Hanandeh stresses importance of digital skills in future labor market

Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, Ahmed Hanandeh, stressed importance of digital skills for the future labor market, which will depend on these competencies, highlighting role of continuous skill-driven development in the technology field. Over the past century, he said Jordan successfully overcame challenges despite its limited resources, thanks to strength of its human potentials, who addressed these hardships. The minister made the remarks during a dialogue Thursday with a group of Yarmouk University students from Hijjawi Faculty for Engineering Technology within Co-Teaching program, which aims to provide an opportunity for youth to receive guidance from distinguished professionals in the technology field. Hanandeh noted Jordan was the "leader and pioneer" in the information technology (IT) sector at the regional level, and was one of the first countries to initiate establishment of an information technology investment fund worth $2 million in 1988. He added that this effort indicates that Jordan was a "pioneer" in creativity, innovation, and modern technology integration to serve the community. In 2000, the second investment fund was established for information technology, he said, stressing that His Majesty King Abdullah II's vision was based on capability of leadership and investment to solve multiple challenges. Jordan, he noted, was the first country to establish a search engine in the Arabic language, "Maktoob," and the first nation to launch an Arabic email platform. Additionally, Hanandeh noted contribution of "effective" Jordanian competencies in the IT sector at Arab level and beyond. In this regard, he said there are approximately 50,000 Jordanian people working in the IT sector directly, and approximately 80,000 others working in this industry indirectly in projects that rely on technology in its operations, primarily smart transportation and home kitchens. The minister added that a total of approximately 70,000 university students are registered in Social Security Corpora tion, who work in permanent jobs, most of whom own modern digital skills. In 2018, he said there are approximately 4,000 Jordanians working in the IT sector, who were working from inside the Kingdom for companies outside Jordan, adding that this number increased to reach 25, 000 today as software developers, or workers in call centers, or advanced technical support. Source: Jordan News Agency