Wrapped up in discussions about information technology in the Kingdom, Jeddah Information and Technology Economic Commission (JITEC) concluded its three-day forum, organized by XS Conferences and Exhibitions, with the participation of a number of government sectors on Monday. The forum was inaugurated by Saudi Minister of Communications and Information Technology Muhammed Jamil Mulla earlier this week at the Jeddah Hilton. The Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC), King Abdul Aziz City for Sciences and Technology, and King Abdul Aziz Organization for Creativity and Skills, as well as prominent telecommunications companies took part in the forum. “Coupled with qualified human resources, modern technology can help develop our society,” Said Dr. Fatemah Ba Othman, professor of artificial intelligence and Computer at King Abdul Aziz University. “We have realized that the best way to follow up with our students and enhance their learning ability during and after their course of study is to connect with them at different levels wherever their workplace may be,” she added.” Society needs to be entrenched into a set of communication technologies, she reiterated. “Starting a communication and information technology industry may help us to transformthe society into an informational society where all members can be wired to communication technologies,” said Muhammed Al-Qassim, advisor to Minister of Communications and Information Technology and supervisor of the national plan for communication and informational technology. According to Al-Qassim, seven main objectives need be met to enhance the society's knowledge about information technology. He listed these objectives as identifying the existence of electronic service across different fields, boosting the communication sector to attract the investors, building a strong communication industry, using communication technology in education and training centers, acquainting the society with available communication technology, using the Arabic language in the communication sector, and finally hiring both sexes in the communication and IT fields. More than 28 projects need to be funded and carried out over a span of five years to achieve these desired goals, he said. He also stressed on accelerating investment procedures in the emerging communication technology field. If foreign investments swept this field in Saudi Arabia, they could reach more than SR30b, with associated employment of up to 3 percent, he said. Saudi economy is going through a period of prosperity, with communication and information technology having the best chances to boom, said Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Ahmad, executive chairman of Athieb Company for Communication and Informational Technology. “Communication technology experts expect that the value of communication sector will be around $120b by 2010,” Prince Abdul Aziz said. “Our company has already prepared a plan to start training programs for our employees to meet the expected demand on communication and information technology,” he said. “We will be offering more than 900 well-paid jobs to young Saudis with attractive incentives,” he said. “More than SR40 billion have been invested in the fields of communications and information technology,” said Adel Abdulshakour, chief executive of XS. __
