Under the Patronage of
His Majesty King Abdullah II
The Management, Business and IT Center (MBIT)
AmmanUniversity
Faculty of Information Technology
And
the Arena Group
Organizes a conference on
E-Jordan 2002
Amman, HashemiteKingdom of Jordan
June 3-5, 2002
Opening Statement
By
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh
Chairman & CEO
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh & Co. International (TAGI)
Co-Chairman & Bureau Member,
UN Information and Communication Technologies Task Force (UN ICT TF) NY
Chairman ,
Working Group on Human Resources and CapacityBuilding (HRCB)
UN Information and Communication Technologies Task Force (UN ICT TF) NY
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Chairman,
Commission on E-Business, Information Technologies and Telecoms (EBITT)
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Paris
Ladies and Gentlemen: Distinguished Guests,
It has been widely reported that ICTs have the potential to allow developing countries, and their people, to leapfrog over what were previously considered the normal stages of development, including industrialization, with its assembly line, urbanization, depersonalization, pollution and other attendant evils.
Yes, it is true. ICTs do have this potential. But remember the Green Revolution, which was supposed to end hunger, and especially starvation; it made a difference in the world no doubt, but that didn’t keep thousands of people from starving to death in Africa last year. As John Gage of Sun Microsystems noted in a recent essay, “Remember the first law of technical change: Technology is easy – People are hard”. In fact, it was reported just days ago that 10 million people in four African countries are currently facing death from famine. The Green Revolution helped to vastly increase harvest sizes, but the real issue was never really food, it was always people. Even before the Green Revolution there was enough food for everyone, but there weren’t enough people who cared enough to try and get it to those who needed it. People are always the biggest barrier to change. That is why I personally am focused primarily on human resources, education and capacity building in trying to bridge the Digital Divide.
As the famous humorist Walt Kelly said, “We have met the enemy and he is us”. That is definitely a thought worthy of reflection. And as noted by Mr. Robert Hawkins, one of the world’s leading experts on ICTs in education and development, “installing the physical infrastructure is the easiest part of the battle”. Getting people to change is much harder than even finding money or technology. But change is essential across all aspects of society.
An excellent resource on the subject has recently become available from the Center for International Development (CID) at HarvardUniversity, in partnership with the World Economic Forum (WEF). It is the Global Information Technology Report: Readiness for the Networked World 2001-2002.
The report states, “The King’s personal involvement in Jordan’s planning for Networked Readiness in generally regarded as a very positive factor. Clearly the leadership of HRH King Abdullah is something we must all be grateful for . But the report notes that “In addition to problems of enabling infrastructure and appropriate policy, there are difficult legacies, such as inertia, awareness, income disparity, and entrenched attitudes toward telecommunication and competition”.
As we seek to foster the development of an Information Society, a Knowledge Economy, to enter a new-networked world that offers our children opportunities for social and economic achievement and satisfaction that we could never have even imagined, it becomes necessary to challenge our old ways of doing things and become innovative.
But I always prefer to recall the words of Dale Carnegie, who noted that, “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed no hope at all”.
As we pursue this goal of (in the words of Kofi Annan) “improving the conditions of the individual men and women who give the state or nation its richness and character,” there is no goal more important than education. If ICTs have a role as a tool in promoting economic development then the foremost place where we can use it is in education of our children.
One of the most successful programs in the world regarding ICT and education for development is the World Links for Development program, which was started in 1997 by Mr. James D. Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank. World links was recently voted by the membership of the World Economic Forum as the # 1 education program bridging the digital divide, out of 75 programs evaluated. Mr. Robert J. Hawkins of World Links has summarized the approach and lessons learned by World Links that have made it so successful; he lays these out for us in “Ten Lessons for ICT and Education in the Developing World.” I will briefly summarize them here:
- Computer labs in developing countries take time and money, but they work.
- Technical Support cannot be overlooked
- Noncompetitive telecommunications infrastructure, policies and regulations impede connectivity and scalability.
- Lose the Wires- go wireless
- Get the Community Involved – urban and rural
- Private-public sector partnerships are essential.
- Link ICT and education efforts to broader educational reforms
While many ministries of education around the world have made the commitment to computerize schools, few have developed coherent strategies to fully integrate the use of computers as pedagogical tools in the classroom. One of the significant bottlenecks that World Links has encountered is the lack of a clear policy in ministries of education with regard to use of computers in education. Many ministries of education view computers as a stand-alone subject requiring a curriculum focusing on basic computer skills. While computer literacy represents a start, the integration of computers and the Internet into the broader curriculum is where the real learning gains will be made.
Ministries must make a commitment to help teachers effectively integrate computers and Internet technologies into their schools by aligning curriculums, exams and incentives with the educational outcomes that they hope to gain.
- Training, Training, Training – the Trainers.
- Technology empowers girls.
It is often said “when you educate a woman, you educate the whole family”.
- Technology motivates students and energizes classrooms.
I think that those are some powerful lessons. They are not just lessons they are challenges. Challenges to change, for all of us, not just for the Ministry of Telecommunication, not just for the Ministry of Education, not just for the teachers, the students, the business people, but for all of us, for the benefit of us all.
I would like to ask you all to give careful consideration to these lessons. If you disagree with these points please do so vocally and analytically, so that we can all work to find our way forward together. If we all agree with these lessons, then we must ask ourselves how willing we are to change, for the benefit of our children and the world. Because if we do not, then the ICT Revolution may be no more significant for the poor, the marginalized and the developing countries than the Green Revolution, which despite its technical success will not stop 10 million people from starving even as we meet here today.
Thank you,
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh
Amman – 3 June 2002