Meeting Arab Socio-economic 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.

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Region Adequate ICT Solutions Ranked
Characteristics
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Ranked ICT Solutions Characteristics

1. Higher information exchange rate
2. Increases real-time reliable access and
   management of information
3. Facilitates data networking for social
   development
4. Increases awareness and knowledge of ICT tools
5. Facilitates national/regional integration of
   statistical data
6. Increases transparency and availability of
   information
7. Offers opportunities for regional integration
   into the knowledge society
8. Affordable user friendly
9. Supports monitoring of comparable economic
   indicators
10. Enhances measurements and analysis/forecasting
    tools for economic performance
11. Enhances economic performance
12. Facilitates dissemination of Arabic information
13. Facilitates partnerships among development
    stakeholders
14. Facilitates standards adoption

9
Ranked ICT Solutions Characteristics

1. Supports quality and coverage of education
2. Higher workforce utilization of youth and women
3. Facilitates awareness and enforcement of women
   empowerment policies
4. Offers new opportunities for industrialization
5. Supports initiatives to create productive
   employment
6. Offers investments opportunities
7. Supports Resources Management
8. Enhances harmonization and standardization of
   trade procedures
9. Helps regulation and facilitation of capital flow
10. Increases export capabilities
11. Increases environmental monitoring capabilities
12. Facilitates accessibility and awareness of social
    and cultural values
13. Facilitates and simplifies procedures for
    regional travel
14. Enhances trust and lower risk of Foreign and
    Domestic Investments
15. Can be exported

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Assessment of Suitable ICT Solutions
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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

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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

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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
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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

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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
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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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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