DUBAI, 4 November 2003 — A young Palestinian student has capped a whirlwind couple of weeks by receiving a rare invitation from Intel to view the company’s leading research and manufacturing facility in Ireland.
Twenty-year-old Rana Ramzi Qutteineh received this welcome surprise while she was representing Palestine at the Youth Forum of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in Geneva. She found out that she was a finalist in the Young e-Achiever category of the Arabian Business Awards hosted during Gitex. Having originally intended to immediately return to Jerusalem after the forum, Rana found herself diverted to Dubai where she picked up the annual Arabian Business “Young e-Achiever Award” and became the toast of the town.
Rana is currently in her fourth year of studies in electrical engineering at the Birzeit University in Jerusalem. She was nominated by the university for the international recognition based on the project and research work that she has been conducting into GSM, GPS and memory construction. She is hoping to complete a double major in computer and telecommunications engineering and after that intends to take her masters degree.
As a part of the prize for the Young e-Achiever Award, Rana will be hosted on an all expenses paid visit to Intel’s Research and Development Facility in Ireland.
“Intel has a deep commitment to and involvement in the education sector both on a global and regional level,” said Gilbert Lacroix, president, Intel, Middle East and North Africa, who presented Rana with the award. “As a leading global technology company helping to drive the digital revolution in the Arab world, we know how vital it is to recognize and encourage talent. In the work that she has already completed Rana has shown that she has the ability and the drive to play a leading role in the technology industry in the Middle East. Having met her I am sure that she will fulfill the promise that she has already shown.”
At Gitex, Rana was clearly stunned with the amount of attention she received. With two brothers and two sisters at home, Rana is more familiar with life as part of a group. In her teenage years, Rana’s brother, Rami, who is an electrical engineer, encouraged her to take up electrical engineering since she has a strong interest in mathematics and technology. But it was an unusual choice as a field of study for a young Arab woman. Not many Palestinian girls are enrolled in engineering courses. Even though she faced some resistance, Rana persevered. Now both her family and her professors acknowledge that thanks to her talent, Rana can look forward to a bright future as an engineer.
In Geneva at the ITU Youth Forum, Rana joined with students from 189 nations around the world to discuss how countries can best use technology to help drive growth. She found the event intellectually stimulating and she was pleased to present a different perspective to an international audience concerning Palestine and the Palestinian people.
“People don’t think that Palestine has engineers or professionals trained in technological subjects,” commented Rana. “But the world needs to know that Palestine has its own universities and Palestinians are some of the most educated people in the Arab world. We like to study. We view it as the best way to success in our future.” Even with all the glitter and bright lights she experienced during her time in Dubai, Rana was looking forward to returning to Jerusalem.
“I miss my family and friends,” she said. “I know that the situation in Palestine is not that good but it will always be my country and I will always want to support it. We do have local technology companies in Palestine. There are opportunities for young talent, especially if I work hard.”
There is no denying that life is a struggle though. Rana explained that the first thing she thought of each morning was how she would manage to cross all the checkpoints in order to reach the university campus. When classes at Birzeit are suspended, the university arranges compensating lectures and sets out special projects that can be done at home so the students can make up their studies.
How does Rana get ideas for her projects? She said that she reads a lot. She is constantly searching the Internet for the latest information on her areas of interest. Her professors, especially Dr. Wasel Ghanem and Dr. Jamal Siam, push her hard to use her own creativity and look at real world situations that are in need of solutions.
This year Palestine had a major success when the Palestinian National Internet Naming Authority (PNINA) was created. PNINA’s role is to realize the Palestinian online presence through the formation of registration policies, administer the .ps doman Registry, and enhance and promote Internet usage in Palestine.
Alan James of Development Alternatives Inc. has worked as an advisor to PNINA during its transition over the last two years from a government agency to a public-private partnership. PNINA brings together a wide constituency of tech users, educators, service providers, community organizations, legal advisors, scientists and the Palestinian Chapter of the Internet Society. It is no longer simply an administrative body but has expanded to become a partner in getting the .ps domain used and the Palestinian presence established on the Internet.
“The Palestinian IT community is a resilient, innovative and determined group of entrepreneurs,” said James. “They are faced with an almost impossible economic and political situation and they have chosen to respond to it by competing in the business community. They have developed a wide range of products, services and solutions packages for a full range of technology uses. Now with the .ps domain, they occupy space online with other top-level domains. With this step they have once again found a way to join the international community.”
“Using the .ps domain,” James continued, “Palestinians can communicate and advertise the notion that Palestinian products are competitive. Because of all the images of Palestinian suffering put out in the media there is an idea that Palestinians have no business community. The truth is that ‘Made in Palestine’ is a label that denotes true quality and value. The use of the .ps domain enables the Palestinian business community to jump a big psychological and commercial hurdle and begin establishing the Palestinian brand internationally.”
James explained that Palestinian products are now being labeled, “Made in Palestine,” instead of “Products from the Holy Land.” Palestinians abroad are being urged to invest in technology firms in Palestine as one way to overcome stifling commercial limitations. Palestinian entrepreneurs are being supported to compete and win in the international market so that Palestinian products, people and ideas are considered to be advantageous.
The Palestinian Information Technology Association (PITA) has established the Palestinian ICT Incubator (PICTI) as an independent non-profit state-of-the-art facility to nurture and support the commercialization of ideas and enhance the development and growth of dynamic local enterprises. PICTI will provide services to incubator clients both physically and virtually. By creating the environment that will nurture entrepreneurial talent, facilitate access to venture funding, increase access to global markets and provide access to critical telecommunications infrastructure, PICTI will make a vital contribution to economic progress in Palestine.
The primary objectives of the incubator will be to create viable ICT firms, increase ICT employment opportunities, enhance the technical skills base and boost ICT penetration and usage in non-IT sectors. Primary partners in PICTI include PITA, The Palestinian Banking Corporation, USAID and the Palestine Trade Center (PALTRADE). Interested individuals may contact PICTI through www.picti-palestine.com.
Out in the more traditional business community Palestinians are having success as well. Safad Engineering and Electronics has just signed a channel distribution agreement with Microsoft for Palestine. This is the first time such an agreement has been signed and Ibrahim Barham, GM, Safad Engineering and Electronics believes that this shows that Microsoft has been convinced that the Palestinian market has potential.
“Before, in Palestine, Microsoft products were sold through third parties from the Israeli market or some distributors in Jordan and the Gulf,” explained Barham. “Palestinian clients are more comfortable dealing with a Palestinian channel partner because there is local support for technical consultations and local liability on the products.”
Barham added that whenever there is a Palestinian company with an international distribution agreement they get priority in the sale of those goods in Palestine. Safad has been in Palestine for 11 years and has international agreements with HP and 3COM in addition to Microsoft. The company has 45 employees directly on staff and supplies another 100 companies across Palestine.
“Yes the business is tough here,” said Barham. “We work around curfews and checkpoints. Sometimes we deliver computers and software using donkeys. But there is hope always, because we believe in our nation, and ourselves and we will never leave it. Even in these difficult conditions our company Safad is not only surviving, we are profitable. That speaks volumes about our dedication and our will to succeed.”
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