In this Issue:                                      

 - An ICT ministry in the new cabinet.
 - PITA chairman meets Mr. Mahmoud Abbas,
    the new Palestinian Prime Minister
 - Palestine@Gulf  and Tejari.com in Dubai
    enter into a Cooperation Agreement.
 - Members’ News.
 - PalTel Tariffs
 - Establishing Palestine IT Incubator.
 - PITA to launch its new IT diffusion
   initiative.
 - PITA launches its new outreach program.
 - Comdex Jeddah 2003 postponed
    Members’ Cooperation with the National 
    Emergency Committee.
 - PITA & DAI/MAP Sign two Letters of
    Agreements.
 - New PITA Members

PITA chairman and other Private Sector representatives met Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian Prime Minister.
A delegation representing the Palestinian Private Sector, met with Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian Prime Minister in his office on Mrach 25^th.  Mr. Ibrahim Barham, PITA Chairman, represented PITA in this meeting, and conveyed a message to Mr. Abbas in which he explained the Private Sector views and demands in regard to the Palestinian National Authority reform plans. PITA chairman emphasized the importance of the following points that should be tackled by the new government:  One governmental strategy to be the basis of any relations with the donor community, as well as maintain continuous dialogue and coordination with related stakeholders especially the private sector;
·  To concentrate the PNA efforts on the adoption of investment and economical encouraging policies in order to facilitate economic growth;
·  Transparent and effective financial setup; efficient management of expenditures, better regulated banking system; ·  To minimize the governmental institutions, and merge them in the PNA ministries;
·  To regulate the Palestine Security Exchange;
·  To protect the national resources, by avoiding previous mistakes, and develop better policies to regulate the telecom sector and other deregulated sectors that the government is involved in;
·  To develop an accountability system that monitors the government institutions;
·  Develop a clear policy in relation to “Conflict of Interest”
·  To develop a unified policy for the government and local municipalities;  
·  To make a decision regarding the government investments;
To develop an independent policy on the future economical relations with Israel; and to enhance the elections law.

PITA’s Upcoming Projects … 1

PITA OUTREACH PROGRAM

Since 1999, the Palestinian Information Technology Association of Companies (PITA), has managed to establish it self as a sector representative and an address for Palestinian technology.  The local and international acknowledgement of PITA is well evident and traceable through public gatherings and specialized forums.  In addition, and most importantly, local companies in Palestine are increasingly adding up credit to PITA’s representative base.

The achievements that PITA has accomplished in the past 4 years corresponded to the expectations of its member and non-member, private and public sectors.  In that regard, internal systems were built within the organization to facilitate better management and service delivery, vale added technical and marketing service programs were offered to PITA’s members, and several important policy and sector related issues were identified and tackled by PITA for the sector’s healthy growth. 

Today, PITA has become a mature association that attracts new members and receives recognition through a well established presence.  The association has managed to grow physically by covering both West Bank and Gaza through its offices as well as the Gulf market through its Palestine@Gulf marketing and business development office in Dubai.

The idea of this program is to revise and formalize PITA’s relations with local, regional, and international organizations utilizing local available resources to sustain these relations and increase the durability and volume of the mutual benefits through a systematic approach to insure proper implementation of the activities.
 

The ICT Diffusion Initiative aims to improve the understanding of the benefits of using ICT by various Palestinian private and public sectors, and to utilize the ICT knowledge & applications to pursue the prospect of ICT and to solve a diverse range of problems. The stakeholders of this initiative especially economic sectors will benefit from the increased transfer of ICT know how along the increase in core competencies associated with management and understanding of ICT applications will increase the competitiveness both within various sectors and across the ICT industry. 

This initiative would require industries stakeholders to agree on its mission and goals and involve their resources to leverage its activities and programs.

The ICT Diffusion Initiative will produce:

§         Sector Assessment Reports on ICT Penetration, Impact, Needs and Opportunities

§         Local & International ICT Products Catalogues corresponding to local needs

§         Comprehensive Database of contacts and prospective customers

§         ICT awareness campaign through a series of workshops, seminar and exhibitions

Ultimately the ICT Diffusion Initiative will establish the critical elements of the platform to launch an e-Palestine Program that will underpin the reform agenda of the private and non-government sectors.
 

PITA’s Upcoming Projects … 2

PITA has own the financial support of the UNDP as well as some PITA members, PICTI will seek strategic partnership with USAID to secure funding through the Global Development Alliance (http://www.usaid.gov/gda/). This strategic alliance with USAID will expedite the launch and creation of the first incubator in Palestine.

The Vision
PICTI will become the premier “bridge to the marketplace” for the Palestinian ICT industry. It will be the anchor and catalyst for the ICT cluster, serving as a focal point for the industry’s entrepreneurial activities and energy.
Over the next five years, PICTI will establish itself as the premier hub for:
- Young ICT entrepreneurs trying to expand their businesses, improve
- quality standards, and commercialize products or ideas;
- Established companies simply looking for intermediaries to assist in identifying partners, investors, or financing; and
- ICT Startups.

PICTI shall be a leader in the provision of quality business services and will offer its clients the largest local and international network of business in the Middle East. It will also become a model for successful incubation, both locally and regionally, and will partner with other organizations to establish a network of incubators across the region.

The Mission
 PICTI will work to facilitate and provide access to risk capital, business management and environment for innovation by building the capacity of firms and entrepreneurs to respond to opportunities in the market as well as addressing the need for specialized capital, knowledge and access to global markets.

PICTI can be the critical intermediary in ICT as a financing broker, a management broker, and a marketing/sales broker.
 

PITA in cooperation with DAI/MAP launches two new Firm Level Assistance Program

PITA has singed two letters of agreements with DAI/MAP that will govern the scope of work and implementation of a Marketing Firm Level Assistance program And a Business Development Firm Level Assistance Program. Both of the two programs aim to support IT companies to deliver competitive services to enable market access through strengthening the companies’ technical and managerial capacities.  For full description and registration please check this link: http://www.pita-palestine.org/busdev/programs.htm
 

Palestine@Gulf  and Tejari.com in Dubai enter into a Cooperation Agreement

Internet City on October 14^th 2003 at the Gulf IT Exhibition (GITEX). The office, which represents 10 Palestinian, is mandated with connecting the Palestinian IT sector to that of the Gulf region by building business networks and driving business development programs.

“Joining the Tejari network is a very advantageous opportunity for us to expand our network and promote our products and services to a wider Gulf and international business audience,” said Mohammed Karim, Palestine@Gulf business manager based at the in Dubai. “The Palestinian IT sector has a lot to offer regional and international companies looking for high-end technology solutions, and our relationship with Tejari will surely provide us with the reach we require to open new doors for the sector.”

Initiated by His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Defense Minister, Tejari was commissioned on 15 April 2000 and launched from  its inception to technology delivery, in a record-breaking 60 days. The e-marketplace serves as an on-line meeting point for buyers and sellers and enables organizations to search catalogs, create auctions, perform spot-buys, and participate in reverse auctioning.

About Tejari

Tejari is the Middle East’s primary online business-to-business marketplace, facilitating procurement throughout the region. Tejari provides the sourcing, negotiation and transaction environment for a dynamic community of regional buyers throughout the Middle East, and international suppliers to the region.

Dubai – March 20^th 2003: The Palestine Information Technology Association (PITA) signed a cooperation agreement with Tejari, the Middle East’s premier business-to-business marketplace, which will grant Palestinian technology companies access to the Tejari marketplace. The agreement was reached through PITA’s official representative office at the Dubai Internet City (DIC), Palestine @ Gulf.

“The Palestinian IT sector has been growing at a very healthy rate, and we are excited about the prospects of working closely with the companies represented at the Palestine @ Gulf office at the DIC,” said Mr. Rami Jaghoub Tejari’s, Director, Business Development. “We have reviewed what the Palestinian IT sector has to offer and we were very impressed with their strength in the areas of Arabization and customization technologies. More specialized software applications such as document management systems and highly sophisticated business tools wills surely add value to our Tejari members.”
Palestine@Gulf office was inaugurated by Imad Al Faluji, Palestine’s Telecoms minister and Dr. Omar Bin Sulaiman, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai
 

               MEMBERS NEWS
Jaffa.Net finished the development of the bi-lingual (Arabic and English) Web Portal for the National Plan of Action for the Palestinian Children. The portal includes a web database for the Palestinian Children related publications: books, articles, tapes, CDs. In addition the information center includes the events and the calendar of the children related activities. It also includes a photo archive. The portal can be seen http://www.womenchild.info. For more information please send an email to info@i-jaffa.net.

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ModernTech Corp., has launched its new Arabic/English Website: http://www.mtcgaza.com
and introduced a "Telephone Directory Software" which could be viewed by clicking this link: http://217.21.14.25/downloads/demo.rar
 

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PITA staff and members congratulate Mr. Jameel Daher, PITA Board member, and Regional Manager of Offtec on the new baby  boy “Ramzi”.

We wish the new born and his family all the Happiness that life can offer.

                Short News

PITA participated in a two –day workshop on the National Technical and Vocational Education and Training Strategy (TVET Strategy). Several stakeholders participated, including the GTZ which is sponsoring this program. The main two ministries who are leading this initiative are the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Labor. The participants recommended that the Private sector should be the driving force of this strategy through the private sector representation in the higher council that will be in charge of overseeing the whole project, and developing TVET policies and strategies. The second recommendation was that the private sector should be represented in all levels of the TVET structure not only in the higher council, to insure proper implementation and participation. This participation falls under PITA’s HR & Education development policy.

ISOC-Palestine Chapter has held a a members’ meeting on March 28th to discuss issues related to ISOC institutionalization, such as ISOC membership, registration, premises, and action plans. Another meeting On April 21st was organized to present the PIX initiative (Palestine Internet Exchange initiative) a national service that will allow all ISPs and institutions to connect locally through regular leased lines, to one national router that will handle all local traffic amongst ISPs. http://www.isoc-ps.org

Members’ Cooperation with the National Emergency Committee

The National Emergency Committee which was established to coordinate and implement an emergency plan during the war on Iraq, especially that war was expected to entail an emergency situation in Palestine. After the war the committee freezed its activities since the situation did not demand special emergency activities. PITA was an active member in this committee and during the preparations had approached with other committee members several institutions and individuals to volunteer their resources and time whenever is needed by the committee. Despite the resources that we have had access and approval to use were not actually used, those who provided all the support and resources free of charges deserve special acknowledgment from PITA, thus I would like to take the opportunity to extend our gratitude to all PITA members who dedicated their resources and time for this noble initiative especially Jawwal (Palestine Cellular Communications Company), who provided all the support by offering access to Jawwal network, facilities, mobiles, premises for any emergency situation.
All the volunteers who filled the volunteers’ form, and contacted us to offer their various skills and capabilities also deserve our appreciation and respect.  Thank you all.

Members Are Asked to submit articles for PITA e-News

Dear PITA members,

PITA is welling to announce your news, articles, and activities in every issue of PITA’s E-News. Hence you are requested to submit your contributions or suggestions to info@pita-palestine.org.

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