ALKHOBAR, 6 January 2004 — A few months ago the Second Arab Human Development Report was released and for a little while the pages of Saudi newspapers were filled with commentary on the difficulties we are having in building a knowledge society. After a few weeks the topic died away and we continued on as before.
Then two weeks ago I received some information about a new initiative at St. Joseph University (USJ), one of the oldest universities in the Middle East, which once again brought the issue into stark relief.
The Faculty of Engineering at USJ has a long tradition of excellence in the education of engineers. With a very serious five-year curricula, and the intensive use of new technologies capacities, USJ aims to position its new graduates for a leading role in Lebanon and the region. In an effort to initiate more USJ students into a modern technological environment, USJ in coordination with Intel and with the collaboration of SecurSoftware, Hiperdist and Credit Libanais set-up a wireless campus at Ecole Superiere D’Ingenieres de Beirut (ESIB) USJ. This allows students and faculty at the campus for higher engineering studies to have more flexibility to work, study and browse the Internet throughout the campus. It is also hoped that the wireless network will give students the urge to increasingly utilize modern communication technology, as they prepare to join the “real world” where often times technological skills are a must.
“With the new flexibility, extended battery life and light, eye-catching form factor that it provides, the Intel Centrino Mobile Technology is proving very popular in Lebanon,” said Gilbert Lacroix, president, Intel Middle East & North Africa. “We are confident that USJ students will benefit tremendously from this initiative, which provides them with new ways of exploring the Web to conduct research, prepare papers, communicate with the world, or participate in online academic discussion forums wirelessly and at their convenience.”
Commenting on their participation in the creation of the first wireless campus in the Levant, Michel Kilzi, CEO, SecurSoftware, added: “Mobile computing opens brand new doors for all computer users and is certain to form the basis for the creation of new usage models. SecurSoftware is committed to playing a role in advancing technological initiatives in Lebanon, especially among the youth, which is why we offered our services at no cost for this pilot project. We believe that it is important for students to be exposed to the latest and greatest technologies as they prepare to compete in the global job market. We hope that this will be the first step towards the setup of secured WiFi campuses throughout Lebanon.”
Alongside setting up the wireless campus, a discounted bundle promotion was launched to provide students with the opportunity to purchase a discounted Hewlett Packard laptop with Intel Centrino Mobile Technology from Hiperdist, including the SecurLock security application from SecurSoftware and one month free Internet connection from IDM. All this was financed by Credit Libanais through consumer loans with low service rates. Students will also get from Credit Libanais in the package a free credit card, free online and WAP banking to access their accounts anytime, anywhere.
“Deploying Intel’s wireless technology in our campus is set to help improve education by putting technology in the hands of students, enhancing learning and preparing them for a smoother transition to the workplace,” said Dr. Wajdi Najem, Dean of Engineering, USJ. “Students and faculty can now access information at leisure, which creates opportunities for new teaching methods, better collaboration, and increased productivity. I am confident that this technology will allow our students to graduate with a better education and valuable computing skills.”
I congratulate USJ on their new initiative, but I am heartsick for my own son. He attends King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Dhahran, where he is majoring in computer engineering. Despite his major there is no requirement that he own a computer. In fact last year, during his orientation year at KFUPM, some instructors demanded that he and his classmates submit their first drafts of written work in pencil. Supposedly this was to cut down on acts of plagiarism and make editing easier, but frankly technologies exist to analyze papers for plagiarism and editing using word processing software is standard in the “real world.”
The university does have the facility to make loans to students in order to allow them to purchase a computer, but there is no initiative for them to do so. A wireless network throughout the campus with student Internet access is still the stuff of dreams. KFUPM is widely considered to have the best technology faculty in Saudi Arabia, but they lack access to technologies that are now increasingly common even in small colleges in the USA, Europe, many parts of Asia and now in the Middle East.
At many universities abroad it is mandatory for students to arrive on campus with their own laptops. Some of those universities have leasing arrangements for computers for their students. Most of those colleges requiring PCs offer subsidized machines for disadvantaged students. The bottom line is that at universities around the world, personal computers are considered essential tools. At KFUPM, the administration is currently considering whether personal computers should be a requirement for all students. The answer to that question should have been obvious long ago. It seems that if companies in Lebanon could get together and create an affordable, modern network for USJ and provide reduced cost machines and enable connectivity facilities for USJ students, then Saudi universities in cooperation with the ministries, the banks and Saudi Telecom could work with local IT vendors to do the same -- if only the will was there to do so.
It is imperative that somehow that will be found. The 2nd Arab Human Development Report stated that enrollment in US universities from the Arab World has declined by 30 percent since 1999. More Saudis are being forced to receive higher education in the Kingdom at universities where the latest technologies are not in use, where courses are often outdated and where there is a near absence of advanced research in fields such as information technology. The government has extremely limited funding for such research and there has been no imperative to encourage and compel private firms to participate in the university environment.
Major vendors come into Saudi Arabia and win contracts for deals worth millions from the public and private sector, but few give anything back to the Saudi academic community. It is time to look for more than the lowest bidder on a project. Saudi enterprises and public sector agencies in qualifying bidders for projects should ask the question, “What does your firm offer in the way of knowledge transfer to the Kingdom?” On small contracts perhaps it could be the chance for international consultants coming into Saudi Arabia for specialized work to be made available to local universities for advanced seminars. On larger contracts much more should be required.
The current trend to accept offers of corporate internships as a form of knowledge transfer should be re-examined. Many science majors specialize in secretarial tasks during their internships. Some learn to sit in a chair and keep quiet. There is little real accountability on all sides and the purpose of knowledge transfer has not been served. Even worse, we are deluding ourselves thinking that these students are acquiring knowledge and skills when in reality they are simply wasting precious time. And the truth is that we are out of time.