US management consulting firm decision/analysis partners said it has been selected to design telecom infrastructure for Rawabi, the first Palestinian planned city in the West Bank.

Decision/analysis partners, an independent management consultancy based in Northern Virginia serving governments, the private sector, and multi-lateral organizations worldwide, said the contract was awarded by Bayti Real Estate Investment Company.

Rawabi is an US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA)-funded project aimed at supporting private sector development of 250-acre residential and commercial City in the West Bank.

The Virginia-based company said as per the contract, it will develop a technical design and roadmap for the deployment of its information and communications technologies (ICT) infrastructure.

Under this project, decision/analysis partners and its subcontractors will provide an assessment and forecast of needs and requirements; technical design and architecture;  economic and financial analysis of options; analysis of business model alternatives; development of detailed requirements; legal and regulatory assessment; structuring of procurement activities and a preliminary environmental impact.

The study is funded by a $412,900 grant from the USTDA. The project will be led by Dr Raymond E. Barber, director of decision/analysis partners' ICT practice.

Dr Barber has successfully led similar USTDA-funded efforts in Mauritius, Indonesia, Guatemala and Romania. The study team includes a team of experts from decision/analysis partners and key staff from Polar Star Consulting of Fairfax, Virginia and CCG Facilities Integration of Baltimore, MD.

"Rawabi's ICT infrastructure is a critical factor in building its knowledge base economy," said Amir Dajani, deputy managing director of Bayti Real Estate Investment Company.

"Providing Rawabi with an advanced ICT environment will have ripple effects throughout Palestine, expanding economic activities, creating jobs, introducing new technologies in building and trade, and engaging more broadly with the global economy," he added.

Decision/analysis partners specializes in operations management, market analysis, procurement and business and technology planning for Information and Communications Technologies, the Mailing and Postal sectors, and Logistics and Supply Chain Management.-TradeArabia News Service