A conference of the Arab alumni association of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) opened in Amman on Saturday, with an information technology-rich agenda dedicated to the big themes of globalization, the future of biotechnology, trends in Silicon Valley, business to business transactions (B2B) and e-commerce, Jordan Times reported Sunday.
The two-day event, is scheduled to feature a morning session on e-government Sunday. E-minister Fawwaz Zu'bi — who is currently overseeing the implementation of seven pilot projects in the framework of the country's e-government strategy — is expected to address participants on “e-Government: Leveraging the Internet for Policy and Public Services.”
The implications of bio-technology in the healthcare industry, the role of business incubators, as well as the learning process in the digital age will be other topics of Sunday’s sessions.
Finally, Arab IT entrepreneurs will present their success stories before a closing session.
Welcoming the alumni from the prestigious academic institution to Jordan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs Mohammad Halaiqa highlighted Saturday the potential of IT growth in the Middle East and North Africa.
Although it currently has only 30 million Internet users, the MENA region is soon expected to become the second fastest growing IT market in the world, Halaiqa was quoted as saying. The deputy prime minister retraced the main steps of Jordan's “very ambitious” plan for the development of its IT and software industry – Albawaba.com
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