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| A billboard in Dubai, photographed in 2007, shows an image of the buildings under construction behind it. |
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Photograph © Martha Camarillo |
Risk Averse Yet Bold
The same sort of momentum created by the desire to modernize rapidly finds expression in bold, creative decision making. Faced with a prevailing aversion to risk-taking in their countries, some government leaders took brash actions to jump-start change and send signals to the private sector and society at large. The private sector then followed with dramatic moves of its own. Palm Island and other initiatives in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are good examples of daring actions that created momentum for change. For example, once the Palm Island concept demonstrated its value — seafront property for the price of inland property — it was endorsed by the larger community in Dubai, and other islands were built. That same dynamic occurs across many industries in the region: Bold decision making in one key project sets the course for others to follow.
This audacity can also exist in the public sector. In the UAE, the Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Committee (ADSIC) was formed to support the goal of a high-performance government delivering world-class services to its customers. ADSIC rolled out a multiyear, multiphased strategic e-government program made up of more than 100 initiatives addressing every aspect of government service delivery, including regulatory and legislative change, Internet-based education (or “e-literacy”), infrastructure development, and services optimization.
The need for bold steps to turn around education systems is felt strongly in the labor-abundant and resource-poor countries of the region. Deprived of the oil-based income that its neighbors enjoy, Jordan boasts that “our people are our greatest asset,” and its policymakers act accordingly. In 2003, Jordan’s Education Reform for the Knowledge Economy Initiative brought together 17 Jordanian organizations, 17 global corporations, and 11 governmental and nongovernmental organizations to implement a highly successful public–private partnership model. Together, local and global information and communications technology (ICT) firms set out to develop local high-tech skills, whereas other participants designed new, electronically enabled curricula that have been successfully piloted throughout the country. Hundreds of schools have been refurbished, teachers have been trained, and in the next couple of years the entire Jordanian public school system will be connected by a high-speed broadband network.
In Qatar, the country’s leadership has prioritized the creation of a cutting-edge school system that harnesses technology for learning. The country’s Supreme Education Council (SEC), which oversees education policy nationwide, is playing an integral role in the development and implementation of major reform in the schools. The country has committed itself to implementing ICT initiatives in education over the next few years, with an eye toward increasing intellectual capital and overcoming the country’s shortage of skilled labor. To this end, the SEC in tandem with ictQATAR, the agency tasked with championing the democratization of ICT nationwide, is aiming to have all of Qatar’s schools technology-enabled by 2012, with both students and teachers continuously interacting with their counterparts across the globe.
Demonstrating a similar bold commitment to progress, Saudi Arabia is building the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, an international, graduate-level research university dedicated to scientific achievement. This institution, governed by an independent board of trustees, will be open to women and men from around the world. Admission will be merit based. Slated to open in 2009, the university will initially focus on four interdisciplinary research clusters: resources, energy, and the environment; biosciences and bioengineering; materials science and engineering; and applied mathematics and computational science.
Traditional Yet Progressive
Although the Middle East is known as a tradition-bound region, its decision makers are fundamentally progressive. They understand that the world is changing and often recognize when their own institutions must change as well. But they face the same challenge that emerging nations everywhere face: how to grow and prosper without losing their unique cultural identity.
