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Expotech 10Palestines premier technology showcase event Palestine Information Technology Association (PITA) successfully organises its tenth conference
Expotech 10″ took place in Jericho, Palestine on March 2nd, 2014 with Palestinian Telecommunications Group (Paltel Group), German Development and Cooperation Agency (GIZ), Arab Bank and Mercy Corps as major sponsors.
PITAs Chairman, Eng. Hasan Qasem, said; “Expotech celebrates the achievements of the telecommunication and information technology sectors in Palestine, and allows businesses to discuss the most important problems they currently encounter”. He also added, “Working alongside our partners in the telecommunication and information technology sectors enables members to develop strategies that contribute to technological advancement”.
CEO of Paltel Group, Mr Ammar Aker, one of the main sponsors at the conference, stated that the primary aim of Expotech is to build a healthy sector based on the principles and rules of good governance. Due to the key role third generation communications (3G) plays in the advancement of technological and economic development alike, Mr Aker urged the Palestinian Government to ensure it is placed on its agenda.
The first session of the conference focused on the telecommunications sector and its future vision. The panel consisted of Minister of Communications and IT, Dr Safa Nasser Eldin; Mr Ammar Aker, CEO of Paltel Group; Mr Fayez Husseini, CEO of Wataniya Mobile. The session was moderated by the Director of Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility at Ericsson (MENA), Mr Joe Battikh and discussion focused on mobile applications (mobile apps), and especially those apps that offer free text messaging and their impact on current telecom companies. How social media is used by telecomms was also discussed during the session.
The second session discussed eGovernment and the electronic transactions between government, ministries and citizens in order to facilitate the lives of citizens. This session was moderated by Minister of Communications, Dr Safa Nasser Eldin and featured the Minister of Health, Dr Jawad Awwad; Minister of Communications, Dr Nabil Dmaidi, in addition to a number o of representatives of other Palestinian ministries.
The third session featured a discussion about electronic banking and its transactions, facilitation and promotion of banking transactions between banks in order to serve Palestinian customers. The session was moderated by the CEO of Java Company, Dr.Yahya Solkan and involved Mr Jamal Hourani, Regional Director of Arab Bank in Palestine; Dr Jihad Al Wazir, Governor of the Palestine Monetary Authority; and Mr Akram Hamdam representing Bank of Palestine.
The title of the fourth session was “Putting Palestine on the map of world-class technology in terms of media”, where discussion focused on how the technology sector can act as a Palestinian voice to the world, in terms of traditional and digital media.
Session five focused entirely on education, with the session moderated by Chief Executive of PITA, Dr Mashhour Abu Dakka. He was joined by President of Birzeit University, Dr Khalil Hindi; Dr Marwan Khaaddouri, head of Palestine Technical University; and Dr Ghassan Abu Hijleh, President of Palestine Ahliya University College, Bethlehem. The aim of this session was to build a genuine partnership with the education sector in order to have graduates who are qualified and able to integrate successfully in the Palestinian labour market.
Expotech 10 concluded its activities with a session where many topics were discussed including the development of the internet in Palestine, problems faced by the sector in general, and how one might improve this service in light of the difficulties faced.
