AMMAN -- The Fourth ICT Forum concluded yesterday at the King Hussein Convention Centre with participants debating the development of an entrepreneurial spirit in Jordan and the role of ICT in education.
The forum, entitled "Hosting the Future," brought together around 600 international ICT experts.
Piero Formica, a professor of knowledge economics at Jonkoping University in Sweden, said that money isn't the only way to help develop and facilitate the growth of business in Jordan.
"It is not enough to spend money on research, you must also focus on output and innovation", said Formica.
He cited an example in France, where the French government spent $7 billion on a centre of innovation.
Formica said that while an "impressive amount of money" was spent on the center, very little innovation actually materialised from it.
He argued that the key factor missing was mobility, which he described as an essential ingredient if innovation is to take hold in Jordan.
Meanwhile, HRH Princess Sumaya, chairperson of the Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT) board of trustees, announced the establishment of a business college. The college, affiliated to the Queen Rania Centre for Entrepreneurship, will work to enhance the youth's potential, creativity and spirit of entrepreneurship, said the Princess during a session focusing on entrepreneurship centres and regional initiatives.
The Princess also stressed the importance of public-private partnerships to spur
growth and creativity, saying it was important to transform the ideas of young people into projects and success stories.
The college 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.
The Princess also discussed the challenges facing PSUT and its ICT Business Incubator, iPARK.
"Our university is divided into thirds," said Princess Sumaya. "One-third academia, one-third research, and one-third as a business-related adventure."
She also said the university faces a fundamental lack of funding to support some of the start-up business and spin-offs from its research arm.
While the emphasis of the forum was business, one session discussed the incorporation of ICT in learning.
Hala Lattouf, CEO of World-Links Arab Region, an international NGO that trains teachers in the integration of ICT for better education outcomes, highlighted some of the difficulties facing the Arab world and the ICT education sector.
She said 7 per cent of the world's out-of-school children are in the Middle East, 58 per cent of whom are female, and that Jordan faces an unemployment rate of 15 per cent.
"We have a big challenge and we have to take it seriously, " she said.
Lattouf stated that the empowerment of educators is the key to addressing this situation.
The forum was organised by int@j (Information Technology Association of Jordan) and the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology.
By Ramsey G. Tesdell
© Jordan Times 2006
