Press Clippings
Jordan’s ICT Minister Visits Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Society .
Jordan's Minister of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) H.E. Marwan Juma visited on Tuesday Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Society (TAG-Knowledge) headquarters and stressed on the need to open more branches to accommodate the world of students.
The delegation was received by Mr. Luay Abu-Ghazaleh, vice chair of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org) and Mr. Tarek Hamad, executive director of TAG-Knowledge, who briefed the delegation on the role of TAG-Knowledge in enhancing the skills and experience of students through online research and studies in addition to professional training, as well as fostering their sense of social responsibility.
The Minister emphasized the significance of having such societies which contribute to the students' development and expand their options for more opportunities when they graduate underscoring the need to have more initiatives to assist students.
"We are happy to see this successful initiative standing beside students coming from different backgrounds, universities and different fields of study," he said.
"There is no doubt that TAG-Knowledge has already opened the door to more opportunities for students thus, creating a new and ambitious generation to serve their society," he added.
The Minister suggested setting plans for training courses that will cover information technology and other key issues and offered to take part in one of these courses in order to spread awareness.
Meanwhile, Mr. Luay Abu-Ghazaleh welcomed the Minister and highlighted the role of TAG-Knowledge in serving the educational sector in the Kingdom.
HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman and CEO of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org), has been appointed as the Chairman of the Global Alliance for ICT and Development of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA-GAID) to succeed Craig Baret, Intel CEO.
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Society is the latest initiative by HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman and CEO of TAG-Org to perform its corporate social responsibility towards the Jordanian and Arab communities, and to be a hub for promoting intellect and knowledge, developing Arab youth and human resources, and qualifying the largest number of local professionals by providing them with competitive skills through exposure to knowledge and developments in the international community under the direct supervision of TAG-Org experts.
http://business.maktoob.com/20090000453962/ArticleAnnouncement.htm
31 Mar 2010
Jordan's ICT Minister Visits Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Society .
31 March 2010
The Minister emphasized the significance of having such societies which contribute to the students' development and expand their options for more opportunities when they graduate stressing on the need to have more initiatives to assist students
AMMAN: Jordan's Minister of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) H.E. Marwan Juma visited on Tuesday Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Society (TAG-Knowledge) headquarters and stressed on the need to open more branches to accommodate the world of students.
The Minister emphasized the significance of having such societies which contribute to the students' development and expand their options for more opportunities when they graduate underscoring the need to have more initiatives to assist students.
"We are happy to see this successful initiative standing beside students coming from different backgrounds, universities and different fields of study," he said.
"There is no doubt that TAG-Knowledge has already opened the door to more opportunities for students thus, creating a new and ambitious generation to serve their society," he added.
The Minister suggested setting plans for training courses that will cover information technology and other key issues and offered to take part in one of these courses in order to spread awareness.
Meanwhile, Mr. Luay Abu-Ghazaleh welcomed the Minister and highlighted the role of TAG-Knowledge in serving the educational sector in the Kingdom.
http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20100331090849
31 Mar 2010
Jordan’s ICT Minister Visits Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Society .
The Minister emphasized the significance of having such societies which contribute to the students' development and expand their options for more opportunities when they graduate stressing on the need to have more initiatives to assist students
AMMAN ------- March 31, 2010 -------- Jordan's Minister of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) H.E. Marwan Juma visited on Tuesday Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Society (TAG-Knowledge) headquarters and stressed on the need to open more branches to accommodate the world of students.
The delegation was received by Mr. Luay Abu-Ghazaleh, vice chair of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org) and Mr. Tarek Hamad, executive director of TAG-Knowledge, who briefed the delegation on the role of TAG-Knowledge in enhancing the skills and experience of students through online research and studies in addition to professional training, as well as fostering their sense of social responsibility.
The Minister emphasized the significance of having such societies which contribute to the students' development and expand their options for more opportunities when they graduate underscoring the need to have more initiatives to assist students.
"We are happy to see this successful initiative standing beside students coming from different backgrounds, universities and different fields of study," he said.
"There is no doubt that TAG-Knowledge has already opened the door to more opportunities for students thus, creating a new and ambitious generation to serve their society," he added.
The Minister suggested setting plans for training courses that will cover information technology and other key issues and offered to take part in one of these courses in order to spread awareness.
Meanwhile, Mr. Luay Abu-Ghazaleh welcomed the Minister and highlighted the role of TAG-Knowledge in serving the educational sector in the Kingdom.
HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman and CEO of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org), has been appointed as the Chairman of the Global Alliance for ICT and Development of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA-GAID) to succeed Craig Baret, Intel CEO.
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Society is the latest initiative by HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman and CEO of TAG-Org to perform its corporate social responsibility towards the Jordanian and Arab communities, and to be a hub for promoting intellect and knowledge, developing Arab youth and human resources, and qualifying the largest number of local professionals by providing them with competitive skills through exposure to knowledge and developments in the international community under the direct supervision of TAG-Org experts.
http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/Jordan/313635
31 Mar 2010
Jordan’s ICT Minister Visits Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Society .
(MENAFN Press ) Jordan's Minister of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) H.E. Marwan Juma visited on Tuesday Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Society (TAG-Knowledge) headquarters and stressed on the need to open more branches to accommodate the world of students.
The delegation was received by Mr. Luay Abu-Ghazaleh, vice chair of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org) and Mr. Tarek Hamad, executive director of TAG-Knowledge, who briefed the delegation on the role of TAG-Knowledge in enhancing the skills and experience of students through online research and studies in addition to professional training, as well as fostering their sense of social responsibility.
The Minister emphasized the significance of having such societies which contribute to the students' development and expand their options for more opportunities when they graduate underscoring the need to have more initiatives to assist students.
"We are happy to see this successful initiative standing beside students coming from different backgrounds, universities and different fields of study," he said.
"There is no doubt that TAG-Knowledge has already opened the door to more opportunities for students thus, creating a new and ambitious generation to serve their society," he added.
The Minister suggested setting plans for training courses that will cover information technology and other key issues and offered to take part in one of these courses in order to spread awareness.
Meanwhile, Mr. Luay Abu-Ghazaleh welcomed the Minister and highlighted the role of TAG-Knowledge in serving the educational sector in the Kingdom.
HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman and CEO of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org), has been appointed as the Chairman of the Global Alliance for ICT and Development of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA-GAID) to succeed Craig Baret, Intel CEO.
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Society
is the latest initiative by HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman and CEO of TAG-Org to perform its corporate social responsibility towards the Jordanian and Arab communities, and to be a hub for promoting intellect and knowledge, developing Arab youth and human resources, and qualifying the largest number of local professionals by providing them with competitive skills through exposure to knowledge and developments in the international community under the direct supervision of TAG-Org experts.
http://www.menafn.com/pr/pr_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093318733
28 Mar 2010
Abu-Ghazaleh tackles the future of the internet at ArabNet 2010 .
The ArabNet 2010, the first international conference for the Arab web industry, opened its doors on Thursday under the patronage of HE the President of the Council of Ministers of Lebanon Mr. Saad Hariri at Habtoor Grand Hotel in Beirut.
HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman of the UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID) and chairman and CEO of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org) in his keynote speech tackled key issues related to the industry.
"I will not attempt to lecture to this knowledgeable leadership and group of experts. Instead I will try to pose some questions and to answer them from my own perspective," he addressed the attendees.
In his speech, HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh underlined the future of Internet, the Growth in Internet Content, How to measure this content, Multilingualism of the Internet and How to advance MDG achievements.
"GAID is overseeing many productive programs. One of which is developing, with the blessing of the UN Secretary General, a matrix of "ICT 4 MDG" providing guidance on ICT as enablers for reaching the MDG goals, and on barriers to ICT access, such that we may create active plans which may be used by individual countries. This should also produce a map for ICT innovation. This project, which I chair, is led by H.E. the UN Secretary General as our Honorary Chair," HE Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh said.
In addition, he highlighted the means to harness ICTs, saying "Today almost everyone is aware of the economic potential of ICT investment. However the key to success in the broad picture is to remember that when we discuss ICTs we are really talking about the facilitation of human creativity and entrepreneurial innovation. We, as businesses, governments and societies, need to provide the means for individuals to learn, dream, work and create."
Other topics including uses for ICT, the Global Divide, the broadband potential, how to motivate innovation in IT, Arab Knowledge Societies, in addition to ICT 4D.
Moreover HE Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh called for more focus on R & D in the Arab world sating that according to the Arab Human Development Report, R&D by Arab countries in the area of agriculture and food production is "insignificant".
"So if the Arab world lags the rest of the world, is it a wonder? May be its time we reexamine our priorities. One organization that is aiming to do so is ASREN. The Arab Scientific Research and Education Network (ASREN ) is being born as an independent and not-for-profit organization with a mission to implement, manage and extend sustainable Pan-Arab e-Infrastructures dedicated for Research and Education connecting national research and education networks (NRENs) in the Arab countries," he said.
The event organized by the International Business Alliance Group (IBAG) and held under the title "Trends and Opportunities in Arab Web Business" brought together leaders from across the MENA, Europe and Silicon Valley to discuss cutting-edge trends and emerging opportunities.
Through pitch sessions, the conference features the region's brightest ideas and most promising Internet start-ups, and connects them with the Internet ecosystem: incubators, angel investors, venture capitalists, established Internet companies, NGOs and influential bloggers.
ArabNet is one of the first events in the region to be fully live-tweeted and live-streamed, allowing interested individuals around the world to benefit from the insights of the conference speakers, and providing the entrepreneurs pitching their ideas and startups with tremendous exposure.
http://www.ameinfo.com/227954.html
28 Mar 2010
Abu-Ghazaleh Tackles the Future of the Internet at ArabNet 2010 .
We, as businesses, governments and societies, need to provide the means for individuals to learn, dream, work and create - Abu-Ghazaleh
BEIRUT: The ArabNet 2010, the first international conference for the Arab web industry, opened its doors on Thursday under the patronage of HE the President of the Council of Ministers of Lebanon Mr. Saad Hariri at Habtoor Grand Hotel in Beirut.
HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman of the UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID) and chairman and CEO of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org) in his keynote speech tackled key issues related to the industry.
"I will not attempt to lecture to this knowledgeable leadership and group of experts. Instead I will try to pose some questions and to answer them from my own perspective," he addressed the attendees.
In his speech, HE Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh underlined the future of Internet, the Growth in Internet Content, How to measure this content, Multilingualism of the Internet and How to advance MDG achievements.
"GAID is overseeing many productive programs. One of which is developing, with the blessing of the UN Secretary General, a matrix of "ICT 4 MDG" providing guidance on ICT as enablers for reaching the MDG goals, and on barriers to ICT access, such that we may create active plans which may be used by individual countries. This should also produce a map for ICT innovation. This project, which I chair, is led by H.E. the UN Secretary General as our Honorary Chair," HE Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh said.
In addition, he highlighted the means to harness ICTs, saying "Today almost everyone is aware of the economic potential of ICT investment. However the key to success in the broad picture is to remember that when we discuss ICTs we are really talking about the facilitation of human creativity and entrepreneurial innovation. We, as businesses, governments and societies, need to provide the means for individuals to learn, dream, work and create."
Other topics including uses for ICT, the Global Divide, the broadband potential, how to motivate innovation in IT, Arab Knowledge Societies, in addition to ICT 4D.
Moreover HE Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh called for more focus on R & D in the Arab world sating that according to the Arab Human Development Report, R&D by Arab countries in the area of agriculture and food production is "insignificant".
"So if the Arab world lags the rest of the world, is it a wonder? May be its time we reexamine our priorities. One organization that is aiming to do so is ASREN. The Arab Scientific Research and Education Network (ASREN ) is being born as an independent and not-for-profit organization with a mission to implement, manage and extend sustainable Pan-Arab e-Infrastructures dedicated for Research and Education connecting national research and education networks (NRENs) in the Arab countries," he said.
The event organized by the International Business Alliance Group (IBAG) and held under the title "Trends and Opportunities in Arab Web Business" brought together leaders from across the MENA, Europe and Silicon Valley to discuss cutting-edge trends and emerging opportunities.
Through pitch sessions, the conference features the region's brightest ideas and most promising Internet start-ups, and connects them with the Internet ecosystem: incubators, angel investors, venture capitalists, established Internet companies, NGOs and influential bloggers.
ArabNet is one of the first events in the region to be fully live-tweeted and live-streamed, allowing interested individuals around the world to benefit from the insights of the conference speakers, and providing the entrepreneurs pitching their ideas and startups with tremendous exposure.
http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20100328075505
28 Mar 2010
Abu-Ghazaleh Tackles the Future of the Internet at ArabNet 2010.
(MENAFN Press) 28 March 2010 - We, as businesses, governments and societies, need to provide the means for individuals to learn, dream, work and create - Abu-Ghazaleh
The ArabNet 2010, the first international conference for the Arab web industry, opened its doors on Thursday under the patronage of HE the President of the Council of Ministers of Lebanon Mr. Saad Hariri at Habtoor Grand Hotel in Beirut.
HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman of the UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID) and chairman and CEO of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org) in his keynote speech tackled key issues related to the industry.
"I will not attempt to lecture to this knowledgeable leadership and group of experts. Instead I will try to pose some questions and to answer them from my own perspective," he addressed the attendees.
In his speech, HE Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh underlined the future of Internet, the Growth in Internet Content, How to measure this content, Multilingualism of the Internet and How to advance MDG achievements.
"GAID is overseeing many productive programs. One of which is developing, with the blessing of the UN Secretary General, a matrix of "ICT 4 MDG" providing guidance on ICT as enablers for reaching the MDG goals, and on barriers to ICT access, such that we may create active plans which may be used by individual countries. This should also produce a map for ICT innovation. This project, which I chair, is led by H.E. the UN Secretary General as our Honorary Chair," HE Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh said.
In addition, he highlighted the means to harness ICTs, saying "Today almost everyone is aware of the economic potential of ICT investment. However the key to success in the broad picture is to remember that when we discuss ICTs we are really talking about the facilitation of human creativity and entrepreneurial innovation. We, as businesses, governments and societies, need to provide the means for individuals to learn, dream, work and create."
Other topics including uses for ICT, the Global Divide, the broadband potential, how to motivate innovation in IT, Arab Knowledge Societies, in addition to ICT 4D.
Moreover HE Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh called for more focus on R & D in the Arab world sating that according to the Arab Human Development Report, R&D by Arab countries in the area of agriculture and food production is "insignificant".
"So if the Arab world lags the rest of the world, is it a wonder? May be its time we reexamine our priorities. One organization that is aiming to do so is ASREN. The Arab Scientific Research and Education Network (ASREN ) is being born as an independent and not-for-profit organization with a mission to implement, manage and extend sustainable Pan-Arab e-Infrastructures dedicated for Research and Education connecting national research and education networks (NRENs) in the Arab countries," he said.
The event organized by the International Business Alliance Group (IBAG) and held under the title "Trends and Opportunities in Arab Web Business" brought together leaders from across the MENA, Europe and Silicon Valley to discuss cutting-edge trends and emerging opportunities.
Through pitch sessions, the conference features the region's brightest ideas and most promising Internet start-ups, and connects them with the Internet ecosystem: incubators, angel investors, venture capitalists, established Internet companies, NGOs and influential bloggers.
ArabNet is one of the first events in the region to be fully live-tweeted and live-streamed, allowing interested individuals around the world to benefit from the insights of the conference speakers, and providing the entrepreneurs pitching their ideas and startups with tremendous exposure.
About ArabNet
one of the first events in the region to be fully live-tweeted and live-streamed, allowing interested individuals around the world to benefit from the insights of the conference speakers, and providing the entrepreneurs pitching their ideas and startups with tremendous exposure.
http://www.menafn.com/pr/pr_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093317431
28 Mar 2010
Abu-Ghazaleh Tackles the Future of the Internet at ArabNet 2010 .
The ArabNet 2010, the first international conference for the Arab web industry, opened its doors on Thursday under the patronage of HE the President of the Council of Ministers of Lebanon Mr. Saad Hariri at Habtoor Grand Hotel in Beirut.
HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman of the UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID) and chairman and CEO of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org) in his keynote speech tackled key issues related to the industry.
“I will not attempt to lecture to this knowledgeable leadership and group of experts. Instead I will try to pose some questions and to answer them from my own perspective,” he addressed the attendees.
In his speech, HE Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh underlined the future of Internet, the Growth in Internet Content, How to measure this content, Multilingualism of the Internet and How to advance MDG achievements.
“GAID is overseeing many productive programs. One of which is developing, with the blessing of the UN Secretary General, a matrix of “ICT 4 MDG” providing guidance on ICT as enablers for reaching the MDG goals, and on barriers to ICT access, such that we may create active plans which may be used by individual countries. This should also produce a map for ICT innovation. This project, which I chair, is led by H.E. the UN Secretary General as our Honorary Chair,” HE Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh said.
In addition, he highlighted the means to harness ICTs, saying “Today almost everyone is aware of the economic potential of ICT investment. However the key to success in the broad picture is to remember that when we discuss ICTs we are really talking about the facilitation of human creativity and entrepreneurial innovation. We, as businesses, governments and societies, need to provide the means for individuals to learn, dream, work and create.”
Other topics including uses for ICT, the Global Divide, the broadband potential, how to motivate innovation in IT, Arab Knowledge Societies, in addition to ICT 4D.
Moreover HE Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh called for more focus on R & D in the Arab world sating that according to the Arab Human Development Report, R&D by Arab countries in the area of agriculture and food production is “insignificant”.
“So if the Arab world lags the rest of the world, is it a wonder? May be its time we reexamine our priorities. One organization that is aiming to do so is ASREN.
The Arab Scientific Research and Education Network (ASREN ) is being born as an independent and not-for-profit organization with a mission to implement, manage and extend sustainable Pan-Arab e-Infrastructures dedicated for Research and Education connecting national research and education networks (NRENs) in the Arab countries," he said.
The event organized by the International Business Alliance Group (IBAG) and held under the title "Trends and Opportunities in Arab Web Business" brought together leaders from across the MENA, Europe and Silicon Valley to discuss cutting-edge trends and emerging opportunities.
Through pitch sessions, the conference features the region's brightest ideas and most promising Internet start-ups, and connects them with the Internet ecosystem: incubators, angel investors, venture capitalists, established Internet companies, NGOs and influential bloggers.
ArabNet is one of the first events in the region to be fully live-tweeted and live-streamed, allowing interested individuals around the world to benefit from the insights of the conference speakers, and providing the entrepreneurs pitching their ideas and startups with tremendous exposure.
http://business.maktoob.com/20090000452606/ArticleAnnouncement.htm
28 Mar 2010
UN announces launching of Arab research network project .
‘We want to move from accessing knowledge to creating it’
By Dana Halawi
Saturday, March 27, 2010
BEIRUT: Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman of the UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development, announced on Thursday the launching of the Arab research network project which will take place in Brussels at the end of March 2010.
“In each Arab University there is a research center but these centers do not exchange information and do not take part in common projects, but this new network will do the job,” he said.
Abu-Ghazaleh said that the need for such a network stems from the fact that the Arab world has to be a partner in creating knowledge. “We want to move from accessing knowledge to creating it because knowledge is the adequate tool for fortune,” he said.
His remarks came during the ArabNet 2010 forum organized by the International Business Alliance Group (IBAG) in collaboration with the central bank of Lebanon, the Arab ICT organization Ijam3 and the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) under the patronage of Prime Minister Saad Hariri represented by Minister of information Tarek Mitri.
The forum, which was held at Habtoor Hotel in Sin al-Fil, is aimed at discussing the importance of information technology (IT) in the Arab world, and its potential for growth in this region specifically.
In his speech, Abu-Ghazaleh recalled a conversation he started with Microsoft company cofounder Bill gates years ago asking him about his expectations in the field of IT for the new millennium. “He said that the future is artificial intelligence, and from artificial intelligence to the wisdom age by the end of the millennium,” Ghazaleh said.
He quoted Gates saying that this is due to the fact “that everything that has been achieved now was the plumbing, the infrastructure that will allow us to reach the wisdom society.”
“Now we are using wisdom to reach knowledge but we will reach a stage where we will use the knowledge in a wise way in the interest of the human being,” explained Ghazaleh.
Ghazaleh gave very optimistic statistics about the IT sector in the region, noting that the internet use grew by 1,200 percent in the Arad world from 2000 to 2008, compared to only 300 percent growth in usage worldwide.
However, he warned against the fragmentation of the internet and said that people managing the world wide web should really work on the level of the languages by turning it into a multilingual internet.
He cited as an example the problem that took place recently between Google and China.
China recently moved to further limit free speech on the web, and Google’s own websites and the email accounts of human rights activists have come under cyber attack. As a result, Google threatened to leave the Chinese market completely this year after cyber attacks were traced back to China.
Google announced last Monday that it had stopped censoring search results for news, images and other information.
As a result, Google moved its offices to Hong Kong.
Representatives of Google Inc. at the exhibition, which was opened to the audience right after the opening ceremony of the forum, denied commenting on the problem of their company with China. However, Google’s head of engineering in the MENA region, Ahmad Hamzawi, said that the firm in general is always looking to expand in different regions of the world. “There are many different factors that a multinational company would look for in terms of determining in what locations to open,” he said.
“The bandwidth issue is a great concern as well to any company that plans to open in the country and so we would want to look at this and understand the issue better,” he added.
This was echoed by technical specialist Amer Tabsh, who told The Daily Star during the exhibition that a company like Google uses on its own a bandwidth equal to the total bandwidth available in Lebanon.
However, Hamzawi said that Google is very much interested in a country such as Lebanon, whose people have a great entrepreneurship spirit. “We are here to fact find and to understand better the actual country, the people that are here, and the infrastructure that they have.”
Ghazaleh said that the right to information will be included in the human rights list soon. “I have discussed this project with the UN secretary general and we are now drafting it and we will be submitting it to the UN before it becomes one of the human rights.”
The right to information was also discussed by Ijma3 secretary general Nizar Zakka, who said that the right to knowledge should be given to all the young generation. “This is not something that is given by the government but the young people should ask for strong internet the way they ask for strong electricity or strong water network,” he said.
Zakka urged security authorities not to stop the creativity and the internet by exerting harsh control, but to be open in a right and fair way to these issues.
He added that the market was previously small and the Arab individual was obliged to go abroad in order to be creative and productive but now thanks to the internet this person can also be productive the Middle East.
For his part, Mitri underlined the importance of establishing a proper infrastructure for the IT sector, including training centers for the youths.
He added that Premier Hariri is planning to launch IT projects that require a partnership between the private and the public sectors.
“The government’s priorities include the increase of internet penetration, giving licenses to investments in fiber optics in addition to the improvement in internet services and the decrease in their costs,” he added.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=113162#axzz0jTfsJxSc
28 Mar 2010
Abu-Ghazaleh Tackles the Future of the Internet at ArabNet 2010.
BEIRUT - The ArabNet 2010, the first international conference for the Arab web industry, opened its doors on Thursday under the patronage of the President of the Council of Ministers of Lebanon Saad Hariri at Habtoor Grand Hotel in Beirut.
HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman of the UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID) and chairman and CEO of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org) in his keynote speech tackled key issues related to the industry.
"I will not attempt to lecture to this knowledgeable leadership and group of experts. Instead I will try to pose some questions and to answer them from my own perspective," he addressed the attendees.
In his speech, HE Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh underlined the future of Internet, the Growth in Internet Content, How to measure this content, Multilingualism of the Internet and How to advance MDG achievements.
"GAID is overseeing many productive programs. One of which is developing, with the blessing of the UN Secretary General, a matrix of "ICT 4 MDG" providing guidance on ICT as enablers for reaching the MDG goals, and on barriers to ICT access, such that we may create active plans which may be used by individual countries. This should also produce a map for ICT innovation. This project, which I chair, is led by H.E. the UN Secretary General as our Honorary Chair," HE Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh said.
In addition, he highlighted the means to harness ICTs, saying "Today almost everyone is aware of the economic potential of ICT investment. However the key to success in the broad picture is to remember that when we discuss ICTs we are really talking about the facilitation of human creativity and entrepreneurial innovation. We, as businesses, governments and societies, need to provide the means for individuals to learn, dream, work and create."
Other topics including uses for ICT, the Global Divide, the broadband potential, how to motivate innovation in IT, Arab Knowledge Societies, in addition to ICT 4D.
Moreover HE Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh called for more focus on R & D in the Arab world sating that according to the Arab Human Development Report, R&D by Arab countries in the area of agriculture and food production is "insignificant".
"So if the Arab world lags the rest of the world, is it a wonder? May be its time we reexamine our priorities. One organization that is aiming to do so is ASREN. The Arab Scientific Research and Education Network (ASREN ) is being born as an independent and not-for-profit organization with a mission to implement, manage and extend sustainable Pan-Arab e-Infrastructures dedicated for Research and Education connecting national research and education networks (NRENs) in the Arab countries," he said.
The event organized by the International Business Alliance Group (IBAG) and held under the title "Trends and Opportunities in Arab Web Business" brought together leaders from across the MENA, Europe and Silicon Valley to discuss cutting-edge trends and emerging opportunities.
Through pitch sessions, the conference features the region's brightest ideas and most promising Internet start-ups, and connects them with the Internet ecosystem: incubators, angel investors, venture capitalists, established Internet companies, NGOs and influential bloggers.
ArabNet is one of the first events in the region to be fully live-tweeted and live-streamed, allowing interested individuals around the world to benefit from the insights of the conference speakers, and providing the entrepreneurs pitching their ideas and startups with tremendous exposure.
http://content.usatoday.com/topics/article/Places,+Geography/Other/Europe/0dbT2Ko9Xs1Ra/1
