing Telecommunications Finance Entrepreneurship R & D Investment opportunities Human Capital Regional Cooperation / IJMA3 Legislation

Outsourcing This session will focus on various opportunities available to Jordan and region offer to secure a substantial portion of the outsourcing business and attract western firms to the region. Topics of discussion include outsourcing software development and business process outsourcing (BPO).

Telecommunications This session will offer an insight into new technologies and an overview of were this technology is headed. It will examine new business opportunities available in the region in addition to prospects of major future opportunities as countries open up and liberalize their markets

Finance The session will focus on the availability of start-up capital in the region, including seed funds and VCs, explaining the purpose, mission, and objectives of the more prominent financial resources available in the region.

Entrepreneurship The session’s outcome will be a number of recommendation that need to be implemented to convert Jordanian ICT companies from “users of existing technologies” into creators of “new technologies”.

Research and Development This session will feature a number of nations that have excelled in R&D, and look into the various models deployed within each to create an innovative and creative ICT sector within.

Investment opportunities The session will discuss different investment models, such as investments in private companies, government initiatives (e- governments), educational sectors, and social development programs, highlighting several investments made by multi-national firms across the region.

Human Capital The private sector, multinational corporations and academia will discuss their particular roles and responsibilities in supporting and contributing to build-up future supply of skill sets required to maintain growth and prosperity in the region. A number of national programs to support HRD, such as Jordan’s will be discussed and scrutinized to assess the affect and success of each, providing a learning experience for others.

Regional Cooperation / IJMA3 This session will look into how this alliance can serve as a model for cooperation between Arab countries in different sectors of development. Speakers include prominent global alliances, such as the WITSA, WSIS and IJMA3 members, and will demonstrate numerous advantages member nations have gained by becoming part of this regional alliance.

Legislation The session will focus in particular on each country’s flexibility in terms of changing and updating legislation to provide modern business environments critical to the ICT sector in particular, in addition to the levels of protection investors will be entitled to in each of the respective countries.

Thank you, and we look forward to welcoming you in person to this event