The ICT sector in the Palestinian Territories has made significant strides over the past few years under the most difficult conditions. The infra-structure of the ICT sector is still being established but on solid grounds. The cooperation between the private sector and the public sector is smooth. Taking the difficult political and economic climates into account, the development of the ICT sector in the Palestinian Territories over the past few years has been impressive.
Palestinian Top Level Domain (.ps) :- The PNA was able to obtain a Top Level Domain ( TLD ) for the Palestinian Territories , better known as “.ps”.
The Palestinian Information Technology Association of Companies (PITA) (www.pita-palestine.org):- Founded in early 1999 in Ramallah-Palestine, PITA is a membership-based organization for locally registered companies in the ICT sector. PITA represents more than 70 enterprises from various sub-sectors including hardware distributors, software development firms, office automation vendors, Internet service providers, telecom, ICT consulting, ICT training and related businesses.
Palestine @ Gulf (www.pita.ae ):- After organizing several participations in Gitex Dubai, a regional services office for PITA was established in the heart of the IT hub of the Gulf at the Dubai Internet City in 2002.
The Palestinian Information and Communications Technology Incubator (PICTI ) :- PICTI is a USAID - PITA championed non-profit organization with an independent board of directors. PICTI plans to offer a facility that will nurture and support the commercialization of ideas and projects in the ICT and ICT-related sectors.
Multinational ICT Representation in the Palestinian Territories :- No official figures are available on the ICT sector’s size in the Palestinian Territories at the present (some estimates put the figures around $400 million). However, multinational ICT giants have established operating representation in the Palestinian Territories . HP, Microsoft, Compaq, 3COM, Dell, Oracle, Timex, Motorola, IBM , Cisco, and Siemens operate in the Palestinian Territories one way or another. Birzeit University (www.birzeit.edu) has matched with Cisco to establish the “ Cisco Regional Academy ”. Other private and public agencies are also engaged in Microsoft Certified Engineer accreditation.
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