The development of strong skills in the area of information technology is essential in economic advancement. In Saudi Arabia, it is recognized that increasing the national networking skills is a must for achieving that growth. Employers have an increasing expectation for all prospective employees to have knowledge of standard software and be able to adapt Information Technology (IT) skills to new IT systems. Accordingly, the Kingdom is adopting certain strategies to keep pace with the continuous technological progress, particularly in IT as computers and various IT applications started to show enormous impact on business productivity. Consistent with the new trends, the Kingdom was one of the leading countries to adopt proactive plans and policies that included the implementation of the International Computer Driving License (ICDL) standard as part of the Kingdom's efforts to establish a digital society. In an interview, ICDL Managing Director Dr. Sulaiman Al-Dhalaan shed light on the company's strategies to reach such goal and the vision to sustain development. Q: Could you eleborate on the adopted strategies for enhancing IT skills in the KSA? A: One of the main goals of ICDL KSA is to establish a fully integrated digital society in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In line with this, we have entered into a series of agreements with various government agencies like the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. Further, we have adopted a multi-pronged strategy to achieve our objective of enhancing IT skills across KSA, whereby we are encouraging more and more private and public sector organizations in the Kingdom to adopt ICDL. As a result there has been a steady increase in the number of organizations that have made ICDL certification mandatory for their employees, while we have also accredited the training centers at several companies in the Kingdom. Further, Saudi Arabia is currently focusing on enhancing the IT competency of its nationals and encouraging them to participate in ICDL programs. ICDL KSA is also focused on ensuring the spread of IT knowledge among various sections of society, including women, people with special needs, students and jobseekers. Q: What steps have been taken to get through to a fully integrated digital society? A: Working toward this vision is a challenging task. Keeping this in mind, ICDL KSA has mapped out a series of initiatives to be introduced during the course of the year, which aim to promote the importance of establishing a digital society and the advantages that come with it, like the enhancement and development of the IT and telecommunications sector of the Kingdom. ICDL KSA is looking to achieve this goal by spreading the message across government agencies, decision makers and academic institutions and organizations. Q: What is the total value of investments in the Kingdom's IT sector? A: According to recent studies, the value of the IT market in Saudi Arabia will reach about $3.8 billion by 2010. This figure is predicted to be the result of the efforts of the Kingdom in strengthening its infrastructure in the IT and communications field and its emphasis on promoting its investments to develop eServices, eEducation and Smart Cities. Q: Is the ICDL important to the Saudi woman? A: Technological advancements and breakthroughs like the computer and the Internet have given the modern Saudi woman the advantage of maintaining her privacy and social position while simultaneously keeping pace with innovations and developments in the modern world. Moreover, the rising number of women enrollees in KSA wanting to acquire the ICDL certification underlines the fact that women in the Kingdom are realizing the benefits of being IT literate. Q: How many enrolments have you received for ICDL programme? A: The ICDL has recently made a landmark achievement of nine million enrolments for both the ICDL and ECDL combined, out of which ICDL program accounts for one million. This achievement also reflects the ICDL program's success in the Arab region, which includes the ICDL GCC Foundation, the governing body and certification authority of the ICDL programme in the Gulf region and the UNESCO Cairo Office, the governing body and certification authority of the ICDL programme in all the other Arab countries. Q: What are the main obstacles confronting the ICDL at present? A: Measuring the capacity and skills of workers in the IT domain is one of the main obstacles that can face any institution. For us, the lack of awareness among institutions is the most difficult obstacle we are facing today. In line with this, we are looking towards establishing appropriate standards to measure individual IT capacity in terms of computer skills and specific terms that a person must be acquainted with, in addition to the topics of the curriculum. Through these efforts, we aim to standardize the measurement tools to enable ICDL applicants all over the world to take the tests according to the same concepts and skills. Q: What are your future plans? A: In 2008, we were able to reach a significant number of achievements including a 100 percent increase in ICDL recipients and the signing of several agreements with various universities, and government and private organizations. For 2009, we are focusing on promoting digital literacy among all segments of society through the application of ICDL's set standards and through introducing new programs of the ECDL such as ICDL Advanced and Certified Training Professional (CTP) and other programs according to our approved plan. We are aiming to achieve this by taking advantage of our strategic partnerships with different sectors and by making the ICDL program available to as many people as possible. This will definitely contribute towards increasing employee productivity and improving the standard of living in the Kingdom.
