Communications and Information Technology Commission Forum Charts the Path for the Future of Information Technology in the Kingdom

The Communications and Information Technology Commission organized today, Sunday, 25 Jumada al-Awwal 1431H corresponding to May 9, 2010, at the Four Seasons Hotel, an information technology forum titled "Challenges and Opportunities for IT Development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," with the aim of drawing a roadmap to identify opportunities in the information technology sector, and ways to overcome the challenges that may face workers in this sector, in addition to informing those interested in technology and its end users in the Kingdom about it.

His Excellency the Governor of the Commission, Dr. Abdulrahman bin Ahmed Al-Jaafari, opened the forum's activities with a speech in which he shed light on the role played by the Commission in the development process in the information technology sector in the Kingdom, pointing to the Commission's role in launching initiatives aimed at developing the sector, regulating its services, and increasing investment in it, in a way that reflects on the development of all investment sectors and many industries built on the basis of information technology, and contributes to raising the national economy and improving aspects of life and transitioning Saudi society into an information and knowledge society. Regarding the forum, Dr. Al-Jaafari spoke about the current state of information technology in the Kingdom, shedding light in this context on the main obstacles that must be overcome to prevent them from standing in the way of the prosperity of the information technology industry in the Kingdom, and identifying future expansion opportunities for this industry.

Regarding the main factors for enabling the national economy to accelerate growth in this field, the Vice Governor for Information Technology at the Commission, Dr. Suleiman Mardad, addressed this theme by analyzing a set of key indicators for the development of the information technology sector in the Kingdom, showing the main factors for spending and the deterrents that may prevent it, in addition to discussing the repercussions of the global economic crisis on the information technology sector in the Kingdom.

The forum's first session, chaired by Dr. Khaled Ghanim, CEO of Al-Elm Company, discussed opportunities for building the information technology industry in the Kingdom in the future. The session concluded that the Kingdom should focus on identifying developing areas in terms of the availability and spread of information technology services and their use to create promising opportunities for expansion in this field.

With the participation of a number of prominent thought leaders on the local and international levels, the second session, chaired by His Excellency Dr. Khaled Al-Sabti, Deputy Minister of Education, discussed the pressing need to develop and localize specialized skills in the field of information technology at the local level, shedding light in this context on the gaps in currently existing skills, in order to diagnose them and build strategies capable of overcoming them in the future outlook.

The third session concluded by setting out the main points regarding what was discussed and deliberated in the forum "Challenges and Opportunities for IT Development in the Kingdom," concluding that if development in this sector is achieved effectively through the availability of a sufficient level of specialized local skills, in addition to the availability of resources and venture capital, the Kingdom will be able to achieve sustainable development in this field, and to be a strong source in the information technology industries.