More than 200 experts from several ministries and industries and 30 expert speakers will brainstorm on new ideas and discuss the roadmap for the future of digital transformation of the country at the 2nd Digital Transformation Jordan. 

 

Under the patronage of Ahmad Al Hanandeh, Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship,  the event that takes place on March 14 and 15, 2022, Kempinski Convention Centre, Amman, Jordan, and organised by Great Minds Events Management

 

Digital infrastructure, skills, entrepreneurship, and digital financial services and platforms are the main areas of focus for the Jordanian government to reach its vision of creating a secure and inclusive digital economy that achieves sustainable economic and social development. 

 

Al-Hanandeh, confirmed the importance of the ministry’s participation in such conferences to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing the kingdom regarding how to implement digital transformation, and how it is possible to take advantage of current opportunities to achieve achievements in ideal time.

 

He says: “Digital transformation is an important role for economic and social development because of its solutions in many financial, agricultural, industrial, health care, security services and other sectors and the development of new business models that could not have been developed in isolation from digital transformation and modern technologies. Among the government's priorities is to make digital technologies available and to ensure their efficient provision.”

 

Digitisation improves the outcomes of both the private and public sectors by streamlining business operations, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are enabled to enter the market and access finance and human talents. Digital transformation also provides the government the ability to distribute services and support to its citizens via digital mediums.

 

Jordan which ranked 104th out of 193 countries in the Open Government Data Index (OGDI) in the UN E-Government Survey 2020, will start deploying 5G Network in the country in 2022 which is expected to be operational within 18 months, and currently implementing a major programme to transform public service delivery on the digital channels.

 

Realising that the country needs to catch up, the government launched Jordan Digital Transformation Strategy in 2020 that represents a strategic framework for Jordan’s digital transformation that outlines the changes and strategic requirements needed to keep pace with the progress of digital transformation globally, improve the delivery of government services, and enhance the efficiency of government performance. This also includes meeting the needs of beneficiaries (i.e. the government, citizens, residents, tourists, private sector, entrepreneurs, and civil society), improving the quality of life more effectively, sustainably and reliably, and achieving well-being.

 

The Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship has developed this strategy based on the Jordan Vision 2025, as well as applicable international deliverables, trends, and practices adopted in this regard, and in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of 2030.

 

In 2020, World Bank approved a $200 million project to increase access for Jordanian youth to jobs and expand government digital services. The Youth, Technology and Jobs project adopted an integrated approach to capitalise on Jordan’s potential to grow its digital economy and absorb skilled labour to address two main challenges facing the country, economic growth and job creation.

 

The project is expected to provide professional skills to 30,000 youth, a technology curriculum in public school grades 7 to 12, and workspaces in underserved communities. The project also supports access to markets for entrepreneurs and incentivise businesses to expand their operations in underserved communities. It will also improve access for youth to freelancing platforms and improve government digital services and digital payments.

 

The project aims to generate 10,000 new income opportunities for youth in the coming five years, including women (30%) and Syrian refugees in freelance opportunities (15%). It aims to digitize more than 80 percent of government payments and mobilise around $20 million in new private sector investments in digital services.

 

Information technology activities achieved a growth of 11.64% between 2014 and 2018 in Jordan, where annual revenues increased by about $300 million. Mobile and internet penetration rates reached 85% and 88.8% respectively in 2018. 

 

The 2nd Digital Transformation Jordan will focus on the legislative and regulatory framework needed to keep pace with the rapid development of digital platforms, as well as the strategy and technologies to be adopted to drive innovation forward.

 

There will be industry discussion sessions, presentations by delegates and panel discussion on Jordan’s digital transformation strategy, data and digital transformation, cloud adoption and integration etc. Delegates and experts from several industries such as government sectors, banking sector, retail, telecom, transport and logistics, education, healthcare, utilities etc. will take part in this event.

 

The profile of the delegates includes government officials and CEOs, directors, heads and specialists from important departments such as: Digital Transformation, Information Technology, Data Science, Data Analytics, Corporate Planning, Strategy Planning, Business Analytics, Business Intelligence, Innovation, Smart Services, Cyber Security, Cloud etc.

 

With the newly approved National Strategy for Digital Transformation, Jordan aims to improve the transparency, flexibility, reliability, and sustainability of digital services, as well as reduce digital services’ time and costs, all consistent with Royal directives, and all consistent with global trends and national policies.

 

The opening ministerial keynote speech will be delivered by Al-Hanandeh.

 

The speakers list for the event includes top names such as, Eng Belal Al-Hafnawi, Commissioner & Board Member, Jordan Telecommunication Regulatory Commission – TRC; Abdelkader Al Batayneh, Director of Policy and Strategy Department, Policy and Strategy Directorate, Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship; Nada Khater, Head of Digital Transformation Policies and Strategies, Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship; Lama Arabiat, Head of Artificial Intelligence, Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship; Dr Nisreen Al Sayyed, Director of National Information System, Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship; Mohammad J Sear, Digital Government & Public Sector Consulting Leader, Middle East and Africa (Mena), EY and many other experts.  

 

The event will help all the industries involved to get access to key digital transformation stakeholders of ongoing and upcoming projects in Jordan and get insight into their plans to invest in new technologies and spot opportunities.

 

The 2nd Digital Transformation Jordan will study and discuss the changing dynamics of the country’s digital transformation, with the experts sharing their views, opinions, and insights on the transformations they are witnessing and incorporating in the different sectors and industries.

 

Leila Masinaei, Managing Partner, Great Mind Events Management and organiser of the 2nd Digital Transformation Jordan, says: “Jordan is on a journey to position itself as a technology hub serving the world. It has increased digital consumption, promoting digitisation of businesses and public services, building on digital infrastructure and skills, which is helping the country to achieve their goal of becoming a regional tech leader.

 

“In the 2nd Digital Transformation Jordan, the insightful speeches and panel discussions by some of the biggest leaders from the government sector of Jordan will make the event the most important event in Jordan to cover the entire digital ecosystem and guide the attendees to the right way toward digital transformation.”

 

Al Hafnawi says: “5G will provide emerged networks of high speed with low latency and massive capacity, and will be an enabler to transform different sectors including health, education, agriculture, e-commerce, industry factories and other sectors. And 5G will pave the way to use heavily the internet of things, Artificial intelligence, mission critical solutions and will drive smart cities initiatives and implications, with will result in an enhanced user and citizen experience, and will strongly form the future real digital economy.”

 

To conclude a power-packed day, the chairman will give a closing speech and set the scene for how the 3rd edition will approach 2023.

 

The 2nd Digital Transformation Jordan, is endorsed by Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, Jordan and supported by – Dell Technologies, Nutanix and Network.-- TradeArabia News Service