Meeting Arab Socioeconomic development through ICT

1
Meeting Arab Socio-economic development through
ICT

• Can..Growth
• Can..Waste UN-SC

2
CONTENTS

• Introduction ICT and Development
• Arab Adopted Regional Needs
• Ranked ICT Solutions Characteristics
• Adequate ICT Solutions for Region
• Assessment of Suitable ICT Solutions
• Selected Suitable ICT Solutions Models
• Model A Software Development Industry
• Model B e-Services
• Model C Electronics Mfg Integration

3
ICT and Development

• Technological change is both a cause and a
  consequence of economic social development
  
• Some effects are non-measurable convenience
• Turnkey acquisition of technology systems
• technological and economic dependency,
• limiting employment opportunities,
• raising the cost of that acquired technology
  solutions.
  
• ICT double edge Selective adoption of ICT tools,
  products viewed as loss-minimizing strategy

4
Regional Adopted Needs UN 02-05

• Productive/Integrated Resources Mgmt for
  Sustainable Development
  
• Integrated Policies for Social Development
• Economic Analysis and Forecasting for Regional
  Development
  
• Regional Integration and Adapting to
  Globalization
  
• ICT for Regional Development
• Comparable Statistics for Improved Planning and
  Policy Decisions

5
Regional Status of ICT
6
Process for Selecting ICT Priorities

• Quality Function Deployment (QFD) process
• Start with Region Socio-economic Needs
• Derive and Rank ICT solutions characteristics
• Propose, assess, and Rank ICT solutions
• Evaluate Solutions (country reference)
• suggest Very Suitable and Suitable Arab
  Countries
  
• QFD team various levels of expertise in ICT
  infrastructure, contents, enablers,
  industrialization, and management.

7
Region Adequate ICT Solutions Ranked
Characteristics
8
Ranked ICT Solutions Characteristics

• Higher information exchange rate
• Increases real-time reliable access and
  management of information
  
• Facilitates data networking for social
  development
  
• Increases awareness and knowledge of ICT tools
• Facilitates national/regional integration of
  statistical data
  
• Increases transparency and availability of
  information
  
• Offers opportunities for regional integration
  into the knowledge society
  
• Affordable user friendly
• Supports monitoring of comparable economic
  indicators
  
• Enhances measurements and analysis/forecasting
  tools for economic performance
  
• Enhances economic performance
• Facilitates dissemination of Arabic information
• Facilitates partnerships among development
  stakeholders
  
• Facilitates standards adoption

9
Ranked ICT Solutions Characteristics

• Supports quality and coverage of education
• Higher workforce utilization of youth and women
• Facilitates awareness and enforcement of women
  empowerment policies
  
• Offers new opportunities for industrialization
• Supports initiatives to create productive
  employment
  
• Offers investments opportunities
• Supports Resources Management
• Enhances harmonization and standardization of
  trade procedures
  
• Helps regulation and facilitation of capital
  flow
  
• Increases export capabilities
• Increases environmental monitoring capabilities
• Facilitates accessibility and awareness of social
  and cultural values
  
• Facilitates and simplifies procedures for
  regional travel
  
• Enhances trust and lower risk of Foreign and
  Domestic Investments
  
• Can be exported

10
Assessment of Suitable ICT Solutions
11
Assessment of Suitable ICT Solutions (22)

• 1 Arabized Software Development
• 1 Digitized Language Intensive Industry
  Services
  
• 1 ICT Based Education Training Institutions
• 1 Digital Publishing
• 2 ISP / Hosting / Data centers
• 3 Community Telecenters
• 4 Digital Public Transactions Processing
• 5 e-banking Transactions
• 5 Virtual Shopping Centers
• 5 B2B e-Transactions
• 6 Broadband Infrastructure

• 7 Smart Public ID Card
• 8 System Design Integration
• 9 Computer Peripherals Mfg
• 9 Manufacturing of Fiber-optics
• 9 Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) Fabrication
• 9 Telecom Equipment Switches Mfg
• 9 Telecom Equipment Units Mfg
• 9 Telecom PABX Manufacturing
• 9 Industrial Process Equipment Design Assembly
• 10 Customized Software Subcontracting
• 11 Call/Contact Centers

12
Model A Software Development

• New players differentiable capabilities
• Attractive especially for developing countries
• High growth industrial turnover, output,
  employment
  
• Low entry barriers financial and capital
  requirements
  
• Opportunity to participate in knowledge based
  industry
  
• Facilitating role for other parts of the economy
• Opportunities for exports and foreign
  investments
  
• Offers the full range of skill demand

13
Model A Software Development Industry

• The software marketplace categories are
• Tools (databases, application tools)
• Packaged (accounting, healthcare, shipping)
• Tailored applications (government, manufacturing,
  e-commerce, etc)
  
• Multi-media and Localization (Arabization, CDs,
  education, tourism, etc)

14
Arabization Arabic Contents for ICT Solutions

• Arabic users forced to choose foreign language,
  or poor Arabic support
  
• Web pages contents (estimate)
• Korean 4.4 (pop 45 Millions)
• Arabic 0.1 (pop 300 Millions)
• POTENIAL APPLICATIONS
• Arabic educational contents for e-learning
• Arabic multimedia, web applications
• Arabic games
• Arabic financial software
• Arabic voice, language, and character
  recognition
  
• Arabic interface for existing international
  packages

15
Arabization Arabic contents for ICT

• Supporting items
• Low telecom cost (domestic)
• Low telecom cost (inter)
• Telecom infrastructure
• Low employment cost
• Technically skilled labor
• Multilingual labor
• RD capability and support
• University graduates
• Arabic literacy

• Proxy variables
• Local rate (USD per 3 min.)
• Call from US (USD per min.)
• Percent digitalized exchanges
• Average industrial wage (USD)
• Prop of natural science major
• Average score of TOEFL
• RD expenditure as of GDP
• Gross ratio tertiary education
• Daily newspaper circulation per 1000

16
Arabization and Arabic ICT Content Development
Selection
17
Arabized Software DevelopmentDigitized Language
Intensive Industry ServicesICT Based Education
Training InstitutionsDigital Publishing

• VERY SUITABLE TECHNOLOGIES
• Jordan
• Kuwait
• Egypt
• Syria
• Tunisia
• Bahrain

• SUITABLE TECHNOLOGIES
• Lebanon
• United Arab Emirates
• Algeria
• Morocco
• Ref Country Japan

18
Model B e-Services

• Developed countries experiences cannot be mapped
  directly to the region social, economic,
  cultural, infrastructural,legal business
  practices.
• NO benefit from globalization of outsourcing
• Inter-Arab trade is so low (6 of Arab trade)
• Need access to the increasingly ICT-dependent
  strong markets of developed-countries.
  
• Inadequate infrastructure, relatively expensive
  ICT tools and access, services requiring foreign
  languages, almost inexistent local contents, and
  unsuitable legislations.

19
Suitable e-services Solutions

• ISP / Hosting / Data centers
• Community Tele-centers
• Digital Public Transactions Processing
• e-banking Transactions
• Virtual Shopping Centers
• B2B e-Transactions
• Smart Public ID Card
• Call/Contact Center

20
ISP / Hosting / Data Centers

• Supporting items
• Low telecom cost (domestic)
• Telecom infrastructure
• Accessibility to internet
• Domestic market size
• Regional market size
• Broadband infrastructure
• IT literacy

• Proxy variables
• Local rate (USD per 3 min.)
• Percent digitalized exchanges
• User per 10,000 inhabitants
• Domestic population
• Regional population
• Availability of ADSL
• Number of PCs per 1000 inhabitants

21
ISP/Hosting/Data Centers Evaluation
22
ISP / Hosting / Data Centers

• VERY SUITABLE TECHNOLOGIES
• Saudi Arabia
• Kuwait
• United Arab Emirates

• SUITABLE TECHNOLOGIES
• Bahrain
• Qatar
• Ref Country Iceland

23
Contact / Call Centers

• Supporting items
• Low telecom cost (domestic)
• Low telecom cost (inter)
• Telecom infrastructure
• Low employment cost
• Availability of skilled labor
• Multilingual labor
• Domestic Market size
• Regional Market size

• Proxy variables
• Local rate (USD per 3 min.)
• Call from US (USD per min.)
• Main Phone lines per 100
• Average industrial wage (USD)
• Mean years of schooling
• Average score of TOEFL
• Domestic Population
• Regional Population

24
Contact/Call Centers Evaluation
25
Contact / Call Centers

• VERY SUITABLE TECHNOLOGIES
• Egypt
• Jordan
• Saudi Arabia
• Syria
• Algeria

• SUITABLE TECHNOLOGIES
• United Arab Emirates
• Kuwait
• Lebanon
• Bahrain
• Tunisia
• Morocco
• Ref Country Ireland

26
Model C Electronics Mfg Integration

• Foundation of knowledge-economy
• Fast economic growth
• High value added
• Multiplier effect
• High employment (spectrum of skills)
• Contributes to the competitiveness and
  productivity of other economic sectors.
  
• ICT is the first sector of electronics.

27
Arab Electronics Industry

• Arab Electronics Industry is small, service
  oriented, branches of MNC with very little local
  assembly activities
  
• Meets 17 of total electronic Arab market
• Little yearly export of 150 millions
• Tunis 55 millions
• Morocco 50 millions

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Principles for Arab Electronics

• Not competing with established giants of
  expertise (like Japan and Singapore), or ocean of
  labor and material (like China).
  
• Focus on the niches that capture local resources
  (multi-lingual workforce, petroleum based
  material, creative human resources, etc),
  
• Size of the market
• Local RD support capability for sustainable
  growth
  
• Selective products that cannot be imported
• Strategic needs for basic national industries
• Strategic defense needs
• Strategic diversification of economies
• Job creation
• Belonging to the knowledge society

29
Suitable Electronics Industries

• System Design Integration
• Computer Peripherals Manufacturing
• Manufacturing of Fiber-optics
• Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) Fabrication
• Telecom Equipment Switches Manufacturing
• Telecom Equipment Units Manufacturing
• Telecom PABX Manufacturing
• Industrial Process Eqpt Design Assembly

30
Electronics System Mfg and Integration

• Supporting items
• Low employment cost
• Technically skilled labor
• RD capability and support
• Domestic market size
• Regional market size
• Plastic processing industry
• Casting/Molding
• Packaging/Labeling
• Multilingual labor
• Telecom infrastructure
• Global network of emigrants
• Professional population

• Proxy variables
• Average industrial wage
• Proportion of natural science major
• RD expenditure in Eng./Basic Science
• Domestic population
• Regional population
• Number of plastic processing firms
• Number of molding shops
• Number of paper/printing firms
• Average score of TOEFL
• Main phone line per 100 inhabitants
• Number of emigrants
• Number of engineers/scientists

31
Electronics Mfg Integration

• The more relevant indicators are not available
  for most of the Arab countries.
  
• From existing studies, comparative and
  competitive advantages, electronics design and
  manufacturing more suitable
  
• Tunis
• Morocco
• Egypt
• Saudi Arabia

32
Summary of ICT Initiatives for Regional
Development Needs

• Each country is unique
• Differences create a suitable environment for
  productive complementary strategy
  
• Team Process results suggest
• ICT Infrastructure Upgrading
• Arabization and Arabic ICT contents development
• e-Services localization
• Electronics design, manufacturing, and integration

33
Conclusion

• ICT support activities and decision-making for
  economic and social development
  
• ICT as industrial sector for sustainable
  development
  
• True ICT impact on development indicators are not
  universal and sometimes not measurable
  
• Is not the answer to all needs and problems
• Misleading ICT statistics yields wrong
  perception
  
• More than 50 of ICT traffic unproductive -USA

34
Conclusion (cont)

• Suitability selection results and rankings were
  biased by team members, and UN_ESCWA defined
  regional needs.
  
• Only guide before any investment and policy
  making
  
• Choice of the supporting items and corresponding
  equally weighted proxy variables affected the
  process results
  
• Unknown ICT plans and activities in the Arab
  countries.
  
• Validity of findings conditioned by the
  documented data
  
• Business opportunities in answering the regional
  needs with ICT services and industry
  
• USA-Arab Development Partnerships
• OIL for Development
• Peace on Earth IN SAME GOD WE TRUST

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FOLLOW UP RECOMMENDATIONS - STAKEHOLDERS
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