Gaza labor-market-needs-assessment-for-the-digital-economy-1

Gaza Labor Market Needs Assessment for the Digital Economy

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Gaza Labor Market Needs

Assessment for the

Digital Economy

March 2013

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Table of Contents 1. Message from Mercy Corps ....................................................................................................... VI

2. Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................VII

3. Definitions and Acronyms ..................................................................................................... VIII

4. List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. X

5. Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................... 1

5.1 Summary of Recommendations ..................................................................................................................... 3

6. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 5

6.1 Structure of the Report .................................................................................................................................... 5

6.2 Objectives ........................................................................................................................................................... 7

6.3 Study Methodology ........................................................................................................................................... 7

6.4 Gaza’s ICT Sector and Environmental Factors ........................................................................................... 8

7. Describing the Skills Gap ........................................................................................................... 11

7.1 Employer Preferences, Employee Demographics ..................................................................................... 12

7.2 Technical Skills, Core Jobs and Priorities in ICT Companies ................................................................. 13

7.2.1 Core ICT Job Roles ................................................................................................................................ 13

7.2.2 Core ICT Skills ........................................................................................................................................ 16

7.2.3 Applications of ICT ................................................................................................................................ 20

7.2.4 The Importance of Certifications ......................................................................................................... 23

7.3 Business Skills .................................................................................................................................................. 24

7.4 Experience and Projects ................................................................................................................................ 26

7.4.1 Undergraduate Academic Projects ....................................................................................................... 27

7.4.2 Internships ................................................................................................................................................ 28

7.4.3 Freelancers, the Self-Directed Professionals ....................................................................................... 28

7.5 The Views of the Learning Sector, Higher Education Institutions ........................................................ 32

7.5.1 Blending Education, Training and Professional Development ....................................................... 32

7.5.2 The Learning Sector Perspective .......................................................................................................... 33

7.6 Summary of Observations and Recommendations ................................................................................... 36

8. Global Experience with ICT Skills Gap ......................................................................................38

8.1 Key Findings of Skill Gaps Internationally ................................................................................................. 38


9. Gaza’s Opportunity Gap ............................................................................................................42

9.1 The Paradox of Gazan Tech: High Adoption, Low Diffusion .............................................................. 43

9.2 Non-ICT Organizations as the Local Market for ICT ............................................................................. 44

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9.3 Non-ICT Organizations as Employers ....................................................................................................... 46

9.3.1 ICT Usage................................................................................................................................................. 47

9.3.2 Hiring Prospects and Obstacles ............................................................................................................ 48

9.4 Women and the Opportunity Gap ............................................................................................................... 48


10. Gaza’s Missing ICT Labor Markets ......................................................................................... 51

10.1 Encouraging the Growth of the Digital Economy ................................................................................. 51

10.2 ICT Diffusion ................................................................................................................................................ 52

10.3 Outsourcing ................................................................................................................................................... 53

10.4 Micro-work .................................................................................................................................................... 54

10.5 Summary of Observations and Recommendations ................................................................................. 55

Annex 1 - What the Jobs Are: ICT Professions ...............................................................................56

Annex 2 - How to Prepare: ICT Fields of Study .............................................................................72

Annex 3 - Additional Data Tables...................................................................................................78

Annex 4 - Bibliography ...................................................................................................................84

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1. Message from Mercy Corps Mercy Corps believes that people can emerge stronger from challenges, and thousands of young Gazans are studying ICT in an effort to do just that. The ICT industry in Gaza is the object of many hopes. With the gap between graduates’ education and employment, ICT could also become a source of much disappointment. To work with graduates of ICT in Gaza is to contemplate that gap. This study seeks to understand it and move to solutions. By considering ICT as a labor market, Gaza’s local debate is reframed as a skills gap. Gaza’s conditions are unique, but its skills gap is not. ICT skills gaps are common in developing and developed technology industries, and the labor market perspective brings regional and global experience into sight. As its skills base is strengthened, Gaza’s ICT industry can look for growth to overcome its second gap, the shortfall in opportunities. This is also a report about employment creation. The questions asked here took shape over eighteen months of formulating ICT training, internships, business and start-up support; getting to know freelancers and company owners and hearing the ambitions of hundreds of graduates. These activities, as well as this report, are parts of the Palestinian Community Assistance Program, fully funded by USAID. We are grateful to USAID for their vision and continuing support of Palestinian ICT. This report makes practical recommendations, but the work will fall to many people: educators, companies, NGOs and young ICT professionals. Mercy Corps looks forward to supporting this work, as Gazans build their industry and animate it with their own vision.

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2. Acknowledgements The Gaza Labor Market Needs Assessment for the Digital Economy was researched by Fawaz El-Alami, Mohamad Arafat, Dr. Jaber Abo Jamea and Arafat Alaf, under the guidance of Taysir Shaqalaih and Marilyn Garson. Additional research was designed and carried out by Taysir Shaqalaih. The study was written by Marilyn Garson and edited by Sarah Ferris. Graphics were designed by AlHasan AlDasooqi.

Special thanks to Ahmad Hegazy for his valuable inputs during the design phase of this study, and to Ola Issa for her inputs to the study and support to the process of research and writing. To an unusual degree, this study was the product of extended debate and reflection, while Mercy Corps’ Economic Development Unit tried to untangle the employment paradox of Gazan ICT. In that sense, the study has had many contributors including Rasha Abu Safiyeh, Ibrahim al Jobour and Wasim abu Zaher. The following individuals contributed their thoughts to the shape and content of the research: Mozna Abu Mery, Dr. Bishara Khoury, Khaled Abu Hasna, Hazem El-Mashharawi and Haneen Abu Ghali. Mercy Corps wishes to express its appreciation for each of the respondents in this research for their time and their insights.

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3. Definitions and Acronyms

Definitions

Business Skills

The report uses this term to refer to skills such as project management and accounting, as well as “soft skills” such as communication and teamwork. For simplicity’s sake, the report does not differentiate between business and soft skills.

Digital Economy An international, technological marketplace of communications and commerce. Digital economy jobs may be located in any industry and out-sourced to any location.

Higher Education Institution (HEI)

A college, university or training center.

ICT Adoption Individual decisions to use new technologies.

ICT Companies Companies or individuals, including freelancers, whose core products are technology (goods or services). Also called “ICT producers”. These are primarily for-profit companies.

ICT Diffusion The study of technology’s spread and popularization by understanding patterns of ICT adoption and usage.

Labor Market Market in which workers compete for jobs and employers compete for workers.

Learning Sector The collection of higher education institutions including colleges, universities and training centers.

Non-ICT Organizations

Any company, governmental, public, or non-governmental organization or business which might apply ICT to its work. However, their main products are not technology.

Opportunity Gap The insufficient number of ICT jobs available, as well as high competition for the jobs that do exist.

Skills Gap A quantifiable mismatch between the package of skills offered by the labor force and the package of skills sought by employers.

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Acronyms GDP Gross Domestic Product

GPA Grade Point Average

HEI Higher Education Institution (s)

IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

ICT Information and Communication Technology

IFC International Finance Corporation

INGO International Non-Governmental Organization

MENA Middle East and North Africa

NGO Non-Governmental Organization

PCBS Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics

PITA Palestinian Information Technology Association of Companies

UCAS University College of Applied Sciences

UN United Nations

USAID United States Agency for International Development

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4. List of Tables

Number Title of Table/Box Page

Number

Box 1 Perspectives on the Skills Gap 11

Table 2 Aspects of the Skills Package 12

Table 3 Satisfaction with Recent ICT Graduate-Employees 12

Table 4 Sample Dashboard, Core ICT Job Roles 13

Table 5 Competitive Opportunities, Core ICT Job Roles 14

Table 6 Identified Skills Gap, Core ICT Job Roles 15

Table 7 Moderate Opportunities, Core ICT Job Roles 15

Table 8 Graduates’ Skills Patterns 16

Table 9 Highly Competitive Skills 17

Table 10 Identified Skills Gap 18

Table 11 Moderate Opportunity Skills 19

Table 12 Skills of Declining Importance 19

Table 13 Summary of Job and Skills Categories 20

Table 14 Skills Gap in ICT Applications 21

Table 15 Competitive ICT Applications 22

Table 16 Moderate and Declining ICT Applications 22

Table 17 Impact of Certification on Recruitment 23

Table 18 Business Skills Gap 25

Box 19 Perspectives on Internships and Academic Projects 27

Box 20 Common Issues in Mercy Corps’ ICT Internships 28

Table 21 Views of Education by Graduates 29

Box 22 Mohammed Saleh Yaghi: Building a Freelance Career 31

Table 23 Minimum GPA to Study ICT in Gaza 33

Table 24 Examples of Programs that Address ICT Skill Gaps outside of Gaza 40

Box 25 Perspectives on the Opportunity Gap 42

Table 26 ICT Equipment in Homes 43

Table 27 Percentage of Persons 10 Years or Older Who Use the Internet by Purpose, Gaza and West Bank

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Table 28 Percentage of Business Establishments with ICT Tools in Gaza 44

Table 29 Main Reported Purpose of Internet Use by Business in Gaza 44

Table 30 Computer Use by Number of Employees in Business, Gaza and West Bank 45

Table 31 Business Computer Use by Economic Activity, Gaza and West Bank 45

Box 32 Perspectives on Non-ICT Organizations’ Employment of ICT Graduates 46

Table 32 Core ICT Job Roles – Full Table 79

Table 33 Core ICT Skills – Full Table 80

Table 34 Core ICT Skills: Hardware Maintenance and Networking Skills 81

Table 35 General and ICT Strategic Consulting Skills 81

Table 36 Skills in ICT Applications 82

Table 37 Certifications – Full Table 83

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5. Executive Summary This study explores Gaza’s ICT employment from a labor market perspective. Unlike existing studies of the ICT industry which focus on the needs of companies, this is a study of employment needs and prospects. Gazans frequently discuss ‘the gap between ICT education and employment’, a local question regarding the quality of education. A labor market perspective views this as a skills gap, a common occurrence with regional and global experience to help shape solutions. Narrowing the skills gap is vital for young Gazans to grow with the industry, especially for women who can capitalize on ICT’s more merit-driven hiring practices. The ICT sector will not grow without improvements to the skills base. The first part of the report outlines the quantifiable skills gap in each aspect of the ICT skills package. In each area of focus the research identifies competitive opportunities and finds a number of market opportunities which are unfilled due to graduates’ lack of skills. These skill gaps are actionable. The research also shows that graduates consistently score highest in skills which are already oversupplied or declining in the marketplace: graduate skills lag behind market trends instead of anticipating market needs. Students report that they are confused about what to study and how to specialize in either technical or business skills. In response, Mercy Corps developed a multi-dimensional evaluation of market opportunities. The evaluation combines the anticipated growth, adequacy of the existing workforce and current level of graduate skills so that students and educators can make future-oriented decisions. Graduates may try to strengthen their skills by taking additional courses from training centers, but they have no structured opportunity to link their self-directed study with practice. Regionally, ICT skills gaps are being addressed by creating integrated training/practice programs, but Gaza has no such channel. Also clearly lacking are combined degree programs, and the study of ICT as an applied science. Students need to understand the problems for which technology proposes solutions. The absence of such study options limits the ability of graduates to contribute effectively to ICT employment in non-ICT sectors, as graduates are less aware of the metrics, issues and processes of importance to their employers. The skills gap has no single owner, and no quick fix. From primary education through to an individual professional’s responsibility for his or her own lifelong learning, responsibility is shared. Globally, this shared responsibility is leading to innovations as the private sector becomes integrally involved in the development and delivery of curricula which are responsive to market needs. Similar cooperation between the private sector and the learning sector would greatly benefit Gaza. Gazan ICT graduates must also confront an opportunity gap, or shortfall, to which the second part of this research is dedicated. ICT jobs are not where they should be, both because technology is not intensively used in other parts of Gaza’s economy, and because Gaza’s ICT companies are not securing international contracts. Among young Gazans, technology is pervasive, especially in the form of mobile phones. Computer ownership is now widespread in Gaza’s medium-sized and larger companies, so the

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potential for ICT growth is improving. However, most ICT usage is still not of the intensity which improves a company’s performance or profitability, or creates ICT employment. Obstacles to wider technology usage are partly external, and partly local and actionable. Among their obstacles, research respondents consistently say that no one has clearly explained what technology might do for their companies. Gazan organizations miss the potential benefits of technology, and ICT companies have only a weak, small local market in which to learn. This negative cycle has consequences far beyond the absence of ICT employment. Globally, governments prioritize the spread of ICT because it fuels other industries’ growth and performance. Lack of technology constrains Gaza’s economic growth. If the public and private sectors understand technology as an investment in Gaza’s economic development, then Gaza will take one step toward closing Gaza’s ICT opportunity gap. Currently, Gaza lacks the breadth of ICT employment that would be created by a strategic effort to intensify the spread of technology, the concentrations of employment that result from international contracting, and the individual jobs to be had in micro-work. These innovations are unlikely to occur without support, and the report concludes with key lessons from wider experience in these three areas. Drawing on the key findings of the research, a Summary of Recommendations follows.

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5.1 Summary of Recommendations

To Students and Graduates:

Acknowledge and accept the growing individual responsibility for competence in the ICT industry.

Specialize. Study a few specialties in-depth. Follow a specific study path, and prioritize the business skills appropriate for that path.

Imagine and research ICT more broadly, and seek cross-sectoral experience and study. To Universities, Colleges and Training Centers:

Emphasize learning of ICT as an applied science in order to produce graduates who view technology from the perspective of non-ICT employers. Develop combined degree programs.

To improve the effectiveness of skills training:

Link business skills to specific job roles such as Communications for Quality Assurance or Problem Solving for Security Specialists.

Integrate skills learning with the practice and judgment that translates knowledge into a skill.

Strengthen internal processes to select effective projects which are relevant to the ICT market and study. Ensure that projects are regularly assessed, so that students realize the maximum benefit.

Empower students with the information to specialize, and add specialist courses. Add courses or electives that further develop freelancing, business and entrepreneurial

skills of ICT students through ICT curricula. Use a global, professional standard like that of the IEEE to evaluate curricula and

graduate competencies. Streamline the dozens of ICT degree programs, adding more advanced technical courses. Consider raising grade point average (GPA) entry qualifications for ICT programs. Work earlier and more closely with the private sector to outline and deliver market-

relevant ICT education. Update curricula annually, anticipating market trends. Establish multi-disciplinary degree programs in applied ICT, focusing on sectors which

show the greatest potential to grow or improve their operations with technology in Gaza. To ICT Companies:

Rationalize the range of starting skills expected of new graduates, acknowledging that many business skills are complex and require time to mature.

Produce and distribute useful information on emerging specialties and qualifications to guide study and education.

Learn to conduct a client-centered dialogue about the benefits of ICT. To Non-ICT Organizations:

View ICT as a strategic response to Gaza’s isolation and constraints. Consider trials of local social marketing for Gaza’s young demographic. Consider ICT diffusion at the industry level, to create network effects and maximize

benefit. Consider ICT for decentralized processes, as well as commercial processes. To Donors and Non-Governmental Organizations:

Empower students, graduates and educators with information to anticipate market trends and job-specific qualifications.

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Acknowledging the role of freelancing in acquiring experience and earning income, consider creating a platform to address freelancers’ individual obstacles of infrastructure.

View ICT as a labor market issue as well as a business development issue. Invest in infrastructure, skills and access, relationship innovations, information, etc., to build the skills base that the industry requires.

Design educational programs and pilot projects that address the skills gap, beginning with employer input so that graduates acquire the skills prioritized by their future employers.

Establish a platform for integrated skills-and-practice training. View technology as an enabler in economic development. Encode the value of ICT into

industry value chains. Ensure women are mainstreamed into ICT projects, and if necessary, pilot projects

which empower women to participate in the ICT labor force, with transport and remote work facilities.

Recognize technology as a cross-cutting issue, and view ICT diffusion as a component of economic development as well as employment growth. Consider a targeted ICT diffusion program based on thoughtful, client-centered consultation on the benefits of ICT; an industry- and size-specific target group. Incorporate access to investment funds and skills to implement and maintain projects into planning.

Develop pilots in the missing forms of ICT employment: strategic diffusion initiatives, outsourcing and micro-work aggregation. These forms of employment are not likely to materialize without support.

For Public Policy in Gaza:

Establish a policy, curriculum framework and standards to rationalize ICT learning choices and evaluate education or training delivery.

Support a streamlined curriculum development process within universities, and consider rationalizing the range of degree programs in this field.

Formulate an ICT policy, recognizing the role of technology in economic performance and competitiveness.

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6. Introduction

6.1 Structure of the Report

This report examines information and communications technology (ICT) employment issues in the Gaza Strip. Gaza has produced a number of studies of the needs and growth prospects of its ICT sector. Those studies view skilled human resources as one input to ICT companies, and companies were the primary focus of the studies. This report is different: it is an employment-focused study of the Gaza ICT labor market. (A few definitions will help the reader better understand some key elements of the study. Highlighted words in this section will appear throughout the report. They can also be found in Section 3, Definitions and Acronyms.)

The [labor market is the] market in which workers compete for jobs and employers compete for workers. - Freedictionary.com

Labor markets function through the interaction of workers and employers. Labor economics looks at the suppliers of labor services (workers), the demands of labor services (employers), and attempts to understand the resulting patterns of wages, employment and income. - Wikipedia.com

A number of benefits follow from examining Gaza’s needs from the perspective of a labor market. It avoids the anti-competitive issues that can arise when donors or programs assist some companies in ways that others cannot replicate. It allows instead for the issue of employment to be matched with existing knowledge of market development or market facilitation, a more sustainable approach for the application of public funds. The recommendations in this study are primarily phrased in this way, as interventions to improve the functioning of the labor market. Gazans are highly educated, with high unemployment; yet employers report difficulty hiring and mixed success rates when they do hire. These facts led Mercy Corps to study Gaza’s ICT labor market through the definition of a skills shortage – not a shortage of labor but of the ‘skills package’ needed by companies. A Canadian study defines the ICT skills package as including educational qualifications, competence on the particular applications or platforms in use, knowledge of the business processes for which ICT is the solution, and a set of soft and business skills. The study refers to a skills gap rather than a simple shortage, a quantifiable mismatch between the skills offered by graduates and the skills sought by employers. The study notes that a skills gap always includes as its mirror a large pool of educated, disappointed job applicants, and so it is in Gaza.1 The report includes a detailed, multi-dimensional description of Gaza’s ICT skills gap (Section 7). Each core ICT job and technical skill is evaluated in at least four dimensions: present and future importance, the adequacy of Gaza’s existing workforce to meet market demand, the skills sets within each ICT company, and the skills of graduates. These four evaluations outline competitive, moderate and declining opportunities; and in each case, they also identify promising opportunities which are going unrealized due to the skills gap among ICT graduates. Section 7 also explores a wide set of business and soft skills by comparing their importance to employers against the contributions that universities, colleges and training centers believe they can make to graduates’ skills. Graduates’ own sense of their skills reveals two gaps: one between graduates

1 Information and Communications Technology Council, Outlook for Human Resources in the Information and Communications Technology Labour Market, 2008 to 2015, October 2008, page 9.

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and employers, and another gap between graduates’ views and the projections of their educators and trainers. The learning experience is also evaluated from graduates’ perspectives, including several programs which aim to provide graduates with work experience. Some views from the learning sector reveal contrasting assessments of the skills gap. Gazans regularly discuss the local gap between ICT education and employment, as if it were unusual. In fact, a skills gap is a common phenomenon in the ICT labor markets of developing and developed countries. Defining Gaza’s skills gap as a labor market issue introduces global experience, which can then be adapted to Gaza’s unique situation. Section 8 elaborates some of the regional lessons learned as other economies, primarily in Jordan and Egypt, attempt to address their own skills gaps. There is considerable guiding experience for Gaza, although sadly no one seems to have found a quick fix or a short-cut across the skills gap. Gaza’s ICT sector has attracted significant donor attention, but when it is examined, the ICT sector is clearly too small to provide employment for Gaza’s thousands of new and recent graduates. Viewed from an employment perspective (and looking at the ICT sector as an employer) it becomes clear that ICT is too narrowly defined when the industry is limited to companies or freelancers who produce ICT goods or services. This study refers to these as ICT companies. These are primarily for-profit companies, and their core products are technology. Globally, a sizeable proportion of ICT-related employment, and a large majority of the economic benefit of ICT, is found beyond that definition, in other industries’ use of technology. This study refers to non-ICT organizations to describe public sector organizations, government institutions, international and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and companies which use ICT in their work. However, their main products are not technology. The global name for ICT’s wider use, and the source of experience for Gaza’s wider ICT employment growth, is the digital economy. The digital economy is an international, technological marketplace of communications and commerce. Unlike ICT-industry employment, digital economy jobs may be located in any industry and out-sourced to any location. The study of ICT adoption examines individual decisions to use new technologies and join the digital economy, while ICT diffusion groups these decisions and seeks their patterns. In addition to the commercial digital economy, ICT diffusion includes the non-traded public and individual patterns of technology, each of which should represent more employment in Gaza: in schools, e-government, or social networking. Gaza’s current lack of wider ICT jobs, the opportunity gap, is discussed in Section 9. Upon seeking a wider digital labor market, Gaza’s paradox comes into view: Gaza has thousands of ICT graduates, wide individual adoption of some technologies including cellphones, but an acutely under-developed digital economy. Studies of Gaza’s ICT sector all note the weak demand for ICT in the local market, and comment on its disadvantage for ICT companies. From an employment perspective, the weak digital economy is devastating: ICT jobs are not where they should be. Section 10 concludes with a very brief review of three forms of digital economy employment which are missing from Gaza: the jobs that would follow from a strategy of ICT diffusion, the concentrations of jobs that would be created by outsourcing, and the individual micro-work which requires facilitation to become accessible to Gazans. At the ends of Sections 7 to 10, a summary of each section’s observations and recommendations can be found. These are compiled in Section 5.1 for quick access.

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Stakeholder discussions and input from graduates highlighted consistent confusion about ICT specialties and how to prepare for them. In order to clarify some of this information, the report includes two lengthy annexes. Annex 1 – What the Jobs Are: ICT Professions outlines the content and educational qualifications for dozens of digital economy jobs. Annex 2 – How to Prepare: ICT Fields of Study aims to sharpen discussions of skills, curricula and investments in workforce preparedness, and more fundamentally, it aims to allow students to define and pursue one set of qualifications through their education. Annex 3 – Additional Data Tables holds more data related to Sections 7 and 9 than could be included in the body of the report. For some data sets regional expert responses are also shown for purposes of comparison.

6.2 Objectives

Mercy Corps outlined this study with the following objectives:

1. Describe current skills gaps and issues affecting employment in the ICT sector in the Gaza Strip.

Working Hypothesis: Gaza’s skills gap limits employment in Gaza’s ICT sector (as well as limits success in the ICT sector).

2. Examine skills gaps and growth patterns in other digital economies.

Working Hypothesis: Relevant examples from other countries can help evaluate and respond to Gaza’s skill and opportunity gaps.

3. Formulate actionable recommendations to narrow the gap between Gaza’s ICT skills and productive employment.

By approaching Gaza’s lack of ICT employment in this manner, the study aims to shed more light, more actionably, on the urgent needs of Gaza’s new and recent ICT graduates.2

6.3 Study Methodology

Mercy Corps’ research was primarily qualitative, much of it descriptive. The following research methods were used between January and March 2013.

A desk review included studies of ICT human resources forecasting and labor market needs assessments of the industry in Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Canada, and Gaza. The study also makes reference to a wide-ranging set of studies and other documentation, which can be found in Annex 4 –Bibliography.

Key informant interviews were conducted with the following respondents within Gaza:

Eighteen representatives of ICT companies were interviewed. Interviewees also completed detailed surveys about core ICT jobs and skills. These interviewees included thirteen in the software and outsourcing sectors, three internet service providers and communications companies, one ICT consultancy company, and one hardware company.

Twenty representatives of non-ICT organizations were interviewed regarding their employment of ICT staff and use of technology. These included fourteen from various

2 Readers will note that the entrepreneurial accelerator/incubator programs are not included here. Aside from a number of references to the difficulty Gazans experience when starting a business, this study examines an employment market rather than the entrepreneurial start-up ecosystem for self-employment.

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non-ICT industries (including construction and engineering, banks, tourism, manufacturing, insurance and utilities), three from international and local NGOs, two from hospitals, and one United Nations (UN) agency.

Six representatives of universities and colleges were interviewed, as well as five representatives from training centers.

Four freelancers were interviewed. (In addition, one freelancer was interviewed solely for a case study.)

Focus group discussions were convened with the following participants within Gaza:

Representatives of eleven ICT companies.

Representatives of thirteen non-ICT organizations which employ ICT staff.

Eight graduates of ICT degree programs.

Eleven freelancers.

Eight female graduates of ICT degree programs.

Fourteen representatives of colleges, universities and training centers.

Online surveys were completed by the following:

141 Gazan graduates in ICT.

Six regional ICT experts in Egypt (4) and Jordan (2). One expert in Germany also contributed information.

6.4 Gaza’s ICT Sector and Environmental Factors

A number of documents have summarized the environment affecting the ICT sector in Gaza3. Here, a brief list will suffice to remind readers of the major factors which constrain and influence Gaza’s ICT sector. Political Factors:

Repeated outbreaks of conflict, and chronic uncertainty regarding safety and security. A climate of high political risk that impedes investment and business confidence. Obstructed import of materials and export of goods, with most industries operating at a

fraction of their capacity. Severely limited and unreliable mobility (of people and goods), including access to the

West Bank, resulting in Gaza’s isolation from other countries and the West Bank. Economic Factors:

Strong regional growth and demand for ICT, with many multinational firms expanding throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), including a growing international ICT sector presence in the West Bank.

Weak local demand for technology, including a weak understanding of technology as a response to Gaza’s isolation.

Chronic high unemployment, particularly for youth and women: In 2012, 32% of the labor force in Gaza was unemployed.4 In the first quarter of 2012, 47% of women were unemployed, and 58% of youth aged 20 to 24 were unemployed.5

3 See, for example, Solutions for Development Consulting Co., Palestinian ICT Private Sector 3-Year Strategy and Development Plan, March 2012; PALiNVEST Corporation, Enabling Technology Sector Growth in Gaza - EnTeG² Base Line Report, October 2011; Nicholas White, ICT Business Development: Market Opportunities in Gaza and Region, Mercy Corps study, January 2012.

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Poor access to venture or growth capital, impeding investment or maintenance of existing technology. However, a donor focus on ICT makes other resources available at times.

Social and Cultural Factors:

Education is highly valued, producing a highly literate, multilingual, tech-savvy young generation.

In both study and work, women face serious obstacles to participation in the industry. The education system is producing graduates poorly equipped for ICT market demands. Diaspora and returning Palestinian communities are experienced and bring valuable

networks to ICT development. Technological Factors:

High individual ICT adoption, reasonable business computer ownership in larger companies, but low rates of intensive ICT diffusion.

Multiple infrastructure issues, including the quality of the network, availability of electricity and bandwidth.

ICT, with its rapid change, is an industry of niche opportunities. Poorly developed ICT enabling environment: of 14 MENA countries researched, the

enabling environments of only the West Bank and Gaza, Yemen and Iraq remained at the lowest level of development from 2007 to 2011.6

Legal and Regulatory Factors:

Absence of effective contract law, intellectual property protections, e-transactions laws, and other business safeguards.

Absence of a public policy to promote ICT, a national curriculum framework, or industry standards.

Difficulty starting businesses. The International Finance Corporation’s global survey of doing business placed Gaza and the West Bank 179 out of 185 countries in the ease of starting a business in 2012.7

The World Bank has recently summarized the importance and yet absence of ICT exports growth in West Bank and Gaza as follows:

The structure of the Palestinian economy has substantially deteriorated since the late 90’s…. In particular, the manufacturing sector, which is usually one of the key drivers of export-led growth, has largely stagnated between 1994 and the present. Its share in GDP has dropped from 19 percent in 1994 to 10 percent in 2011. To make things worse, the rapid decline in manufacturing has not been replaced by the growth of high value-added service exports such as Information Technology (IT) services and tourism.8

4 World Bank Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, Fiscal Challenges and Long Term Economic Costs: Economic Monitoring Report, March 19, 2013, page 5. 5 United Nations, Gaza in 2020 a liveable place?, August 2012. 6 Jenna White, Jason Saul, Cheryl Davenport, Cisco Pioneers Market Development Approach in Palestine, Cisco, November 2012, page 37. Subsequently referenced as “Cisco”. 7 International Finance Corporation and World Bank, Doing Business Project, Economy Rankings, available at: http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings. 8 World Bank, supra, page 12.

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http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings


During the first three quarters of 2012, the same report estimates that ICT contributed 0.56% to the real gross domestic product (GDP) growth of the West Bank, and a mere 0.02% to the real GDP growth of Gaza.9 This introduction has sketched a context for the research that follows. Gaza’s ICT sector is small and highly challenged, and it is not expanding at a rate of any comfort to Gaza’s thousands of unemployed ICT graduates. The industry’s growth and the resulting employment is socially and economically important.

9 World Bank, supra, page 4.

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Box 1 – Perspectives on the Skills Gap

From the Online Survey of Graduates: The minimum skills and qualifications of the jobs are very high and graduates cannot

fulfill them. Graduates have no practical experience, and most companies ask for at least two to

three years of experience. We are lost because there are too many ICT technologies and programming languages.

It is very difficult for an ICT graduate to determine which to focus and concentrate on. There are some required programming languages in the market that are not taught in the

university. New graduates do not have the soft skills required in the labor market. We wish that the ICT programs were more specific and that students have the chance to

be more specialized through their study. It doesn’t make sense that a student studies for five years in university, then he has to

have training courses for another two years to be qualified for a job. From the Freelancers’ Focus Group: [There are] few job opportunities and a lack of experience, so you must go to freelancing

to gain the required experience to get a job. From the Graduates’ Focus Group: I am frustrated. The education that I received at my university did not prepare me for

the market demands. I had to attend many technical courses to fulfill the ICT firm’s requirements. I believe that the university labs are poor.

I believe that my university education prepared me for the market. The university education made me capable to read any book.

I believe that universities must have… an academic supervisor… to assist the graduates so they are able to choose their own career path.

I believe that ICT firms are not able to clarify their requirements, so they ask for too many skills and training courses in their post advertisements.

From the Higher Education Institutions’ Focus Group: The high evolution in the ICT market is much faster than the revision and update of our

curricula. Our students are like clay, if you press on them, they will break down. The instructor or trainer must be from the market, and teaching methodology should

discuss a variety of realistic case studies.

7. Describing the Skills Gap

This section of the study aims to actionably describe the current skills gap in Gaza’s ICT labor market. There has been a tendency among sector actors (including contributors to this study) to describe the gap between education and employment as a local phenomenon, but a skills gap is a common labor market occurrence. A skills gap consists of the difference between the package of skills sought by employers and the package offered by job applicants. The employable skills

11


package consists of technical skills, business skills, soft or non-technical skills, and experience.10 To quantify Gaza’s skills gap, the study compares research responses from the learning sector (universities, colleges and training centers), employers (both ICT companies and non-ICT organizations), and ICT professionals (both freelance professionals and graduates in general).

7.1 Employer Preferences, Employee Demographics

The 18 ICT companies interviewed for this research employ a total of 309 full-time and 98 part-time staff, of whom 255 are ICT professionals. The ICT professionals include 31 diploma-holders, 192 university or college bachelors and 20 ICT professionals holding masters or higher post-graduate qualifications. Two-thirds of the ICT companies prefer university to college degrees because they represent a longer period of study, although several interviewees indicated that they feel the qualifications are similar. Of those ICT professionals 79, or 31%, are women. This is more than double the rate at which women are hired into ICT positions in non-ICT organizations, and the ICT sector represents an unusual opportunity for women in Gaza. The experience of female ICT professionals still differs from that of their male counterparts, as outlined in Section 9.4 ICT companies were asked to rate the importance they placed upon the following aspects of the skills package when hiring. (1 = not at all important, 5 = very important.)

Table 2 – Aspects of the Skills Package11

Skill or Qualification Importance

Technical Skills 4.21 Business Skills 3.60 Experience 3.60 Academic Degree 3.20 Certifications 2.80

Source: Mercy Corps Interviews, 2013 Asked for their level of satisfaction with recently-graduated ICT employees, ICT companies report as follows (1 = very weak, 5 = excellent):

Table 3 – Satisfaction with Recent ICT Graduate-Employees

Area of Performance Satisfaction

Theoretical Knowledge 3.13 Time Required to Become Effective in the Company

2.64

Practical Skills 1.93 Business skills 1.67

Source: Mercy Corps Interviews, 2013

ICT employers appear to be more merit-driven than their non-ICT counterparts in Gaza, and they report generally low satisfaction with the qualities of the staff they hire. As will

10 The term “business skills” will be used throughout this study to describe a wide set of non-ICT skills, including soft skills such as communication and teamwork. 11 Throughout the report, the largest response to each research question will be highlighted in bold

12


13

be seen in Section 8, regional and global employers share the sense that ICT graduates are not well equipped for the needs of the ICT sector.

7.2 Technical Skills, Core Jobs and Priorities in ICT

Companies

7.2.1 Core ICT Job Roles This section presents the views of 18 of Gaza’s ICT companies, interviewed on aspects of technical market demand. At times, the views of other sector actors are shown for comparison, but primarily, this is an inside view of Gaza’s local ICT sector demand. It shows the gap between employer demand and graduates’ skills in Gaza. To outline the gap, each aspect of the ICT skills package is represented here in at least four dimensions, as illustrated in the example below.

Table 4 – Sample Dashboard, Core ICT Job Roles

ICT Job Role

Time Trends Workforce Staff Skills Graduates' Proficiency

Decre

asi

ng

Imp

ort

an

ce

Sta

ble

Im

po

rtan

ce

Incre

asi

ng

Im

po

rtan

ce

No

ne /

In

ad

equ

ate

En

ou

gh

/ S

urp

lus

No

ne /

Th

eo

reti

cal

Ap

pli

ed

/ E

xp

ert

No

Sk

ills

Th

eo

reti

cal

on

ly

Th

eo

reti

cal

& A

pp

lied

Exp

ert

Application Developer 0% 33% 67% 35% 65% 6% 94% 29% 71% 0% 0%

Test Specialist 12% 29% 59% 94% 6% 87% 13% 88% 12% 0% 0%

Multimedia Specialist 18% 47% 35% 56% 44% 39% 61% 25% 62% 6% 6%

Source: Mercy Corps Interviews, 2013 The four dimensions can be explained as follows: Time Trends: Each ICT company interviewee was asked whether the importance of a skill or job role was likely to increase, decrease or remain stable over the coming two to three years. The resulting time trends capture anticipated changes in market demand. This information can help to direct training choices, but alone it is not sufficient to identify a promising path of study. Workforce: Interviewees were asked to evaluate the adequacy of Gaza’s current workforce, the existing pool of talent for each core job or skill. Workforce adequacy suggests whether there is enough skilled competition to meet market demand. Staff Skill: Interviewees were asked to evaluate the skills of their existing staff within their own company. The adequacy of existing skills helps to indicate whether the company is likely to feel content, or feel the need to hire additional professionals to offset weaknesses in their skills base. Graduates’ Proficiency: Interviewees were asked to evaluate the skills of recent ICT graduates. From these four dimensions, the opportunity and skill gaps can be understood. For example, in Table 4 above, the opportunity profile for Application Developer looks positive. Demand is expected to increase – in fact, no interviewee found this to be an unimportant job for the near

13


future. However, two-thirds of interviewees felt that the workforce was sufficient or oversupplied. While nearly three-quarters of graduates have theoretical skills in this area, the ICT companies overwhelmingly include experts in the field already. This profile outlines a highly competitive marketplace for developers, with growing opportunity and plenty of people chasing it. The following core ICT jobs were found to have a similarly competitive profile:

Table 5 – Competitive Opportunities, Core ICT Job Roles

ICT Job Role


Decre

asi

ng

Im

po

rtan

ce

Sta

ble

Im

po

rtan

ce

Incre

asi

ng

Im

po

rtan

ce

No

ne /

In

ad

equ

ate

En

ou

gh

/ S

urp

lus

No

ne /

Th

eo

reti

cal

Ap

pli

ed

/ E

xp

ert

No

Sk

ills

Th

eo

reti

cal

on

ly

Th

eo

reti

cal

& A

pp

lied

Ex

pert

Project Manager 6% 22% 72% 83% 17% 22% 78% 94% 6% 0% 0%

Application Developer 0% 33% 67% 35% 65% 6% 94% 29% 71% 0% 0%

Database Application Administrator

0% 33% 67% 35% 65% 18% 82% 47% 41% 12% 0%

System Programmer 13% 31% 56% 65% 35% 35% 65% 59% 35% 6% 0%

Systems Analyst 6% 23% 71% 76% 24% 24% 76% 71% 29% 0% 0%

Source: Mercy Corps Interviews, 2013 Compare this with the profile of Test Specialist in Table 4. ICT companies found its importance more mixed but one-third believe it will grow, suggesting a significant market opportunity. Regardless of the size of that future market, the current workforce was strongly considered to be inadequate to meet demand, and it was also strongly clear that the existing staff of ICT companies lack experienced or expert skills in this field. The skills gap prevents this opportunity from being realized, as only 12% of graduates have even theoretical skills to hone in the marketplace. This profile outlines a missed opportunity, market demand unmet by virtue of a skills gap. The following core ICT jobs were found to have the most significant skill gaps: Test Specialist, Security Services Specialist, Quality Assurance Specialist, Portals and Collaborations Specialist. For these jobs, future importance was steady or increasing to at least 85% of interviewees; the workforce was considered adequate or oversupplied by 19% or fewer of interviewees; and existing ICT staff had expert skills in 13 to 50% of the companies responding. Only 6 to 18% percent of graduates were considered to have theoretical skills on which to build.

14


15

Table 6 – Identified Skills Gap, Core ICT Job Roles

ICT Job Role


Decre

asi

ng

Imp

ort

an

ce

Sta

ble

Im

po

rtan

ce

Incre

asi

ng

Im

po

rtan

ce

No

ne /

In

ad

equ

ate

En

ou

gh

/ S

urp

lus

No

ne /

Th

eo

reti

cal

Ap

pli

ed

/ E

xp

ert

No

Sk

ills

Th

eo

reti

cal

on

ly

Th

eo

reti

cal

& A

pp

lied

Ex

pert

Test Specialist 12% 29% 59% 94% 6% 87% 13% 88% 12% 0% 0%

Security Service Specialist 0% 6% 94% 88% 12% 71% 29% 82% 18% 0% 0%

Portals & Collaboration Specialist 15% 39% 46% 81% 19% 50% 50% 88% 12% 0% 0%

Quality Assurance Specialist 0% 29% 71% 88% 12% 71% 29% 94% 6% 0% 0%

Source: Mercy Corps Interviews, 2013 The third profile in Table 4 is that of Multimedia Specialist. This is a more mixed profile. The time trends are still positive for this job, but opinion is more divided as to the adequacy of the existing workforce. A majority of graduates have skills to bring to this work, but nearly the same proportion of firms already includes experts in the field. This is a profile of moderate opportunity, and of moderate competition for the opportunities. Similar profiles were found for Graphic Design and Network Administrator, per the table below.

Table 7 – Moderate Opportunities, Core ICT Job Roles

ICT Job Role


Decre

asi

ng

Imp

ort

an

ce

Sta

ble

Im

po

rtan

ce

Incre

asi

ng

Imp

ort

an

ce

No

ne /

In

ad

equ

ate

En

ou

gh

/ S

urp

lus

No

ne /

Th

eo

reti

cal

Ap

pli

ed

/ E

xp

ert

No

Sk

ills

Th

eo

reti

cal

on

ly

Th

eo

reti

cal

&

Ap

pli

ed

Exp

ert

Network Administrator 13% 40% 47% 29% 71% 21% 79% 53% 35% 12% 0%

Multimedia Specialist 18% 47% 35% 56% 44% 39% 61% 25% 62% 6% 6%

Graphic Design Specialist 6% 41% 53% 35% 65% 31% 69% 24% 71% 0% 6%

Source: Mercy Corps Interviews, 2013 All of the core job profiles reveal patterns in graduates’ skills: they are following the market, not anticipating its emerging needs, as illustrated by the table below. The areas where graduates lack skills mirror the areas where the workforce is also lacking those skills.

15


Table 8 – Graduates’ Skills Patterns

ICT Job Role

Workforce Graduates' Proficiency

No

ne /

Inad

eq

uate

En

ou

gh

/

Su

rplu

s

No

Sk

ills

Th

eo

reti

cal

on

ly

Th

eo

reti

cal

& A

pp

lied

Ex

pert

Project Manager 83% 17% 94% 6% 0% 0%

Quality Assurance Specialist 88% 12% 94% 6% 0% 0%

Test Specialist 94% 6% 88% 12% 0% 0%

Portals & Collaboration Specialist 81% 19% 88% 12% 0% 0%

Security Service Specialist 88% 12% 82% 18% 0% 0%

Systems Analyst 76% 24% 71% 29% 0% 0%

System Programmer 65% 35% 59% 35% 6% 0%

Network Administrator 29% 71% 53% 35% 12% 0%

Database Application Administrator 35% 65% 47% 41% 12% 0%

Application Developer 35% 65% 29% 71% 0% 0%

Multimedia Specialist 56% 44% 25% 62% 6% 6%

Graphic Design Specialist 35% 65% 24% 71% 0% 6%

Source: Mercy Corps Interviews, 2013 In the five job areas where graduates are considered to have the most skill, the existing workforce is considered to be adequate or oversupplied. In the seven job areas where the workforce is inadequate – where opportunity exists with less competition - graduates are considered to have far fewer skills to offer. This consistent time lag suggests either that market trend information is not actionably and swiftly reaching the learning sector, or that students are not aware of emerging trends and study paths that lead toward opportunity. The full dashboard and additional data tables, which appear in Annex 3, also include ICT companies’ evaluations of the importance of certifications to many of these fields, and the responses of regional interviewees to some of the same questions. Annex 1 details many of the core jobs themselves, their responsibilities and study paths, and Annex 2 outlines the fields of computer study as organized internationally.

7.2.2 Core ICT Skills Globally, ICT rewards specialization but few careers are built around a single expertise. An ICT professional may specialize in a small number of skill areas, be proficient in several others, and may have passing knowledge of a wider range of skills or languages. In a small marketplace like Gaza, and in a fast-changing industry, both the ICT companies and individual professionals are challenged to acquire depth and agility. ICT companies seek a wide range of skills as their markets tend to be shallow and broad, but not every expanding skills area will be relevant to every firm. In such a market, skill priorities can also change rapidly with new opportunities. Therefore, the skills described here are not exclusive career paths. They are areas of expertise, although a few do overlap with core ICT jobs.

16


17

Highly Competitive Skills are those which combine a clear and growing market opportunity with a view from at least 50% of the interviewees that the wider workforce is sufficient/oversupplied, and a view from at least 50% of the interviewees that the company’s own workforce already includes experts. Into these competitive areas at least two-thirds of graduates bring theoretical or applied skills, and some are considered experts as they join the competition. The table below lists highly competitive ICT skills as outlined by the 18 ICT company interviewees, and adds the average of responses from 141 recent ICT graduates who indicated their own perceived starting skills in a number of areas (1 = very weak, 5 = excellent).12

Table 9 – Highly Competitive Skills

Core ICT Skills

Time Trends Workforce Staff Skills Graduates' Proficiency Graduates

(Online Survey)

Decre

asi

ng

Imp

ort

an

ce

Sta

ble

Im

po

rtan

ce

Incre

asi

ng

Im

po

rtan

ce

No

ne /

In

ad

equ

ate

En

ou

gh

/ S

urp

lus

No

ne /

Th

eo

reti

cal

Ap

pli

ed

/ E

xp

ert

No

Sk

ills

Th

eo

reti

cal

on

ly

Th

eo

reti

cal

& A

pp

lied

Exp

ert

Self

-Rati

ng

of

Sk

ills

HTML4-5+CSS+JavaScript

0% 12% 88% 50% 50% 15% 85% 33% 50% 8% 8% -

PHP 6% 6% 88% 29% 71% 12% 88% 14% 64% 14% 7% 2.9

ASP.Net 14% 15% 71% 29% 71% 46% 54% 7% 57% 29% 7% 3.3

Database Platform MySQL

6% 35% 59% 20% 80% 6% 94% 27% 53% 20% 0% 2.8

Windows Platforms 6% 47% 47% 14% 86% 7% 93% 0% 71% 21% 7% 2.6

Source: Mercy Corps Interviews and Graduate Survey, 2013 A second set of opportunities, also promising in the marketplace, suffers from the graduates’ skills gap. The Skills Gap profile is defined by growth trends as clear as those in the highly competitive group, with a workforce considered inadequate by at least two-thirds of the interviewees. However, in the table below, the profile of the company’s own skills is much more mixed, and only in the area of Systems Analysis and Design is it overwhelmingly strong. Distinguishing this skills gap group are the graduates’ lower rates of starting skills. As with Linux, .NET and Java, graduates do bring significant skills to these areas of opportunity – but these are growth areas, with more potential than is being met. Perl should also be considered to have a skills gap, although its market is thought by half of the interviewees to be declining. The Perl workforce was universally considered to be inadequate, and graduates were universally found to lack skills. In fact, one respondent to the graduate online survey highlighted the lack of courses to learn Perl.

12 Graduates were not asked to assess as many skills as the ICT companies, so some categories lack a graduate figure.

17


Table 10 – Identified Skills Gap

Core ICT Skills


(Online Survey)

Decre

asi

ng

Imp

ort

an

ce

Sta

ble

Im

po

rtan

ce

Incre

asi

ng

Im

po

rtan

ce

No

ne /

In

ad

equ

ate

En

ou

gh

/ S

urp

lus

No

ne /

Th

eo

reti

cal

Ap

pli

ed

/ E

xp

ert

No

Sk

ills

Th

eo

reti

cal

on

ly

Th

eo

reti

cal

& A

pp

lied

Ex

pert

Self

-Rati

ng

of

Sk

ills

Linux 6% 5% 89% 64% 36% 33% 67% 46% 54% 0% 0% 3.9

Quality Assurance 0% 12% 88% 100% 0% 71% 29% 100% 0% 0% 0%

Mobile Platforms 6% 6% 88% 93% 7% 71% 29% 86% 7% 7% 0% 3.7

Programming/Coding Standards

13% 34% 53% 85% 15% 47% 53% 77% 15% 8% 0%

.NET Platform 0% 50% 50% 75% 25% 33% 67% 42% 50% 8% 0% 3.4

Database platform Oracle

12% 41% 47% 64% 36% 43% 57% 69% 23% 8% 0%

Programing Language Java

6% 31% 63% 79% 21% 54% 46% 29% 36% 36% 0% 2.5

Software Testing 13% 31% 56% 100% 0% 43% 57% 85% 15% 0% 0%

Systems Analysis & Design

0% 29% 71% 79% 21% 19% 81% 86% 14% 0% 0% 2.5

Perl 50% 30% 20% 100% 0% 86% 14% 100% 0% 0% 0%

Source: Mercy Corps Interviews and Graduate Survey, 2013 A smaller group of skills was found to offer Moderate Opportunity. These skills still show a very positive time-trend, while workforce adequacy and the companies’ existing staff groups are both quite competitive. In these areas, graduates show stronger skills emerging, and a consistently ‘good’ sense of their own skills.

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19

Table 11 – Moderate Opportunity Skills

Core ICT Skills


(Online Survey)

Decre

asi

ng

Imp

ort

an

ce

Sta

ble

Im

po

rtan

ce

Incre

asi

ng

Im

po

rtan

ce

No

ne /

In

ad

equ

ate

En

ou

gh

/ S

urp

lus

No

ne /

Th

eo

reti

cal

Ap

pli

ed

/ E

xp

ert

No

Sk

ills

Th

eo

reti

cal

on

ly

Th

eo

reti

cal

& A

pp

lied

Ex

pert

Self

-Rati

ng

of

Sk

ills

JAVA Platform 25% 19% 56% 64% 36% 36% 64% 21% 64% 14% 0% 3.0

Database Platform Microsoft SQL-Server

14% 43% 43% 43% 57% 17% 83% 25% 67% 8% 0% 3.0

Programing Lang. C# 17% 50% 33% 57% 43% 57% 43% 43% 21% 36% 0% 3.1

Source: Mercy Corps Interviews and Graduate Survey, 2013 A final group of skills shows clearly Declining Importance, with roughly two-thirds of ICT company interviewees believing that their importance is diminishing. Unfortunately, these three skills also show the most positive assessment of graduates’ skills. As with the ICT core jobs assessment, ICT graduates are following market trends, rather than anticipating emerging opportunities.

Table 12 – Skills of Declining Importance

Core ICT Skills


Graduates (Online Survey)

Decre

asi

ng

Imp

ort

an

ce

Sta

ble

Im

po

rtan

ce

Incre

asi

ng

Im

po

rtan

ce

No

ne /

In

ad

equ

ate

En

ou

gh

/ S

urp

lus

No

ne /

Th

eo

reti

cal

Ap

pli

ed

/ E

xp

ert

No

Sk

ills

Th

eo

reti

cal

on

ly

Th

eo

reti

cal

& A

pp

lied

Exp

ert

Self

-Rati

ng

of

Sk

ills

Programing Lang. C++

62% 23% 15% 64% 36% 67% 33% 20% 33% 47% 0% 2.9

Programing Lang. Visual Basic

62% 23% 15% 21% 79% 46% 54% 27% 20% 53% 0% 3.0

Programing Lang. C 69% 23% 8% 71% 29% 70% 30% 7% 36% 57% 0% 2.9

Source: Mercy Corps Interviews and Graduate Survey, 2013 Additional skills dashboards will be found in Annex 3 for hardware maintenance and network skills, general and ICT strategic consulting, as well as the full dashboard for core ICT technical skills. Sections 7.2.1 and 7.2.2 have reviewed the core ICT jobs and technical skills. In each field, they have outlined areas of clear and competitive opportunity, moderate opportunity and diminishing

19


opportunity. Within that range, they have also established sets of jobs and skills whose opportunities are unrealized due to a skills gap among graduates. In both jobs and technical skills, it is evident that graduates’ skills are following rather than anticipating market needs, as current graduate skills correlate most strongly to market demands which are already fully supplied, over-supplied or of declining importance. The need for improved trend information is strikingly clear. These findings aim to sharpen the resource priorities and study paths, and to offer clear market information to the learning sector so that emerging opportunities might be better addressed. The findings are summarized in the table below.

Table 13 – Summary of Job and Skills Categories

Category Core ICT Jobs Core ICT Skills

Competitive (potential + existing skills in the workforce)

Project Manager HTML4-5+CSS+JavaScript

Application Developer PHP

Database Application Administrator ASP.Net

System Programmer Database Platform MySQL

Systems Analyst Windows Platforms

Identified Skills Gap (potential exists, but graduates lack skills)

Test Specialist Linux

Security Service Specialist Quality Assurance

Portals & Collaboration Specialist Mobile Platforms

Quality Assurance Specialist Programming Codes Standards

.NET Platform

Database platform Oracle

Programing Language Java

Software Testing

Systems Analysis & Design

Perl

Moderate Opportunity

Multimedia Specialist JAVA Platform

Graphic Design Database Platform Microsoft SQL-Server

Network Administrator Programing Language C#

Declining Market Importance and Opportunity

Programing language C++

Programing Language Visual Basic

Programing Language C

7.2.3 Applications of ICT ICT is an applied science, and this study will repeatedly note weaknesses in the learning and skills of graduates regarding the objects of ICT’s application. Simply put, graduates are not directed to learn about the problems for which ICT proposes solutions. The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) is an international professional association dedicated to technological innovation and excellence, with over 400,000 members in 160 countries. It is a leading source of both educational and professional working standards, and its guidelines offer one source of reasonable, global expectations of curricula and graduate knowledge. A number of its recommendations will be noted throughout this report. The IEEE considers “awareness of the broad applicability of computing” to be a core skill required of ICT education.13

13 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Association for Computing Machinery, Computer Science Curricula 2013, Ironman Draft, February 2013, page 21.

20


21

There are two labor market perspectives on the applications of ICT: 1) that of the ICT-producing industry (ICT companies) which views other industries as clients, and 2) that of the other industries (non-ICT organizations) themselves. The data in this section is drawn from ICT companies and refers their perceived opportunities to market into Gaza’s other industries, as well as the survey of graduates. Section 9 will discuss the ICT usage and employment potential of non-ICT organizations themselves. Creating the same dashboard (which, in Annex 3 is supplemented with additional information on certifications for some of these applications), Mercy Corps established three groups of applied ICT skills. First, the Skills Gap group describes a profile of high opportunity currently, unrealized due to the absence of graduate and workforce skills (Table 14 below). These applications of ICT were anticipated to remain stable or increase by more than 90% of the ICT company interviewees, and at least two-thirds also felt that the workforce was insufficient. Staff skills existed in one-third to two-thirds of the ICT companies. With the exception of school management, ICT graduates thoroughly lacked the skills to join in this growth.

Table 14 – Skills Gap in ICT Applications

ICT Applications


(Online Survey)

Decre

asi

ng

Imp

ort

an

ce

Sta

ble

Im

po

rtan

ce

Incre

asi

ng

Im

po

rtan

ce

No

ne /

In

ad

equ

ate

En

ou

gh

/ S

urp

lus

No

ne /

Th

eo

reti

cal

Ap

pli

ed

/ E

xp

ert

No

Sk

ills

Th

eo

reti

cal

on

ly

Th

eo

reti

cal

& A

pp

lied

Exp

ert

Self

-Rati

ng

of

Sk

ills

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

0% 18% 82% 100% 0% 40% 60% 100% 0% 0% 0%

NGO Management

0% 17% 83% 64% 36% 64% 36% 100% 0% 0% 0%

School Management

0% 25% 75% 82% 18% 44% 56% 67% 22% 11% 0%

Human Resource Management

7% 36% 57% 86% 14% 40% 60% 92% 0% 8% 0% 3.47

Hotels and Restaurants

8% 54% 38% 75% 25% 60% 40% 90% 10% 0% 0%

Source: Mercy Corps Interviews and Graduate Survey, 2013 The second group of skills is also very promising, but somewhat more Competitive. They do not reach the ‘highly’ competitive statistics of earlier sections. See Table 15 below.

21


Table 15 – Competitive ICT Applications

ICT Applications


Graduates

(Online Survey)

Decre

asi

ng

Imp

ort

an

ce

Sta

ble

Im

po

rtan

ce

Incre

asi

ng

Im

po

rtan

ce

No

ne /

In

ad

equ

ate

En

ou

gh

/ S

urp

lus

No

ne /

Th

eo

reti

cal

Ap

pli

ed

/ E

xp

ert

No

Sk

ills

Th

eo

reti

cal

on

ly

Th

eo

reti

cal

& A

pp

lied

Ex

pert

Self

-Rati

ng

of

Sk

ills

Point of Sale (POS)

0% 45% 55% 31% 69% 50% 50% 82% 9% 9% 0%

Financial Management Information Systems (FMIS)

0% 15% 85% 23% 77% 50% 50% 80% 20% 0% 0%

Source: Mercy Corps Interviews and Graduate Survey, 2013 Three ICT applications show Moderate or Declining Opportunity, per the table below.

Table 16 – Moderate and Declining ICT Applications

ICT Application


Graduates

(Online Survey)

Decre

asi

ng

Imp

ort

an

ce

Sta

ble

Im

po

rtan

ce

Incre

asi

ng

Im

po

rtan

ce

No

ne /

In

ad

equ

ate

En

ou

gh

/ S

urp

lus

No

ne /

Th

eo

reti

cal

Ap

pli

ed

/ E

xp

ert

No

Sk

ills

Th

eo

reti

cal

on

ly

Th

eo

reti

cal

& A

pp

lied

Exp

ert

Self

-Rati

ng

of

Sk

ills

Multimedia 19% 31% 50% 33% 67% 25% 75% 22% 78% 0% 0% 3.49

Games 23% 23% 54% 90% 10% 57% 43% 78% 22% 0% 0%

Web Design 0% 19% 81% 8% 92% 7% 93% 9% 82% 9% 0% 3.08

Source: Mercy Corps Interviews and Graduate Survey, 2013 Web Design is clearly oversupplied, and graduates will surely add to the current competition since this is among their strongest skills area. Games and multimedia should be seen as moderate opportunities, still with potential and in the case of games, with a clearly inadequate workforce. Yet again, the areas with moderate-to-weak market prospects are the areas with (by far) the strongest graduate proficiency.

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7.2.4 The Importance of Certifications

Certification demonstrates that a professional has attained an industry-standard level of knowledge of a given product or process. The rate of professional ICT certification is low in Gaza, although certifications for branded, proprietary software are increasing. Certification is a way to provide or prove quality assurance. However, certifications can also be expensive, time-consuming and to many Gazan professionals they appear to be of uncertain value. In interviews Mercy Corps asked ICT companies for their opinions on the importance of 21 professional certificates. Interviewees were asked to rate the impact or influence of certification upon their hiring decisions. Here, the emerging importance of certifications to recruitment is illustrated. (Additional data on certifications can be found in Annex 3.)

Table 17 – Impact of Certification on Recruitment

Certificates

No

/ L

ow

Im

pact

Imp

ort

an

t /

Req

uir

ed

Oracle 62% 38%

ICDL 67% 33%

Google Standards 73% 27%

Adobe 75% 25%

Microsoft 83% 17%

CISCO 38% 62%

Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) 62% 38%

Security Professional 67% 33%

CISSP Certified Information Systems 75% 25%

Linux+ 75% 25%

Security+ 75% 25%

A+ 80% 20%

Linux Professional Institute Certified Level (LPICL) 82% 18%

Certified Wireless Technology Specialist (CWTS) 83% 17%

Certified Wireless Network Engineer (CWNE) 83% 17%

VCP ( VMware Certified Professional ) 86% 14%

Certified Wireless Network Administrator (CWNA) 86% 14%

Network+ 86% 14%

Project Management Professional (PMP) 67% 33%

Certified Information Security Manager(CISM) 66% 33%

Certified Associate in Project Management ( CAPM) 89% 11%


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The certification discussion is quite new in Gaza. The table above illustrates that while certifications remain unimportant to a majority of employers, several certifications are becoming acknowledged, notably those of Cisco whose programs in the West Bank and Gaza have raised awareness of its products and standards. A freelancer commented in the research focus group that, “There is no need for freelancers to have an international certificate in one of the ICT subjects to work as a freelancer. He needs only skills.” That may be less true for ICT graduates searching for fulltime employment or, at least, it may be that certification represents a competitive advantage in a job search.

7.3 Business Skills

Business skills include a wide set of non-ICT competencies. Many business skills are professions in their own right, such as Project Management or Business Analysis. Gaza’s business skills gap is much commented on, but it is difficult to outline usefully. Graduates pointed out in focus groups that ICT employers seek a very wide range of business skills, and this is additionally true of smaller companies whose staff must fill a variety of roles or work in a number of competencies. ICT and non-ICT employers also prioritize different skill sets to reflect a different deployment of ICT professionals within their workplaces. Therefore, it is not useful to say that a certain business skill is most lacking. The question should be, “Who needs which skill most?” Training should increasingly be targeted this way, with curricula developed for specific professions such as: Communications for Quality Assurance, or Problem Solving for Security Specialists. The priority of each business skill depends on an individual’s career path within ICT. Students, knowing their specialty and likely employers, should understand which business skills to cultivate. However, through the research process, graduates repeatedly noted their difficulty in specializing and planning a study path, including any planning for their appropriate business skills priorities. As a result, graduates are likely to have a generalized level of business skills rather than a focused specialty. Because there is no single, generic market demand for business skills and no single correct skill to study, there would be little gained by replicating the dashboard method for business skills. Instead, this section explores the learning sector’s ability to prepare students for the different skills that employers prioritize. To compile perspectives on the business skills gap, both ICT companies and non-ICT organizations were asked in their interviews to rate the importance of each skill to their company. (1 = not important, 5 = very important.) Interviewees from HEI were asked, “To what degree does your institution contribute to the ICT graduates’ skills?” in each area. (1 = very weak, 5 = distinguished.) Graduates responding to the online survey were asked to “rate the skills that you gained through undergraduate study”.

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Table 18 – Business Skills Gap

Business Skill

Employer Importance

Higher

Education/

Training

Institutions

Graduates' Perceived Skills (Online Survey)

Gap Classification

ICT

Co

mp

an

ies

Imp

ort

an

ce

no

n-I

CT

Org

an

izati

on

s

Imp

ort

an

ce

Un

ivers

ity /

Co

lleg

e

Tra

inin

g C

en

ter

Very

weak

/ W

eak

/

Mo

dera

te

Very

go

od

/ E

xcell

en

t

Business Analysis 2.9 4.1 2.5 2.2 60% 40%

High Skills Gap

Creative Thinking 4.5 3.6 2.7 3.8 57% 43%

Problem Solving 4.5 4.2 2.5 3.3 53% 47%

Professional Ethics 4.6 4 3 3.8 30% 70%

Communications 4.4 3.9 3 3 48% 52%

Teamwork 4.7 4.2 3.2 3.8 33% 67%

Customer Service 3.9 3.1 2.5 3.4 66% 34%

Moderate Skills Gap Planning 3.4 3.8 2.7 3.9 52% 48%

English Language 3.4 3.1 2.2 2.8 54% 46%

Project Management 3.3 3.6 2.8 3.6 65% 35%

Change Management 3.4 3.6 2 2.8 62% 38%

Technical Writing 3.8 3.3 3.2 2.4 47% 53%

Low Skills Gap Marketing / Sales 3.4 2.2 2.8 3.6 73% 27%

Presentation 3.3 2.8 3.3 4.1 40% 60%

Source: Mercy Corps Interviews and Graduate Survey, 2013 The table above aims to highlight priority areas where the learning sector does not feel able to contribute on a level equal to employers’ requirements, as well as areas where graduates feel less confident about meeting employers’ expectations. It should be noted that low scores do not reflect a failure to understand the importance of a skill. Rather, they indicate a lack of confidence to respond to market demands. Business skills can be clustered into three groups as follows: The High Skills Gap describes a significant gap (greater than 0.9) between employers’ emphasis and the learning sector’s ability to contribute. Curriculum design and training resources should be drawn to these areas to close the gap. In two areas, Business Analysis and Creative Thinking, the priorities are substantially different for employment in the ICT or non-ICT sectors. The Moderate Skills Gap describes skills of moderate importance to employers and/or those which show only a moderate gap between demand and the learning sectors’ ability and confidence to deliver skills. These skills are still important, but the skills gap is less urgent. It should be noted that, while English is only listed as a moderate priority by Gaza’s employers,

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regional studies of sectors which export successfully agree that it is essential to ICT firms which seek to work internationally. The Low Skills Gap describes skills of less importance to employers and/or those with a lower gap between demand and the ability to deliver. The skills may be very important to some forms of employment, but the gap is not an urgent priority for attention and resources. A second form of the business skills gap is revealed in this table: graduates’ confidence in their own skills does not match the contributions perceived by either university/college or training center interviewees. Therefore a skills gap (or perception of a skills gap) currently exists between graduates and their (prospective or present) employers, and between graduates and their institutions of higher learning. Table 18 above shows that employers value a large and diverse set of skills, some of which are very complex to acquire. It also shows that Gaza’s university/college interviewees felt distinctly less able to contribute to graduates’ business skills than their training center colleagues. This should not be surprising, given the non-academic nature of many of these skills; how many truly creative thinkers attribute their skill to a university classroom? Skills grow from learning but are refined with use and the exercise of judgment to adapt learning to real situations: knowledge becomes skill only with practice. There is an inherent weakness in any plan to train young professionals in a classroom environment removed from the workplace. Effective skills training integrates knowledge, application and evaluation. The following section looks at several methods which aim to offer graduates a more integrated form of learning and experience.

7.4 Experience and Projects

A professional requires theoretical knowledge, applied experience and the judgment which accumulates over a lifetime. In Gaza, ICT experience can be difficult to attain. Gazan graduates need enough experience to get through their first employer’s door, among the thousands who are competing with them to do the same thing. Students are intended to gain experience by doing their senior year projects. Graduates compete for places in internship programs or simply work unpaid, and entrepreneurs undergo guided experience in incubation programs. In the course of research, many critiques were offered of these programs, at times conflicting (particularly between the requests for more and longer internships, and the view that internships do not work). A number of the comments might be summed up by saying that the experience-related programs are not effectively addressing some underlying skills issues, although some placements clearly succeed. An integrated training delivery system is lacking.

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7.4.1 Undergraduate Academic Projects

In their final year of university, graduates undertake individual projects which account for a number of their study hours and credits. The availability of market-relevant projects is important to the graduates’ market-readiness upon graduation. These projects mark one opportunity for academia to collaborate with future employers, and for students to work beyond computer labs. The collaboration is not always simple. Among non-ICT respondents to this research, most said they would not host students as trainees in ICT (although most do accept students in other specializations) because they feel the students are a burden to the company, with a study focus far from their own specialty. Universities report themselves as being willing and intending to partner more thoroughly with the private sector for projects, on-the-job training, summer training or other practical supplements to the curriculum. The university/college focus group listed graduate projects first among their methods to equip students with business skills. However, employers noted that short-term student engagement can be draining for host companies. Graduate focus groups revealed some disappointment that their professors did not undertake assessments or otherwise involve themselves closely in projects, so as to maximize their value. Mercy Corps is in the second year of sponsoring the Advisory Committee for Education and Training (ACET), a tripartite dialogue between the public, private and academic ICT actors. ACET has facilitated an agreement between the Palestinian IT Association (PITA) and a number of universities to examine this issue among others. A more intensive working partnership between Gaza’s HEI and its private sector would be a very positive development.

Box 19 – Perspectives on Internships and Academic Projects

From the Online Survey of Graduates: Graduates who get experience through internships should be given permanent jobs.

From the Freelancers’ Focus Group: Graduates consider the incubators as temporary alternatives to a job. As soon as

they find a job, they give up the incubator.

From the ICT Companies’ Focus Group: Internships and job-creation programs contribute to 70% of the employee resources

in my company. I am used to attracting distinct/qualified interns from such programs.

We used to host ICT-graduates during their graduation projects, and then we attracted distinct/qualified students.

Internship programs give graduates insufficient work experiences and poor skills enhancement.

From the Higher Education Institutions’ Focus Group: I wish donors would stop short-term internships and replace them with establishing

tech-parks instead.

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7.4.2 Internships

Internships are a form of work experience, placing graduates into companies for two to six months with a full or partial subsidy. Graduates gain experience, and employers receive the benefits of their work at little or no cost. Internships are widely offered in Gaza on a variety of terms. Some are a form of cash-for-work, while others are distinctly market-led. These activities do not have the same objectives, which can cause confusion when a recipient of a cash-for-internship opportunity seeks a market-based-internship outcome. The range of internship models makes direct comparison difficult. The length of internships drew the most comments from research respondents, all preferring longer periods. Some non-ICT organizations proposed a period of on-the-job-training to precede internships. Comments did not address employers’ willingness to contribute financially to the cost of longer internships, which is one obstacle to extending internship periods. The very large volume of applications to Mercy Corps’ and other internship programs suggests that internships are widely sought after and valued, but not uncritically. A detailed enquiry was beyond the scope of this study. However, Mercy Corps has placed 87 ICT graduates into a wide range of companies in the past two years and has much anecdotal experience to offer. This experience suggests that more and longer internships will not alone resolve the underlying skills-related issues which can limit the effectiveness of work experience. The box below highlights some of the common issues found through Mercy Corps’ ICT internship program.

7.4.3 Freelancers, the Self-Directed Professionals

Freelancers form a very flexible category of ICT professionals, and many ICT professionals will freelance at some stage of their career (or concurrently with other employment). Eleven percent

Box 20 – Common Issues in Mercy Corps’ ICT Internships

Non-ICT employers may not understand the specialization or collaborative nature of ICT production. They ask to employ a generalist, without understanding that ICT specialists work together. Employers may be disappointed with a new graduate’s generalist product, while interns may feel unable to complete less-known phases of project work alone.

Students do not learn ICT as an applied science: interns enter business without understanding business metrics, analysis or issues. Interns are not equipped to propose ICT solutions, and employers may not know what those solutions can offer their businesses. In those situations, the ICT potential is unlikely to be realized.

Non-ICT organizations sometimes apply ICT skills to enhance conventional processes or marketing; for example, designers may be hired to improve a paper brochure. Employers do not tend to ask for ICT marketing tools like AdWords, search engine optimization or social marketing; and some employers equate social marketing with the aimless use of Facebook. Interns may not be deployed to the benefit of their employer.

Gazan entry level salaries are low, and employers hesitate to invest in professional development.

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of the employed respondents to Mercy Corps’ online graduate survey, or 16 respondents, described themselves as freelancers. Gazan graduates report that freelancing helps them acquire skills and earn income while they search for reliable employment. Freelancers interact directly with the market. This means that their learning is self-driven, and their needs are broad. Each freelancer is a micro-company requiring a full suite of skills. The pressure leads to some less-focused research responses, as freelancers feel a genuine need to learn everything (every business skill was rated important or very important to them), while they also emphasize the need to specialize. Business skills seemed to take precedence over technical skills in research responses; when asked an open question about the skill most important to their success, not one interviewee listed a single technical skill, programming language, or the notion of technical excellence. Most of the respondents’ work was in web development, gaming and mobile applications, although these are not the fields demanded by prospective employers. Furthermore, it is globally recognized that the field of app development and gaming is speculative and often unreliable as a source of income.14 The 16 freelancers who respond to Mercy Corps’ online graduate survey reported a neutral-to-dissatisfied view of their education. These responses are also notable for the lack of strongly critical views expressed by unemployed graduates, who were 68% of the respondents.

Table 21 – Views of Education by Graduates

Is there is a connection between your Field of Study and your current Work?

Overall Employed Unemployed Freelancer Other

Strong Connection 19.2% 44.8% 6.7% 43.8% 14.3%

Good Connection 25.5% 31.0% 19.1% 37.5% 57.1%

Weak Connection 21.3% 10.3% 25.8% 18.8% 14.3%

There is No Connection 34.0% 13.8% 48.3% 0.0% 14.3%

Are you Satisfied with theoretical Knowledge you gained from undergraduate study?


Very Satisfied 8.5% 6.9% 11.2% 0.0% 0.0%

Satisfied 22.7% 31.0% 16.9% 31.3% 42.9%

Neutral 44.0% 41.4% 47.2% 43.8% 14.3%

Unsatisfied 19.2% 20.7% 15.7% 25.0% 42.9%

Very Unsatisfied 5.7% 0.0% 9.0% 0.0% 0.0%

14 David Streitfeld, As Boom Lures App Creators, Tough Part Is Making a Living, New York Times, November 2012.

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Are you Satisfied with Practical

Skills you gained from undergraduate study?


Very Satisfied 7.8% 6.9% 10.1% 0.0% 0.0%

Satisfied 14.2% 17.2% 13.5% 6.3% 28.6%

Neutral 31.9% 34.5% 30.3% 31.3% 42.9%

Unsatisfied 30.5% 27.6% 30.3% 43.8% 14.3%


Are you Satisfied with

Business Skills you gained

from undergraduate study?


Very Satisfied 5.0% 0.0% 7.9% 0.0% 0.0%

Satisfied 9.9% 6.9% 9.0% 12.5% 28.6%

Neutral 29.8% 27.6% 28.1% 37.5% 42.9%

Unsatisfied 29.1% 27.6% 31.5% 31.3% 0.0%


Source: Mercy Corps Graduate Survey, 2013 In university, freelancers say that they found themselves bewildered by their choices of career paths, and they tended to generalize for lack of a clear specialist vision. Seeking work after graduation, freelancer respondents felt that their lack of specialization made them unable to compete for work effectively in any single field. They proposed longer internships and revisions to incubator programs as part of the remedy, although one graduate of three different incubator programs still felt “unable to compete”. They further found an aspect of the skills gap to be of employers’ making, by requiring an array of experience and qualifications that no single graduate could meet. Freelancers (and graduates in general) described an opportunity gap as well as a skills gap: an insufficient number of jobs for which to compete. Each young freelancer individually faces the same infrastructure obstacles including poor electricity and a lack of bank transfer options for payment. They also confront issues in the business environment, including Gaza’s lack of legal protections for intellectual property. They face a full set of technical and business demands along with competitive issues that are both local and global. Locally and globally, they encounter issues of trust, and several report being unable to obtain payment for some of their work. The difficulties of freelancing strongly suggest the benefits of providing systematic support to freelancers as part of a response to Gaza’s skills gap. Infrastructure, business support, collaboration and experience could all be facilitated through a single integrated platform, which would also serve to strengthen the professional attributes of future ICT professionals for other employment. Freelancing is to be encouraged as part of the solution to the skills gap. The obstacles cited above could be partially remedied by establishing a freelancers’ platform which provides basic infrastructure and, ideally, access to skills training. This motivated segment of the graduate community currently has no access to ongoing business skill training or business development assistance.

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Box 22 – Mohammed Saleh Yaghi: Building a Freelance Career Mohammed Saleh Yaghi, a successful freelancer in Gaza, met with Mercy Corps and shared his story.

I started freelancing while I was at university, helping other students in their programming projects. After graduation, I started to teach IT students as a private tutor. This gave me a solid theoretical background in IT but no practical experience. That was my main source of income after graduation. After two years, a friend approached me and asked me to develop a website for his institution. I told him that I could not develop a website. I had never done that before. He said, “You should do it. You need to be a real programmer!” That encouraged me. I worked hard until I developed the website. This was the first real and complete business product I did as a graduate programmer. This was a turning point in my professional life, from being a theoretical professional to a practically oriented professional. It was also my first work with web technologies. That first product created my reputation, and then individuals and companies started to approach me to do ICT work for them. In parallel, I started to provide technical and practical-oriented training at private training centers. Networking with people and through social media platforms helped me a lot in marketing my skills, and so I had steady work as a freelancer. Most of my work was for local clients. To sustain my work as freelancer, I had to learn many technologies such as PHP, ASP.NET, Oracle and a host of other technologies to guarantee a stable flow of work and a stable income. We are living in a small geographical area and a small market, among many people and companies who do similar work. I also did some work online. From my personal experience I found a lot of competition from other countries and [their] prices are lower. A new change has happened to me recently. Beside my work in private training centers, I started lecturing at some universities and colleges, thanks to my reputation in the local market. Now I work two shifts. From 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. I am training and lecturing, maintaining existing software at client sites and meeting with new clients for new work. The second shift starts at the evening and is mainly dedicated to programming. I urge new ICT graduates to try freelancing as it will provide them with experience and income, particularly at the beginning of their career. They should take advantage of app stores and make sure to build their profile very early as all clients will ask them for a sample of their work. They also have to build their soft skills such as communication, self-marketing, creative thinking and problem solving.

It would be great if our local universities and colleges spread this culture among their ICT students. They should develop a freelancing guide.

At the moment, I notice that demand is increasing. I have recently developed five e-commerce websites – four of them for external markets and one for a local market – and many archiving systems and websites. My future plan is to start my own company and recruit an elite team of programmers. This will significantly expand my business.


The preceding sections have described the gaps of skills and experience among ICT graduates. The next section turns to the learning sector’s own perspectives on the preparation of graduates for work, beginning with the acknowledgement that no institution of higher learning is alone in contributing to the skills gap.

7.5 The Views of the Learning Sector, Higher Education

Institutions

This section reflects the views of eleven interviewees from Gaza’s universities, colleges and private training centers; and fourteen learning sector participants in focus groups. Their experience and perceptions of the skills gap are quite different from some of the views above. The paragraphs below ask who owns the skills gap, and who should be expected to close the gap.

7.5.1 Blending Education, Training and Professional Development What is the difference, and what are the roles, of education, training, professional development and ongoing learning? Whose job is it to fill the skills gap? A Sri Lankan study, Building a Competent ICT Workforce, defines the blend this way:

Training, education and development are competence development activity areas with a separate focus. Training is learning focused on the present job of the learner; education is learning focused on a future job for the learner, and development is related purely to the growth of the individual without reference to the job of the learner.15

This definition highlights the fact that competence is a shared responsibility. ICT professionals, or aspiring professionals, are responsible for their ongoing individual development. Gaza’s primary and secondary education system shares responsibility for the learner who arrives at university to begin a degree program. Universities primarily deliver education, but they confront the expectation that their graduates will possess skills not found in classrooms, and that their curricula will anticipate private sector trends. Training centers contribute to the education of job-seeking graduates and may provide ongoing training to ICT professionals, but they are private companies that can only offer the trainings that others wish to buy. They sell training in an environment which has no standards to judge its value. While there is no crisp division of responsibility for learning, it is clear that increasing responsibility is held by the graduates themselves in the ICT sector. The relationship between employer and employee is changing in ways that devolve much more responsibility onto the individual. Life-long, self-directed learning is essential to any successful ICT professional, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) guidelines acknowledge it as a core curriculum competence. Internationally, ICT professionals are structuring new working patterns around their self-interest, as explained in the Sri Lankan study:

The career trends of most of the ICT workers are focused on building self profiles rather than titles… Employment was sought analyzing the ability of the employer to provide exposure and knowledge… ‘keep learning – keep moving’ … the ICT workforce is more of an industry resource than an organizational resource.16

15 KPMG Ford, Rhodes, Thornton & Co., Training Needs Analysis for ICT Industry of Sri Lanka, July 2009, page 11. Subsequently referenced as “Sri Lanka” or “Sri Lanka study”. 16 Sri Lanka, supra, page 12.

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In an industry of this fluid nature, project-based companies minimize training time and often minimize staff, contracting in the specific skills needed to complete each project. In the training sub-sector of Gazan ICT, the same habit prevails. Such company structures suggest that the delivery of skills training needs to be carefully planned around nontraditional business models, targeting the individuals – the freelancers – who compete for sub-contracts. In the course of research, graduates repeatedly cited confusion about what to specialize in and how to structure their study for the market. This is critical: students and graduates must be empowered with information before they can make good decisions and take responsibility. Once they graduate, Mercy Corps has also noted that the highly competitive, jostling ICT environment is quite daunting to its interns, many of whom feel risk-averse and fearful that their ideas will be stolen or found inadequate. The list of essential business skills might be enhanced by adding a dimension of confidence- building. In sum, the contributors, roles and standards of delivery for Gaza’s ICT competence are fragmented. In particular, the expectation that university courses can produce graduates with a broad range of practical skills as well as knowledge is simplistic, and a wider sense of responsibility would be beneficial. Gaza also lacks standards for ICT training. An ICT policy or curriculum framework would help young people make good choices, plan their study paths, compete and continue to learn with confidence. Such information would greatly assist young people to assume the responsibility which has been devolved onto them by the decentralized ICT sector.

7.5.2 The Learning Sector Perspective This section summarizes some of the research responses of universities, colleges and training centers.

7.5.2.1 Trends in University ICT Programs

Notwithstanding its unemployment rate, ICT study is a trend in Gaza. PITA’s recent market gap analysis counts over 7,000 students enrolled in university or college degree programs in 2010/2011.17 Among the university and college respondents in this research, three report increasing numbers of graduates in ICT, one is steady and two are decreasing. Mercy Corps asked each of its university/college focus group participants for the minimum grade point average (GPA) required to enroll in an ICT program. Their responses show that, despite chronic unemployment among ICT graduates, entrance standards remain steady in the vast majority of institutions.

Table 23 – Minimum GPA to Study ICT in Gaza

Higher Education Institution 2010 2011 2012 2013

UCAS (Diploma) 50% 50% 50% 50%

Palestine University 70% 70% 70% 70%

Islamic University (Com. Eng.) 87% 87% 87% 87%

Al-Aqsa University 60% 60% 60% 60%

Gaza University 60% 60% 60% 60%

Al-Azhar University 80% 75% 70% 69%

Al-Quds Open University 70% 70% 70% 70%

Source: Mercy Corps Focus Groups, 2013

17 PITA, Palestinian ICT Labor Market Gap Analysis, PITA Employability Program – Gaza, February 2013.

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University staff respondents questioned this policy on two levels in the focus group. Some suggested that higher GPA standards would limit the oversupply of graduates, and others proposed raising the standards to attract students who are better prepared for the intensive study expected by the market. Some graduate respondents also proposed this, at times energetically. Once enrolled, students confront a plethora of programs: a 2013 PITA study lists 43 ICT degree programs in Gaza.18 Almost none of the programs are multi-disciplinary, systematically combining ICT with industrial or other applications in order to seek ICT employment in other industries. University staff interviewees acknowledged a lack of advanced technical courses in their programs.

7.5.2.2 Curriculum Development and Market Information

In interviews, four out of five university/college representatives indicated that they believe their curricula are in line with the local market and global trends, and that their monitoring and evaluation procedures are sufficient to ensure ongoing alignment. They recognized a challenge to meet the needs of a rapidly changing marketplace, but four out of five felt that their internal procedures are flexible enough to allow the teaching of trend topics. Curricula were adjusted in cycles varying from annual to every three to four years, although some respondents noted the delays that occur when all curriculum modifications require the approval of the Ministry of Higher Education. All universities and colleges contain a unit that follows-up with students after graduation, with University College of Applied Sciences (UCAS) claiming that 80% of its diploma graduates are employed. The HEI focus group described a different view of the labor market gap. They described a labor surplus rather than a skills shortage, with too many graduates entering too small an industry. (A labor surplus is not mutually exclusive with a skills shortage.) Furthermore, it was suggested that employers poorly understand technologies and global market changes, creating a second gap between Gaza’s private sector and the global market. Mercy Corps did not conduct detailed research on curriculum development or delivery. However, in terms of reasonable international expectations of ICT degree-holders, the IEEE lists the following skills which ICT graduates should possess upon university graduation.

Technical understanding of Computer Science. Familiarity with common themes and principles (such as abstraction, complexity, and

evolutionary change). Appreciation of the interplay between theory and practice. System-level perspective (thinking at multiple levels of detail and abstraction). Problem-solving skills. Project experience. Commitment to life-long learning. Commitment to professional responsibility. Communication and organizational skills. Awareness of the broad applicability of computing. Appreciation of domain-specific knowledge.19

18 Ibid. 19 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Association for Computing Machinery, supra.

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This list might serve as a professionally sound basis for Gaza’s HEI to evaluate graduates’ overall competence, and the completeness of their educational delivery. The same list might assist students to determine the areas in which they seek supplementary learning.

7.5.2.3 Obstacles

The university/college representatives and focus group participants noted a number of significant obstacles which impede their work, beginning with the poor economic condition of the universities themselves, and of Gaza’s physical infrastructure, as well as a lack of expert trainers of international standards. Logically, it may be assumed that this trainer shortage particularly affects their ability to teach new technologies. In the business community, they note the influence of wasta20 on graduates’ job prospects, and the difficulty establishing companies in Gaza.21 A number of educators also noted that the low GPA entry requirements often require them to teach students who have arrived poorly prepared to learn. Externally, training centers also cited a difficult competition with the low-cost training offered by NGOs and continuing education programs. University respondents acknowledged room for improvement in their own delivery, citing “rapid technology, slow curricula development”, and a lack of advanced technical and business skills courses.22 Some respondents also suggested that, in order to teach for the market, more teachers should be hired from the market.

20 Wasta is an Arabic word that refers to influence, clout or nepotism. 21 The IFC’s 2012 Ease of Doing Business survey rated the West Bank and Gaza 179 out of 185 countries surveyed, for the ease of starting a business. 22 Mercy Corps interview.

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7.6 Summary of Observations and Recommendations

The following observations emerge from the study of Gaza’s ICT skills gap:

Gazan ICT graduates face a quantifiable skills gap in each aspect of the ICT skills package.

Graduates consistently score highest in skills which are declining, or skills which already draw from a sufficient or oversupplied workforce: graduate skills follow rather than anticipate market trends.

Responsibility for the skills gap is widely shared. Gaza lacks the policy, curriculum framework, or training standards to enable its students to assume more responsibility for their own competence.

Business skills should be prioritized and acquired to suit distinct career paths. Business skills delivery should be integrated with practice. Reviews of the existing programs to integrate learning and experience in Gaza are mixed but still popular. Anecdotal experience suggests that ICT internships may not address underlying skill gaps in many cases.

Business skills demonstrate two skill gaps, one between graduates’ skills and employers’ priorities, and a second gap between the employers’ priorities and the abilities of the learning sector to train in a number of skills areas. Trainers’ perceived competence does not reliably track with graduates’ actual confidence in the skills they have acquired.

The skills expectations of ICT companies are very wide and pose a challenge to graduates. This is exaggerated by Gaza’s small companies, in which staff are expected to fill a variety of roles, and by rapid change in a shallow market. These facts emphasize the need for all ICT programs to instill a sense of lifelong learning and professional agility in students.

Freelancing is a widespread strategy for graduates to earn income and acquire experience. Each freelancer individually faces obstacles of infrastructure, business operations, and client trust.

Notwithstanding chronic high unemployment, university entrance standards for ICT are static while four out of six of the universities and colleges responding to Mercy Corps’ research report that their numbers of ICT graduates are stable or increasing.

Students face a bewildering maze of degree programs without information to plan for appropriate specialization and prioritization of skills. Gaza is graduating generalists into a specialist industry.

Far too few graduates study ICT as an applied science, and there are almost no inter-disciplinary degree programs for them to become competent in applying ICT to other industries or employers in Gaza.

Educators report general satisfaction with the market-relevance of their curricula, although this is at odds with views of ICT companies and with graduates’ own reported sentiments. Educators describe a labor surplus rather than a skills shortage.

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The following recommendations arise from the observations: To Students and Graduates: Acknowledge and accept the growing individual responsibility for competence in the ICT

industry. Specialize. Study a few specialties in-depth. Follow a specific study path, and prioritize the

business skills appropriate for that path.

To Universities, Colleges and Training Centers: Emphasize learning of ICT as an applied science in order to produce graduates who view

technology from the perspective of non-ICT employers. Develop combined degree programs.

To improve the effectiveness of skills training:

Link business skills to specific job roles such as Communications for Quality Assurance or Problem Solving for Security Specialists.

Integrate skills learning with the practice and judgment that translates knowledge into a skill.

Strengthen internal processes to select effective projects which are relevant to the ICT market and study. Ensure that projects are regularly assessed, so that students realize the maximum benefit.

Empower students with the information to specialize, and add specialist courses. Add courses or electives that further develop freelancing, business and entrepreneurial skills

of ICT students through ICT curricula. Use a global, professional standard like that of the IEEE to evaluate curricula and graduate

competencies. Streamline the dozens of ICT degree programs, adding more advanced technical courses. Consider raising grade point average (GPA) entry qualifications for ICT programs. To ICT Companies: Rationalize the range of starting skills expected of new graduates, acknowledging that many

business skills are complex and require time to mature. Produce and distribute useful information on emerging specialties and qualifications to guide

study and education. To Donors and Non-Governmental Organizations: Empower students, graduates and educators with information to anticipate market trends

and job-specific qualifications. Acknowledging the role of freelancing in acquiring experience and earning income, consider

creating a platform to address freelancers’ individual obstacles of infrastructure. For Public Policy in Gaza: Establish a policy, curriculum framework and standards to rationalize ICT learning choices

and evaluate education or training delivery. Support a streamlined curriculum development process within universities, and consider

rationalizing the range of degree programs in this field.

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8. Global Experience with ICT Skills Gap This section summarizes the relevant findings of Mercy Corps’ desk research on the ICT skills gap in other countries. Mercy Corps reviewed ICT labor market studies from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Canada and local studies from Gaza. The desk research helped to identify the strategies and indicators that would outline Gaza’s own skills gap most actionably. It also established that the skills gap is not an issue specific to Gaza, but a common and widespread occurrence in the ICT labor markets of both developed and developing economies. The global nature of the ICT skills gap allows Gaza to learn from the experience of others, although unfortunately, no others have found quick fixes or shortcuts to close the skills gaps in their own ICT labor markets.

8.1 Key Findings of Skill Gaps Internationally

Only Jordan’s skills gap, as a natural reference point and a regional model for the ICT sector, will be described here in any detail, followed by some relevant findings from others studies. ICT is the third largest contributor to Jordan’s GDP, accounting for 10% of GDP and employing roughly 17,000 core ICT workers and 70,000 in technology-related jobs.23 Internationally, Jordan has developed competitive advantages in information technology outsourcing, business process outsourcing, Arabization24 and localization services.25 Most of these fields are relevant to Gaza’s ambitions as well. Jordan is held up as a model for the importance its government places upon the ICT sector. The Jordanian government provides support to ICT in the forms of infrastructure, legal environment, market deregulation, policy priority, ensuring broad social access to technology, and supporting market initiatives. However, many experienced ICT professionals leave Jordan each year. The drain diminishes the national experienced skills base, and Jordan’s national educational system is no longer felt to be meeting the demands of employers.26 Jordan currently graduates 6,000 ICT professionals annually who compete for 5,000 jobs. ICT employers report that new graduates have neither the educational profile, nor the practical abilities that the available jobs require: Jordan is experiencing a labor surplus and a skills shortage. In addition to technical weaknesses, graduates are felt most strongly to lack the soft skills of communication, creative thought and English. (As exporters, Jordanian employers prioritized English more highly than did Gazan employers.) As a result, large numbers of graduates are unemployed, and employers estimate that new entrants require one to two years of on-the-job training before they are proficient and competitive. The “Workforce Assessment in the Jordanian ICT Industry” study recommended that Jordan increase cooperation between academia and industry, allowing industry to lead in curriculum development that would meet their needs, and initiating integrated curriculum research on ICT trends. Universities were also directed to re-focus on the quality and competency of academic

23 Marlyn Sousou, Sector Report ICT Jordan, British Embassy-Jordan, 2009; and S. Al-Agtash, Workforce Assessment in the Jordanian ICT Industry, International Journal of Social and Organizational Dynamics in Information Technology, Volume 1, Issue 4, pp.18-36, 2011. 24 Arabization describes the conversion of digital content to the Arab language and context. 25 Marilyn Sousou and S. Al-Agtash, supra. 26 The following paragraphs draw on the study: S. Al-Agtash, Workforce Assessment in the Jordanian ICT Industry, supra.

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staff, and on the practical component of student experience. It was recommended that universities establish specialized ICT training courses and enhance their English content for a global industry. Egypt has also sought to bring industry directly into the training development process, working with Cisco to establish a national e-learning center, with a comprehensive curriculum in critical skills areas. Egypt’s Information Technology Institute is an example of a holistic nine-month curriculum for training and practice among new entrants to the ICT sector. Reponses to the skills gap like those proposed in Jordan and Egypt demonstrate governments’ acknowledgement that the skills gap has no simple or quick fix, nor does the problem have a single owner. These responses are integrated between the public, private and academic sectors. In particular, industry is being brought directly into the design of curriculum, rather than partnering only to provide practice or placements for graduating students. From analyses of the impact of ICT on other sectors of Jordan’s economy comes a final, outlier recommendation, that perceptions of ICT must be transformed from a cost center to an enabler of the industry. This is a call for industry and donors to view technology as an investment – an indispensable fuel - rather than as an optional cost. Saudi Arabia’s ICT sector is proportionately smaller than the others covered in the desk research, but its findings on soft skills are instructive. In a Saudi study, employers identified the largest gaps in problem solving and English technical writing, followed by management and communication.27 Like Jordanian employers, the Saudis emphasized the importance of English in a global industry. In Saudi Arabia the desired range of soft skills are already taught at the university and college levels, but employers emphasize that many aspects of these skills must be incorporated earlier, so that students graduating from high school demonstrate proficiency in fields including writing, presentation and communication. Europe is also experiencing an ICT skills shortage, with the European Commission forecasting that 700,000 skilled IT and telecommunications positions will be unfilled by 2015.28 Canada is a developed country and a net exporter of technology with significant numbers of skilled immigrants adding to its ICT labor pool. Yet Canada, too, is experiencing an ICT skills gap. Canada, in planning to fill between 126,000 and 178,000 ICT jobs over a seven year period, has found that educationally qualified applicants lack “the ‘package’ of specific technology skills, industry experience, satisfactory communication and other business skills that employers need.”29 Among Canada’s responses and recommendations are these: Recognizing the importance of non-ICT fields to ICT employment, “Expand post-secondary

offerings in programs that combine ICT with other fields, and concurrently increase the role of co-op and internship placements in these and other ICT programs.”30

Enhance the practical study component of degree programs, and better integrate ICT practice with other fields of study.31

27 L. Alsafadi, R. Abunafesa, ICT Skills Gap Analysis of the Saudi Market, Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering and Computer Science, October 2012. 28 Academy Cube, Neelie Kroes and Jim Snabe: New Ways to fight Youth Unemployment in Europe, March 5, 2013. 29 Information and Communications Technology Council, supra, page 1. 30 Ibid, page 12. 31 Ibid, page 2.

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Renew ICT capacity by re-training existing professionals and those whose skills do not meet the current industry profile. Related to this, the Canadian study also notes the importance of targeting graduates rather than exclusively targeting future graduates.

While noting the need for current career information and for promotion of ICT careers, the study notes that awareness is not a strategy by itself, merely a component of an integrated strategy of change. Having diagnosed a skills gap, awareness alone will not resolve it.

The desk review established that Gaza is not alone with its skills gap, and neither is it exclusively a problem of developing economies. The issue is global, with large numbers of educated young people unemployed, and a shortage of appropriately-skilled ICT professionals. By understanding ICT employment as a labor market issue that needs to be tackled by many actors, Gaza can learn from global experience. Global experience particularly focuses on the need to bring the private sector much closer to the process of education design, and to integrate the forms of training and experience. Unfortunately, global experience also demonstrates that there is no quick fix for new entrants to the demanding field of ICT. The table below lists some of the programs established elsewhere to address ICT skill gaps.

Table 24 – Examples of Programs that Address ICT Skill Gaps outside of Gaza

Project & Website Location Brief Description

Information Technology Institute (ITI) Website: http://www.iti.gov.eg/

Egypt

Training institution of nearly two decades’ standing. Offers branded training programs for ICT professionals and instructors.

The Software Engineering Competence Center (SECC) Website: http://www.secc.org.eg/

Egypt

Established 2001 with government sponsorship as an IT industry training center addressing social, economic and environmental challenges.

ICT Training Academy (Bridge Program) Website: http://www.bridgeprogram.jo

Jordan Government-led ICT training and innovation program.

Gaming Lab Website: www.gaminglab.jo

Jordan

The Gaming Lab collaborates with academia and the private sector, assisting developers and companies, and promoting game design as a career.

Academy Cube Website: http://academy-cube.eu/

European Union

A cloud based e-learning platform offering advanced training for university graduates, and matching top participants with recruiting needs.

Cisco Networking Academy – Hisham Hijjawi College of Technology/AN-Najah National University Website: http://www.najah.edu/ar/node/29895

West Bank

The academy provides training courses that include practical and theoretical skills, as well as training for Cisco certifications in the domain of computer networks. The Academy contains a laboratory equipped according to Cisco specifications, to provide the best training courses in the field of networking and protection

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http://www.iti.gov.eg/

http://www.secc.org.eg/

http://www.secc.org.eg/

http://www.bridgeprogram.jo/

http://www.gaminglab.jo/

http://academy-cube.eu/

http://academy-cube.eu/

http://www.najah.edu/ar/node/29895


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The following observations arise from the research on global experiences with skill gaps: The skills gap is a global phenomenon, common to both developed and developing

countries. There is experience to adapt for Gaza’s use, but no country has found a quick fix. Desk research consistently highlighted the need to bring the private sector earlier, and more

integrally, into the process of curriculum development and delivery. Regional programs designed in response to the skills gap emphasize the integration of skills

delivery and professional practice. Recognizing the importance of ICT as an enabler of other industries (fueling national GDP

growth as well as employment), other countries emphasize the importance of the cross-sectoral study of ICT as an applied science.

These observations lead to the following recommendations:

To Universities, Colleges and Training Centers: Work earlier and more closely with the private sector to outline and deliver market-relevant

ICT education. Update curricula annually, anticipating market trends.

To Donors and Non-Governmental Organizations: View ICT as a labor market issue as well as a business development issue. Invest in

infrastructure, skills and access, relationship innovations, information, etc., to build the skills base that the industry requires.

Design educational programs and pilot projects that address the skills gap, beginning with employer input so that graduates acquire the skills prioritized by their future employers.

Establish a platform for integrated skills-and-practice training.

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9. Gaza’s Opportunity Gap

This section addresses the employment opportunities in Gaza’s non-ICT industries. Graduates and university/college representatives both referred to the insufficiency of ICT jobs in interviews and focus groups. This insufficiency will be described as Gaza’s opportunity gap. Graduates experience the opportunity gap during the job search as a lack of opportunities, and additionally as difficulty in competing for the jobs that do exist. Why, beyond Gaza’s ICT employers, are jobs so few? Aspects of the opportunity gap are actionable, but they do not come into focus while studying the needs of Gaza’s ICT companies. Business development treats employment as one outcome, rather than as its main output or goal. To understand and respond to the wider opportunity gap, labor market analysis is a more appropriate perspective: why aren’t more jobs being created? Within the labor market model, Gaza’s wider economy of non-ICT organizations appears in three distinct roles. First, it provides the local market for Gaza’s ICT companies; non-ICT organizations are the clients purchasing goods and services from ICT companies (and freelancers). This most common perspective has been studied before, and some of the existing literature will be summarized in Section 9.2. Second, non-ICT organizations are direct employers of ICT graduates, a perspective that has been examined in less depth. Section 9.3 presents Mercy Corps’ research into graduates’ employment prospects in Gaza’s existing non-ICT economy. This has broad potential for employment growth in the ICT labor market, and the attitudes voiced during Mercy Corps’ research suggest that a number of prospective employers are quite hopeful about further opportunities. Their attitudes seem more open than in previous research.

Box 25 – Perspectives on the Opportunity Gap

From the Online Survey of Graduates: There are no jobs. The demand for ICT jobs is much less than other specializations. The ICT market is saturated. There are less job opportunities for women. From the Higher Education Institutions’ Focus Group: I believe that the local market demand is very limited. It will never extend enough to

absorb most of the ICT graduates. I demand that universities quit education programs that saturated the market with

graduates who can’t secure a job. We follow-up our graduates and communicate with them in order to employ them in

internship projects. Eighty percent of our diploma graduates are employed. (UCAS) From the ICT Companies’ Focus Group: I believe that the local ICT sector might have employment opportunities for a

maximum 5% of ICT graduates. The non-ICT sector might provide 15% of ICT graduates job opportunities, and the remaining are kept unemployed.

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Third, Gaza’s weak digital economy will again be discussed in Section 10 in the context of adapting the global experience to Gaza. Section 10 also looks for lessons learned elsewhere about ICT diffusion. To position the discussion of ICT beyond ICT companies, the paragraphs below introduce a paradox: Gaza has extremely high rates of individual ICT adoption, especially of smartphones, but very low rates of employment-generating commercial ICT diffusion. Gaza’s youth are tech-savvy but its digital economy is weak.

9.1 The Paradox of Gazan Tech: High Adoption, Low

Diffusion

This section offers a local and regional context for Gaza’s ICT employment opportunity gap. Three thousand young residents in nine countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) were surveyed by Booz & Company to understand the “Arab digital generation”. Among their findings:

The generation aged 15 to 35 is 40% of the population of the MENA. 83% use the Internet daily; 40% for at least five hours daily. 41% search the Internet in both English and Arabic. 37% are dissatisfied with the Arabic content available to them. 40% feel that their education did not prepare them for the real job market. 56% of those unemployed say that there are not enough jobs for them to work. MENA’s youth unemployment is double the global average: 27%. 32

By comparison, Gaza’s youth unemployment is more than double the regional figure, at 58%.33 Gaza’s digital generation has not been studied in the same depth, but the available facts show that individual ICT adoption is extremely high, particularly in the form of mobile phones. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) Household Survey on Information and Communications Technology, 2011 includes the following findings:

Table 26 – ICT Equipment in Homes, Gaza 2011

Mobile Phone 95%

Computer 47% Landline Telephone 42% Home Internet Connection 30%

Source: PCBS Table 27 – Percentage of Persons 10 Years or Older Who Use the Internet by Purpose,

Gaza and West Bank 2011

Entertainment 79%

Work 18% Dealing with Governmental Organizations

10%

Finance and Bank Services 5% E-Commerce 3%

Source: PCBS

32 Booz & Company, Understanding the Arab Digital Generation, 2012. 33 United Nations, supra.

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The level of ICT adoption suggests opportunities for Gaza to expand its e-government, its use of technology in public sectors and in commerce. The high usage of cellphones suggests a local opportunity to develop commercial mobile applications for marketing and customer service. This opportunity is unrealized, as the 2011 PCBS ICT Business Survey shows:

Table 28 – Percentage of Business Establishments with ICT Tools in Gaza, 2011

Use Computer 41%

Use Internet 34% Do Electronic Transactions 12% Do Research Electronically 5% Have Websites 4%

Source: PCBS

Table 29 – Main Reported Purpose of Internet Use by Business in Gaza, 2011

Searching, Including Information About Goods and Services

54%

Sending and Receiving E-Mail 38% Purchasing, and Providing Customer Services 6% Internet Banking or Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP)

1%

Source: PCBS The following discussion of the patterns of ICT use by Gaza’s non-ICT organizations takes place against this background of a generation thoroughly immersed in technology, with a more tentative commercial economy.

9.2 Non-ICT Organizations as the Local Market for ICT

The business usage patterns outlined above are affirmed by the findings of the EnTeG2 Baseline Report by PALiNVEST, October 2011.34 PALiNVEST interviewed six organizations in each of four sectors on their ICT use (24 total) and found that ICT was used mostly for communications or support of existing operations. Technologies rarely had a customer application and were very rarely optimized for smartphone or mobile. PALiNVEST found no sign that ICT was being used to improve the companies’ competitive position, as it is used internationally. “ICT is a support tool, with little extension into customer areas.”35 Companies did not clearly understand, and hence did not introduce, many applications which were popular elsewhere in the same industries. “[A]ccess to the right skills was considered the largest concern” preventing Gazan companies from utilizing ICT more intensively.36 That concern resonated with Mercy Corps’ own non-ICT respondents. Such general information becomes more actionable when it is disaggregated by industry and company size. ICT is not equally beneficial to every company, and an ICT employment strategy will need to target sectors where the benefits of ICT are most real. The 2011 PCBS Business Survey found the following:

34 PALiNVEST Corporation, Enabling Technology Sector Growth in Gaza - EnTeG² Base Line Report, October 2011. 35 PALiNVEST, supra, page 52. 36 PALiNVEST, supra, page 61.

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Table 30 – Computer Use by Number of Employees in Business, Gaza and West Bank, 2011

0-4 Employees 38%

5-9 Employees 67% 10+ Employees 92%

Source: PCBS

Table 31 – Business Computer Use by Economic Activity

Gaza and West Bank, 2011

Financial Intermediation 97%

Information and Communications 93% Construction 90% Services 50% Internal Trade 50% Transport and Storage 32% Industrial37 26%

Source: PCBS The PALiNVEST study cited the following factors as limiting Gaza’s ICT diffusion, in addition to Gaza’s political factors and restrictions on the movement of people and goods: “the isolation of the region, the lack of funds to invest, the lack of skills and local knowledge, the levels of ICT access and challenges of keeping up-to-date with technology developments for users in the local market.”38 In most trading sectors, PALiNVEST noted that companies are in “survival mode”, rather than considering long-term investments.39 Relevant to this report, the PALiNVEST findings suggest the following:

ICT adoption in the form of buying a computer falls short of the ICT usage that could strengthen Gazan companies’ competitive positions or generate employment.

Gaza’s commercial digital economy is limited and is impacted both by external politics and by a number of local, actionable factors including access to skills and resources.

A digital economy employment strategy should target sectors and companies by size. There is a mismatch between Gaza’s wide use of cellphones and its very limited use of

smartphone or mobile technologies in marketing or customer service, as well as in public sectors and e-government. ICT diffusion could pay prompt local dividends, even while Gaza’s exports are restricted.

Gaza’s limited ICT diffusion has real impacts for its local ICT sector and new graduates. The local market is generally a learning and practice market, used before companies can export successfully. Local markets are often more profitable, since exports attract global price competition. The weak local demand in Gaza makes it difficult for ICT companies to justify investing in new skills or products to offer, and makes it rare for emerging professionals to find challenging projects which improve their skills. Weak demand is also a lost marketing opportunity for the non-ICT organizations that could cater to Gaza’s youthful ICT users.

37 Notwithstanding the low computer use of Gaza’s manufacturers, a specific need should be noted for expertise relating to Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) systems in a number of industries. This niche has repeatedly surfaced within Mercy Corps’ Economic Development program, and it is affirmed in the PALiNVEST study. 38 PALiNVEST, supra, page 48. 39 PALiNVEST, supra, page 11.

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Therefore, Gaza’s low ICT utilization should be understood as a negative cycle: organizations miss the opportunities of technology, and ICT companies have only a weak, small market in which to learn. ICT companies do not learn to promote effectively to other industries as a step toward international market-readiness, and non-ICT organizations do not learn about the benefits of technologies in which they might invest. Graduates have fewer job opportunities than they might otherwise have.

9.3 Non-ICT Organizations as Employers

Gaza’s wider economy has not been well studied as an employer of ICT graduates. This research is initial, revealing habits and attitudes that have advanced since the earlier studies. These interviewees and focus group participants already employ at least one ICT staff member in their organizations, so the discussion was not about first ICT adoption. It focused on issues of employment and intensifying the use of technology.

Box 32 – Perspectives on Non-ICT Organizations’ Employment of ICT Graduates

From the Non-ICT Organizations’ Focus Group: • IT professionals should make us aware of the important uses of IT for non-IT

businesses. • I have met two ICT graduates who developed distinct software, but they cannot

market it because of Gaza’s relief attitude and culture. • I believe that we are forced to use different ICT technologies and services in order

to resolve [Gaza’s] isolation issues. • I believe that many ICT graduates are not able to use what they learned in

university to design and implement solutions for non-ICT companies. ICT Employee in a non-ICT Organization • I suffer from cultures of different companies and firms. They do not know where

ICT graduates might help. They believe that ICT graduates must be able to maintain any electronic equipment!

From the Higher Education Institutions’ Focus Group: • Most large firms do not trust our ICT graduates. They prefer to buy and use very

expensive products rather than hiring Palestinian graduates to build the required software.

• I told some [German] business people to outsource to Gaza. They did not accept the idea because of Gaza’s image.

From the ICT Companies’ Focus Group: • I believe it is vital to organize awareness sessions and workshops on the

importance of ICT in non-ICT sector companies. That will absolutely promote ICT graduates’ employment in that sector.

• I preferred to buy British software rather than buying Palestinian product. I believe it will make me comfortable, and I will not be worried about software maintenance.

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To understand the views of Gaza’s non-ICT organizations, Mercy Corps interviewed representatives/staff including: fourteen from various non-ICT industries (including construction and engineering, banks, tourism, manufacturing, insurance and utilities), three from international and local NGOs, two from hospitals, and one UN agency. In several ways respondents were asked about technology’s role in Gaza. One question asked “If ICT is a major part of your industry internationally, how significant do you think it should be for your industry here?”, and respondents cited difficulties in infrastructure, and the severe restrictions on the movement of goods and persons as impediments. These were cited as obstacles, rather than suggestions that ICT was any less important to Gaza. To make the discussion more specific, respondents were asked, “In what ways is technology more or less important because of Gaza’s isolation?” Responses included the following:

The restrictions affect hardware but not software. Isolation forces many Gazans to increase their ICT reliance.

Isolation increases ICT usage but it has not produced new forms of use. The political situation and severe restrictions increase risk (example: of hosting

websites or data). Travel difficulties limit Gaza’s exposure to new technologies. Relief and entitlement attitudes slow ICT adoption, and people become unwilling to

make long-term investments. The respondents distanced themselves from earlier suggestions that Gazans might think technology would not be of significant help. Every focus group participant disagreed with the statement, “ICT is good for communications but it doesn’t really change the position of my business.” The respondents primarily said that conditions made it more difficult – but not less important – to use technology. Responses like these suggest that attitudes have progressed since the PALiNVEST study of 2011. These responses suggest that parts of Gaza’s non-ICT economy are ready to engage more thoroughly with technology.

9.3.1 ICT Usage

The non-ICT organizations included in this research are not average in their use of ICT. Most Gazan organizations do not use ICT sufficiently to generate employment, but these organizations employ fulltime ICT staff. Half of them have IT departments larger than a single person. The interviewees tended to use ICT in their communications (internally, between branches and externally), human resources departments, for information management and archiving, accounting, website management, and organization of customer and patient information. Three-quarters of the organizations also buy external ICT skills, primarily for specialized financial programs, media, maintenance, archiving and training. Most of the focus group participants thought ICT was most useful for archiving, communications and documentation; and by consensus the focus group found ICT important to efficient internal work performance. NGOs and INGOs in particular utilized ICT for communications (including SMS text messaging) and standardization between their offices within Gaza, and between Gaza and the West Bank. ICT was used to different intensities, with

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some reporting that procurement or logistics were now primarily electronic while paper copies of forms were less often seen. Notably, these efficiencies are desirable but they are not primarily the forms of ICT that change a company’s market position or acquire new markets. There is room to review ICT’s potential to these employers, who are already technology adopters. Some of the unrealized potential may stem from the same causes cited in earlier studies: communication. The 13 focus group members were asked to agree or disagree with the following two statements:

“I might like to try using more technology but there’s no one to explain why I should, or what I should expect.” All agreed. “ICT people don’t really understand my business, and honestly, I don’t often understand what they are telling me.” All agreed.

The communications barrier between ICT professionals and non-ICT organizations is hardly unique to Gaza. These responses suggest that some ICT growth might be achievable with more effective, client-centered discussion of its benefits.

9.3.2 Hiring Prospects and Obstacles Almost all of the non-ICT organization interviewees are expanding their ICT usage, and a substantial majority plan to do so by hiring. They outlined plans involving an additional 41 ICT jobs for the coming year, or nearly 30% growth of their ICT staff; but their expanded ICT usage is still primarily in-house rather than market-oriented. Asked for the obstacles which impede their ICT growth, most focus group participants cited money: investment and maintenance funds. Other obstacles included Gaza’s difficult infrastructure and restrictions on the import of hardware. ICT graduate skills were also seen as an obstacle. NGOs were further limited by short donor cycles and a donor hesitation to fund ICT as a core cost. However, senior management attitudes were not considered to be a limiting factor. The research suggests that a number of non-ICT organizations are interested in intensifying their use of technology, including hiring additional staff. This does not imply that all other organizations would follow suit, as technology is not equally relevant to all. However, adhering to the previous suggestions of targeting, the research suggests that an ICT diffusion program based on thoughtful consultation about ICT’s potential, a design of sector-specific ICT projects and access to investment funds for the employers would find take-up and demonstrate local employment growth.

9.4 Women and the Opportunity Gap

In the West Bank and Gaza in 2012, 17% of women participated in the labor force, compared with 68.7% of men.40 Of the small percentage of women who participate in the labor force in the Gaza Strip, a large percentage, 47%, are unemployed.41

40 PCBS available at www.pcbs.gov.ps/site/512/default.aspx?tabID=512&lang=en&ItemID=725&mid=3171&wversion=Staging, last accessed 22 March 2013; and World Bank, supra, page 18. 41 United Nations, Gaza in 2020, supra. Figure from first quarter of 2012.

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http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/site/512/default.aspx?tabID=512&lang=en&ItemID=725&mid=3171&wversion=Staging


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Educated Gazan women face an employment dilemma. While the number of women going on to higher education has doubled in the last decade, higher educated women also represent the greatest percentage of unemployed women.42 As Gaza’s women become more educated, their chances of finding a job decrease. ICT companies are often less traditional and more merit-driven than others, and 31% of their ICT staff are women. ICT represents an important opportunity for Gaza’s women, but not a simple one. In March 2013 Mercy Corps conducted a focus group discussion with eight female ICT graduates. Their comments are included here as a perspective on the opportunity gap because women’s experience diverges from men’s more sharply after university, in the job search and in the job experience.43 Like their male counterparts, female focus group participants questioned the quality of their education as workforce preparation, as well as the market qualifications of their instructors. Participants in the women’s focus group felt that both ICT skills and ICT job roles remain gender-differentiated in Gaza. Hardware and network maintenance were skills associated with men, and women were dissuaded from working in these fields (although one woman with hardware maintenance experience felt that its physical demands were better suited to men). At times, private sector network training was limited to male students. Women also have difficulty being hired or being accepted in sales functions by employers or by clients. One company changed the position title from ‘sales representative’ to ‘public relations’ in order to recruit a woman with less societal resistance. Women experience a competitive disadvantage in any position that calls for extra hours or evening shifts, when cultural or family expectations limit their work. Similarly, female employees or company owners can be restricted in their networking, which may take place outside of office hours. Because ICT is so competitive, many professionals undertake extra learning in forms that are less accessible to women, such as travelling for professional development opportunities. Within their work, the focus group participants agreed that there are no wage distinctions between male and female colleagues. For reasons relating to the enduring, gendered assumptions about science, the under-representation of women in ICT is a wider problem. The Canadian study noted that in 2006, less than 25% of its ICT workforce were women.44 (In comparison, 31% of the ICT professionals employed by the ICT companies interviewed are women.) Because of the significance of ICT to the prospects of Gazan professional women (and equally, because of the significance of women to the potential of the industry), public and private employers should consider tapping into the global and regional experience of making work and workplaces more inclusive.

42 United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, Who answers to Gazan women? An economic security and rights research, 2011. 43 The university experience can still be gendered, as experienced by one set of male and female twins. Both studied ICT, and at times they were able to compare the more detailed, practical information provided to the men’s lecture groups against the general information provided to women’s lecture groups. (Mercy Corps Focus Group, March 2013.) 44 Information and Communications Technology Council, supra, page 2.

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The following key observations arise from the research: Gaza has an opportunity gap, in addition to its skills gap. Issues of unemployment will not be

resolved until ICT is more widely used in Gaza’s economy. Gaza has a technology-savvy young generation that includes both ICT professionals and an

under-served market demographic. ICT adoption, the purchase and use of a computer, takes place at a reasonable level in Gaza’s

larger companies, but that falls short of the ICT use which improves a company’s position or generates employment.

Gaza’s low ICT utilization should be understood as a negative cycle: organizations miss the opportunities of technology, and ICT companies have only a weak, small market in which to learn. Obstacles to more intensive ICT use are both external and, in many instances, local and actionable.

Attitudes toward ICT appear to have moved since earlier research was completed. Current attitudes suggest that some ICT diffusion would be readily achieved with improved, client-centered communications, and the targeting and design of thoughtful projects.

ICT represents a significant opportunity for Gazan women, with ICT companies interviewed employing 31% female ICT staff. However, the opportunity is undermined by the gendered experience of job roles, and social or cultural limitations which impede women’s competitiveness.

The following recommendations arise from the observations: To Students and Graduates: Imagine and research ICT more broadly, and seek cross-sectoral experience and study. To ICT Companies: Learn to conduct a client-centered dialogue about the benefits of ICT. To Non-ICT Organizations: View ICT as a strategic response to Gaza’s isolation and constraints. Consider trials of local social marketing for Gaza’s young demographic. To Donors and Non-Governmental Organizations: View technology as an enabler in economic development. Encode the value of ICT into

industry value chains. Ensure women are mainstreamed into ICT projects, and if necessary, pilot projects which

empower women to participate in the ICT labor force, with transport and remote work facilities.

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10. Gaza’s Missing ICT Labor Markets

This section briefly describes several forms of ICT employment that barely exist in Gaza, but which are the focus of resources and experience elsewhere. The purpose of this section is to suggest strategies which might grow Gaza’s ICT employment potential: strategic ICT diffusion in the digital economy, labor-intensive outsourcing and micro-work for individual freelancers. None of these forms of employment is likely to emerge without support, and in each case, a few indicative suggestions for the nature of necessary support are included. Detailed feasibility assessments are beyond the scope of this report.

10.1 Encouraging the Growth of the Digital Economy

Why do other countries formulate national ICT policies and consider technology diffusion and education to be a matter of public interest? Although this study focuses on economic benefit, it is by now accepted that technology also brings civic, personal, creative, consumer and other quality of life enhancements: ICT is both a cause and an effect of advancement. It is a public good (although it is hardly without downsides), and most countries consider it to be worthy of the investment of public resources. Donors view it as a development platform, as well as an industry in its own right. Economically, who benefits? As a target for public funds, how significant are the benefits of the digital economy to the non-ICT economy and wider community? In a 2012 study, Internet Matters, the authors found that:

“The Internet’s main [economic] impact is through the modernization of traditional [industries].”45

“Traditional industries capture 75% of the value of the Internet.” 46

“Manufacturing is one of the sectors enjoying most impact” from technology.47

“[O]n average, companies using Internet with a high intensity grow twice as quickly… export twice as much… and create more than twice as many jobs.”48 (emphasis added)

“The analysis showed a clear correlation between per capita GDP growth and a country’s Internet maturity.”49

ICT is an “enabler”, fueling other industries’ growth and competitiveness.50 Governments invest in ICT diffusion for the sake of their wider economies’ competitiveness and job creation potential. Conversely, low ICT usage limits the potential and performance of other industries. ICT is part of Gaza’s wider economic solution, and its under-utilization is part of Gaza’s wider economic challenge. Gaza’s restricted exports do not render technology unimportant to Gazan businesses. As the digital generation intuitively understands, technology can be a strategic response to environment.

45 McKinsey Global Institute, Internet Matters: The Net's Sweeping Impact on Growth, Jobs and Prosperity, May 2011. 46 Ibid, page 22. 47 Ibid, page 17. 48 Ibid, page 18. 49 Ibid, page 19. 50 Moustafa El-Gabaly, Mehdi Majidi, The Information Communication Technology (ICT) Penetration and Skills Gap Analysis, Planning and Learning Inc., July 2003, page 7.

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10.2 ICT Diffusion

Missing from Gaza are the jobs arising from a thoughtful, concerted ICT diffusion strategy to grow the digital economy and intensify non-ICT organizations’ usage of technology. ICT diffusion refers to the spread of technology beyond the narrow ICT industry. An ICT diffusion strategy would encourage the wider use and benefits of technology through Gaza’s private and public sectors. Gaza’s work environment is unique and no cookie-cutter diffusion strategy will fit, so any strategy should acknowledge key areas of learning from other diffusion experience and adapt them to the real potential of ICT within Gaza. The following five points summarize a few of the lessons of ICT diffusion research and the literature of ICT diffusion in developing countries and applied to the Gaza context.51

1. Adapt any program to Gaza’s growth sectors. Digital growth priorities follow the patterns of national economies. To chart a digital path for Gaza, the following sectors offer growth or efficiency potential: construction, electricity and water supply, manufacturing, trading and hospitality, health and education, e-government, and the NGO or relief distribution networks.

2. Different skills sets are needed for ICT diffusion jobs. Most diffused ICT is used as an input to other processes or goods. That is different from the ICT employment presently offered in most non-ICT organizations in Gaza, which manages the communications or back office functions of non-ICT organizations. Successful applied ICT professionals need to deeply understand the metrics, processes and issues of other industries, in order to apply technology to improve the performance and competitiveness of their employers.

3. Network effects52 argue strongly for targeting whole industries or market segments (including freelancers) for job creation. ICT will deliver more to industries than it will to individual companies which hire a consultant to design a single project. A serious investment in ICT within an industry will attract more students to become cross-sectorally proficient during their years of study, joint purchasing can lower transaction costs, and so on.

4. Decentralized organizations or processes benefit from the communications, standardization and other applications of technology. The NGO representatives in the Mercy Corps focus groups confirmed this benefit. A diffusion strategy should not be limited to commerce, but should include public sectors such as health, education and e-commerce. It should not be limited to companies, but should encompass decentralized processes, such as construction bidding, NGO procurement, etc.

5. Respond to perceptions. There is a body of development literature on ICT diffusion, and on the diffusion models applied to individual organizations and industries: several paths have been charted to ICT diffusion. However, the choice to adopt or intensify each organization’s reliance on technology is a matter of individual perceptions among decision-makers. Gaza’s non-ICT organizations have repeatedly noted their perception that the benefits of ICT are unclear. An ICT diffusion strategy should start there, with an experienced ICT consultant listening and proposing client-centered solutions.

51 For example, Chris Forman (Carnegie Mellon University) and Avi Goldfarb (University of Toronto), ICT Diffusion to Businesses, June 2005; Department of Economics and Geography, University of North Florida, An Analysis of the Determinants and Effects of ICT Diffusion in Developing Countries, 2003. 52 Network effects occur when the value of a product increases with the number of people using it. For example, the growing popularity of Samsung smartphones attracts more applications developers to Android than Apple’s iPhone platforms. The Samsung smartphones gain value as more programs are written for it, by virtue of its wider usage. Network effects are common in technology.

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10.3 Outsourcing

Missing from Gaza are the concentrations of employment arising from international contracting of regional or global work for completion in Gaza, including outsourcing.53 Outsourcing, including the individual outsourced micro-work discussed below, is labor-intensive, offering significant numbers of jobs; these jobs tend to require achievable, less sophisticated levels of skill. Gaza’s go-to-market strategy for outsourced contracts has been considered before, including by Mercy Corps, and research for the present study did not attempt to ascertain the market-readiness of Gaza’s ICT firms.54 However, areas of key learning from existing research and experience are summarized here. First, outsourcing is highly competitive. Mission Metrics, evaluating the experience of Cisco in the West Bank and Gaza, surveyed 63 international buyers of outsourced services. Their five top criteria were price, product quality, speed of delivery, technology infrastructure, and leadership and management.55 For Gaza to outsource, it must face the same global competitive priorities as other suppliers. In that competition, Gaza’s obstacles can be divided into two phases: obtaining and fulfilling contracts. Contracting obstacles include a lack of global brand awareness and the perceived risks of doing business in Gaza (risks including political, legal, and competitive factors), travel restrictions, lack of experience in costing and bidding, and the lack of a marketable portfolio of completed projects. Obstacles to delivery include poor infrastructure and risks associated with the legal environment, political risk, lack of appropriate project management experience, and the skills gap in Gaza’s labor market. By global standards, Gaza is also an expensive supplier in terms of its wages and costs. However, Gaza also has strengths to offer to the right niche, beginning with its educated, multi-lingual, eager young workforce, and its wide, experienced Diaspora community. Much like the ICT graduates themselves, Gaza needs assistance to get through the door of its first outsourcing partners. These points suggest the possibility of pursuing outsourcing contracts through a commercial impact sourcing program, in order to demonstrate project delivery and risk management, introduce new contracting relationships to Gaza, and grow the sector’s horizons. Ideally, such a program would also offer two forms of training: integrated skills/experiential training for new graduates, and commercial services to small and medium-sized enterprises in the skills of contracting and project management. Operating on a businesslike basis, such a program could provide two critical inputs for the ICT sector’s growth: professional capacity and market relationships.

53 Gaza has been awarded its first outsourced ICT contract, but the awardee declined to be interviewed for this report. 54 Nicolas White, supra. 55 Cisco, supra, pages 26 – 27.

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10.4 Micro-work

Missing on an organized scale from Gaza is individual digital economy employment through micro-work. Micro-work describes crowd-sourced, individual digital labor.56 Business processes may be broken down into simple, repetitive micro-tasks which are outsourced directly, or through aggregators who distribute and then re-combine the pieces of work. Micro-work can be completed individually, or through some form of an agent who manages the workflow and payments to a team. Micro-work can serve as an income supplement (as it reportedly does in the US despite its low wages), or as a primary form of income in countries where its low rates of pay are considered worthwhile. A number of individual ICT graduates in Gaza report obtaining micro-work as part of their search for experience. This form of freelancing has been discussed intermittently in Gaza, and the World Bank recently completed a feasibility study in the West Bank which found micro-work worth piloting “on a cautiously optimistic, limited, and selective basis”.57 Micro-work is global and pegged to low hourly incomes for maximum cost savings. The World Bank estimates an average hourly income of $1 to $2 per hour.58 Gaza’s formal minimum wage is 8.5 NIS ($2.40) per hour, while skilled Cash for Work rates among most INGOs are close to 75 NIS per day, or $2.60 per hour. Therefore, micro-work wages may not be of wide interest as a long-term form of employment. Individual micro-workers also face serious obstacles of electricity, bandwidth and barriers to receiving payments.59 These are among the reasons why individual micro-work does not take place on a large scale. Individual graduates also noted in Mercy Corps’ focus group that they were not paid, or were not able to receive the payment, for some of their crowd-sourced work experiments. Gaza’s combination of language and ICT knowledge may prove marketable in niches of micro-work, and there may be a significant number of ICT graduates for whom this flexible work form is a useful and desirable as a source of extra income, work experience or a stepping-stone to other jobs. A platform or hub with agency connections to secure workflow and payments should be considered as part of the solution to the lack of experience and full-time employment in Gaza. Well-designed, this hub would ideally integrate micro-work with skills training so that graduates can practice what they learn and develop an employable curriculum vitae.

56 Micro-work is distinct from remote employment such as that provided by Work Without Borders, although the benefits of a central platform are similar. 57 Country Management Unit for the Palestinian Territories and information Communication Technologies Unit, Microwork for the Palestinian Territories Feasibility Study, World Bank, February 2013. 58 Ibid. 59 Payment issues take two forms. First, there are very limited options for direct international bank transfers to Gaza. Second, fees and deductions in the course of such transfers can easily negate the value of poorly-paid work.

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The following observation arises from the desk research of global experience: Missing from Gaza are several strategies which could create ICT employment on a wider

scale: strategic ICT diffusion initiatives, outsourcing and micro-work. None of these are likely to become established in Gaza without assistance.

This observation, combined with other observations that preceded this section, led to the following recommendations: To Universities, Colleges and Training Centers: Establish multi-disciplinary degree programs in applied ICT, focusing on sectors which show

the greatest potential to grow or improve their operations with technology in Gaza. To Non-ICT Organizations: Consider ICT diffusion at the industry level, to create network effects and maximize benefit.

Consider ICT for decentralized processes, as well as commercial processes. To Donors and Non-Governmental Organizations: Recognize technology as a cross-cutting issue, and view ICT diffusion as a component of

economic development as well as employment growth. Consider a targeted ICT diffusion program based on thoughtful, client-centered consultation on the benefits of ICT; an industry- and size-specific target group. Incorporate access to investment funds and skills to implement and maintain projects into planning.

Develop pilots in the missing forms of ICT employment: strategic diffusion initiatives, outsourcing and micro-work aggregation. These forms of employment are not likely to materialize without support.

For Public Policy in Gaza: Formulate an ICT policy, recognizing the role of technology in economic performance and

competitiveness.

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Annex 1 - What the Jobs Are: ICT

Professions

Annex 1 details core ICT jobs and study paths For each field, the annex includes a sample of job titles, responsibilities, and the technology used in that field. The source of information for Annex 1 is O*NET Resource Center, which includes a database of hundreds of job descriptions, available at www.onetcenter.org. Annex 1 contains the following fields of computer study:

1. Computer and Information Systems Managers 2. Computer Hardware Engineer 3. Computer Network Architects 4. Computer Network Support Specialists

5. Computer Programmers

6. Computer Systems Analysts

7. Computer Systems Engineers/Architects

8. Computer User Support Specialists

9. Database Administrators

10. Database Architects

11. Film and Video Editors

12. Geographic Information Systems Technicians

13. Graphic Designers

14. Information Security Analysts

15. Information Technology Project Managers

16. Management Analysts

17. Multimedia Artists and Animators

18. Network and Computer Systems Administrators

19. Operations Research Analysts

20. Portals & Collaboration specialist

21. Software Developers, Applications

22. Software Developers, Systems Software

23. Software Quality Assurance Engineers and Testers

24. Web Administrators

25. Web Developers

1. Computer and Information Systems Managers

Main role: Plan, direct or coordinate activities in such fields as electronic data processing, information systems, systems analysis, and computer programming.

Sample of reported job titles: Information Technology Manager (IT Manager), Information Technology Director (IT Director), Information Systems Director (IS Director), Data Processing Manager, MIS Director (Management Information Systems Director), Information Systems Manager (IS Manager), Information Systems Supervisor (IS

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http://www.onetcenter.org/


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Supervisor), Computing Services Director, Director of Application Development, Technical Services Manager

Responsibilities: Review project plans to plan and coordinate project activity. Manage backup, security and user help systems. Develop and interpret organizational goals, policies, and procedures. Develop computer information resources, providing for data security and control,

strategic computing, and disaster recovery. Consult with users, management, vendors, and technicians to assess computing needs

and system requirements. Stay abreast of advances in technology. Meet with department heads, managers, supervisors, vendors, and others, to solicit

cooperation and resolve problems. Provide users with technical support for computer problems. Recruit, hire, train and supervise staff, or participate in staffing decisions. Evaluate data processing proposals to assess project feasibility and requirements.

Technology used in this occupation: customer relationship management CRM software, development environment software, enterprise resource planning ERP software, object or component oriented development software, web platform development software.

2. Computer Hardware Engineer

Main role: Research, design, develop, or test computer or computer-related equipment for commercial, industrial, military, or scientific use. May supervise the manufacturing and installation of computer or computer-related equipment and components.

Sample of reported job titles: Hardware Engineer, Engineer, Systems Engineer, Design Engineer, Field Service Engineer, Project Engineer, Systems Integration Engineer

Responsibilities: Update knowledge and skills to keep up with rapid advancements in computer

technology. Provide technical support to designers, marketing and sales departments, suppliers,

engineers and other team members throughout the product development and implementation process.

Test and verify hardware and support peripherals to ensure that they meet specifications and requirements, by recording and analyzing test data.

Monitor functioning of equipment and make necessary modifications to ensure system operates in conformance with specifications.

Analyze information to determine, recommend, and plan layout, including type of computers and peripheral equipment modifications.

Build, test, and modify product prototypes using working models or theoretical models constructed with computer simulation.

Analyze user needs and recommend appropriate hardware. Direct technicians, engineering designers or other technical support personnel as needed. Confer with engineering staff and consult specifications to evaluate interface between

hardware and software and operational and performance requirements of overall system. Select hardware and material, assuring compliance with specifications and product

requirements.

Technology used in this occupation: Analytical or scientific software, computer aided design CAD software, development environment software, object or component oriented development software, operating system software.

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3. Computer Network Architects

Main role: Design and implement computer and information networks, such as local area networks (LAN), wide area networks (WAN), intranets, extranets, and other data communications networks. Perform network modeling, analysis, and planning. May also design network and computer security measures. May research and recommend network and data communications hardware and software.

Sample of reported job titles: N/A

Responsibilities: Adjust network sizes to meet volume or capacity demands. Communicate with customers, sales staff, or marketing staff to determine customer

needs. Communicate with system users to ensure accounts are set up properly or to diagnose

and solve operational problems. Coordinate installation of new equipment. Coordinate network operations, maintenance, repairs, or upgrades. Coordinate network or design activities with designers of associated networks. Design, build, or operate equipment configuration prototypes, including network

hardware, software, servers, or server operation systems. Design, organize, and deliver product awareness, skills transfer, or product education

sessions for staff or suppliers. Determine specific network hardware or software requirements, such as platforms,

interfaces, bandwidths, or routine schemas. Develop and implement solutions for network problems.

Technology used in this occupation: Administration software, configuration management software, network monitoring software, network security or virtual private network VPN management software, transaction security and virus protection software

4. Computer Network Support Specialists

Mail role: Analyze, test, troubleshoot, and evaluate existing network systems, such as local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), and Internet systems or a segment of a network system. Perform network maintenance to ensure networks operate correctly with minimal interruption.


Responsibilities: Analyze network data to determine network usage, disk space availability, or server

function. Configure and define parameters for installation or testing of local area network (LAN),

wide area network (WAN), hubs, routers, switches, controllers, multiplexers, or related networking equipment.

Configure security settings or access permissions for groups or individuals. Configure wide area network (WAN) or local area network (LAN) routers or related

equipment. Document network support activities. Evaluate local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN) performance data to

ensure sufficient availability or speed, to identify network problems, or for disaster recovery purposes.

Identify the causes of networking problems, using diagnostic testing software and equipment.

Install and configure wireless networking equipment. Install network software, including security or firewall software.

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Install new hardware or software systems or components, ensuring integration with existing network systems.

Technology used in this occupation: Administration software, backup or archival software, network monitoring software, network security or virtual private network VPN management software, operating system software.

5. Computer Programmers

Main role: Create, modify, and test the code, forms, and script that allow computer applications to run. Work from specifications drawn up by software developers or other individuals. May assist software developers by analyzing user needs and designing software solutions. May develop and write computer programs to store, locate, and retrieve specific documents, data, and information.

Sample of reported job titles: Programmer Analyst, Programmer, Analyst Programmer, Computer Programmer, Software Developer, Applications Developer, Computer Programmer Analyst, Internet Programmer, Java Developer, Web Programmer

Responsibilities: Correct errors by making appropriate changes and rechecking the program to ensure that

the desired results are produced. Conduct trial runs of programs and software applications to be sure they will produce the

desired information and that the instructions are correct. Write, update, and maintain computer programs or software packages to handle specific

jobs such as tracking inventory, storing or retrieving data, or controlling other equipment.

Write, analyze, review, and rewrite programs, using workflow chart and diagram, and applying knowledge of computer capabilities, subject matter, and symbolic logic.

Perform or direct revision, repair, or expansion of existing programs to increase operating efficiency or adapt to new requirements.

Consult with managerial, engineering, and technical personnel to clarify program intent, identify problems, and suggest changes.

Perform systems analysis and programming tasks to maintain and control the use of computer systems software as a systems programmer.

Compile and write documentation of program development and subsequent revisions, inserting comments in the coded instructions so others can understand the program.

Prepare detailed workflow charts and diagrams that describe input, output, and logical operation, and convert them into a series of instructions coded in a computer language.

Consult with and assist computer operators or system analysts to define and resolve problems in running computer programs.

Technology used in this occupation: Compiler and de-compiler software, data base management system software, data base user interface and query software, development environment software, object or component oriented development software, web platform development software.

6. Computer Systems Analysts

Main role: Analyze science, engineering, business, and other data processing problems to implement and improve computer systems. Analyze user requirements, procedures, and problems to automate or improve existing systems and review computer system capabilities, workflow, and scheduling limitations. May analyze or recommend commercially available software.

Sample of reported job titles: Systems Analyst, Programmer Analyst, Business Systems Analyst, Computer Systems Analyst, Computer Systems Consultant, Computer Analyst,

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Information Systems Analyst (ISA), Applications Analyst, Business Analyst, Systems Engineer

Responsibilities: Expand or modify system to serve new purposes or improve work flow. Test, maintain, and monitor computer programs and systems, including coordinating the

installation of computer programs and systems. Develop, document and revise system design procedures, test procedures, and quality

standards. Provide staff and users with assistance solving computer related problems, such as

malfunctions and program problems. Review and analyze computer printouts and performance indicators to locate code

problems, and correct errors by correcting codes. Consult with management to ensure agreement on system principles. Confer with clients regarding the nature of the information processing or computation

needs a computer program is to address. Read manuals, periodicals, and technical reports to learn how to develop programs that

meet staff and user requirements. Coordinate and link the computer systems within an organization to increase

compatibility and so information can be shared. Determine computer software or hardware needed to set up or alter system.

Technology used in this occupation: Configuration management software, development environment software, enterprise application integration software, object or component oriented development software, program testing software, web platform development software.

7. Computer Systems Engineers/Architects

Main role: Design and develop solutions to complex applications problems, system administration issues, or network concerns. Perform systems management and integration functions.

Sample of reported job titles: Systems Engineer, Electronic Data Interchange System Developer (EDI System Developer), System Architect

Responsibilities: Communicate with staff or clients to understand specific system requirements. Provide advice on project costs, design concepts, or design changes. Document design specifications, installation instructions, and other system-related

information. Verify stability, interoperability, portability, security, or scalability of system architecture. Collaborate with engineers or software developers to select appropriate design solutions

or ensure the compatibility of system components. Evaluate current or emerging technologies to consider factors such as cost, portability,

compatibility, or usability. Provide technical guidance or support for the development or troubleshooting of

systems. Identify system data, hardware, or software components required to meet user needs. Provide guidelines for implementing secure systems to customers or installation teams. Monitor system operation to detect potential problems.

Technology used in this occupation: Data base management system software, development environment software, object or component oriented development software, operating system software, web platform development software.

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8. Computer User Support Specialists

Main role: Provide technical assistance to computer users. Answer questions or resolve computer problems for clients in person, or via telephone or electronically. May provide assistance concerning the use of computer hardware and software, including printing, installation, word processing, electronic mail, and operating systems.

Sample of reported job titles: Information Technology Specialist (IT Specialist), Support Specialist, Computer Technician, Computer Support Specialist, Help Desk Analyst, Technical Support Specialist, Network Support Specialist, Electronic Data Processing Auditor (EDP Auditor), Network Technician, Computer Specialist

Responsibilities: Oversee the daily performance of computer systems. Answer user inquiries regarding computer software or hardware operation to resolve

problems. Enter commands and observe system functioning to verify correct operations and detect

errors. Set up equipment for employee use, performing or ensuring proper installation of cables,

operating systems, or appropriate software. Install and perform minor repairs to hardware, software, or peripheral equipment,

following design or installation specifications. Maintain records of daily data communication transactions, problems and remedial

actions taken, or installation activities. Read technical manuals, confer with users, or conduct computer diagnostics to

investigate and resolve problems or to provide technical assistance and support. Refer major hardware or software problems or defective products to vendors or

technicians for service. Develop training materials and procedures, or train users in the proper use of hardware

or software. Confer with staff, users, and management to establish requirements for new systems or

modifications.

Technology used in this occupation: Backup or archival software, configuration management software, data base user interface and query software, desktop communications software, operating system software.

9. Database Administrators

Main role: Administer, test, and implement computer databases, applying knowledge of database management systems. Coordinate changes to computer databases. May plan, coordinate, and implement security measures to safeguard computer databases.

Sample of reported job titles: Database Administrator (DBA), Database Analyst, Database Administration Manager, Database Coordinator, Database Programmer, Information Systems Manager, Management Information Systems Director (MIS Director), Programmer Analyst, Systems Manager

Responsibilities: Test programs or databases, correct errors and make necessary modifications. Modify existing databases and database management systems or direct programmers and

analysts to make changes. Plan, coordinate and implement security measures to safeguard information in computer

files against accidental or unauthorized damage, modification or disclosure. Work as part of a project team to coordinate database development and determine

project scope and limitations.

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Write and code logical and physical database descriptions and specify identifiers of database to management system or direct others in coding descriptions.

Train users and answer questions. Specify users and user access levels for each segment of database. Approve, schedule, plan, and supervise the installation and testing of new products and

improvements to computer systems such as the installation of new databases. Review project requests describing database user needs to estimate time and cost

required to accomplish project. Develop standards and guidelines to guide the use and acquisition of software and to

protect vulnerable information.

Technology used in this occupation: Backup or archival software, data base management system software, metadata management software, object or component oriented development software, operating system software.

10. Database Architects

Main role: Design strategies for enterprise database systems and set standards for operations, programming, and security. Design and construct large relational databases. Integrate new systems with existing warehouse structure and refine system performance and functionality.


Responsibilities: Develop and document database architectures. Develop database architectural strategies at the modeling, design and implementation

stages to address business or industry requirements. Collaborate with system architects, software architects, design analysts, and others to

understand business or industry requirements. Create and enforce database development standards. Demonstrate database technical functionality, such as performance, security and

reliability. Design database applications, such as interfaces, data transfer mechanisms, global

temporary tables, data partitions, and function-based indexes to enable efficient access of the generic database structure.

Design databases to support business applications, ensuring system scalability, security, performance and reliability.

Develop data models for applications, metadata tables, views or related database structures.

Develop load-balancing processes to eliminate down time for backup processes. Develop or maintain archived procedures, procedural codes, or queries for applications.

Technology used in this occupation: Backup or archival software, data base management system software, development environment software, enterprise application integration software, metadata management software, operating system software.

11. Film and Video Editors

Main role: Edit moving images on film, video, or other media. May edit or synchronize soundtracks with images.

Sample of reported job titles: Editor, Video Editor, News Editor, Videographer, News Video Editor, News Videotape Editor, Assistant Film Editor, Film Editor, Non-Linear Editor, Online Editor

Responsibilities:

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Organize and string together raw footage into a continuous whole according to scripts or the instructions of directors and producers.

Review assembled films or edited videotapes on screens or monitors to determine if corrections are necessary.

Trim film segments to specified lengths, and reassemble segments in sequences that present stories with maximum effect.

Determine the specific audio and visual effects and music necessary to complete films. Set up and operate computer editing systems, electronic titling systems, video switching

equipment, and digital video effects units to produce a final product. Select and combine the most effective shots of each scene to form a logical and smoothly

running story. Edit films and videotapes to insert music, dialogue, and sound effects, to arrange films

into sequences, and to correct errors, using editing equipment. Cut shot sequences to different angles at specific points in scenes, making each individual

cut as fluid and seamless as possible. Mark frames where a particular shot or piece of sound is to begin or end. Verify key numbers and time codes on materials.

Technology used in this occupation: Graphics or photo imaging software, music or sound editing software, video creation and editing software, web page creation and editing software, web platform development software.

12. Geographic Information Systems Technicians

Main role: Assist scientists, technologists, or related professionals in building, maintaining, modifying, or using geographic information systems (GIS) databases. May also perform some custom application development or provide user support.

Sample of reported job titles: Geographic Information Systems Analyst (GIS Analyst), Geographic Information Systems Specialist (GIS Specialist), Geographic Information Systems Technician (GIS Technician), Cartographer, Geographic Information Systems Coordinator (GIS Coordinator), Technical Support Specialist

Responsibilities: Design or prepare graphic representations of Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

data, using GIS hardware or software applications. Analyze Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data to identify spatial relationships or

display results of analyses, using maps, graphs, or tabular data. Maintain or modify existing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) databases. Enter data into Geographic Information Systems (GIS) databases, using techniques such

as coordinate geometry, keyboard entry of tabular data, manual digitizing of maps, scanning or automatic conversion to vectors, or conversion of other sources of digital data.

Review existing or incoming data for currency, accuracy, usefulness, quality, or completeness of documentation.

Perform geospatial data building, modeling, or analysis, using advanced spatial analysis, data manipulation, or cartography software.

Design or coordinate the development of integrated Geographic Information Systems (GIS) spatial or non-spatial databases.

Select cartographic elements needed for effective presentation of information. Provide technical support to users or clients regarding the maintenance, development, or

operation of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) databases, equipment, or applications.

Interpret aerial photographs.

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Technology used in this occupation: Analytical or scientific software, data base user interfaces and query software, development environment software, map creation software, object or component oriented development software.

13. Graphic Designers

Main Role: Design or create graphics to meet specific commercial or promotional needs, such as packaging, displays, or logos. May use a variety of mediums to achieve artistic or decorative effects.

Sample of reported job titles: Graphic Design Specialist, Graphic Designer, Graphic Artist, Designer, Creative Director, Artist, Design Director, Composing Room Supervisor, Creative Manager, Desktop Publisher, Graphic Designer/Production

Responsibilities: Create designs, concepts, and sample layouts based on knowledge of layout principles

and esthetic design concepts. Determine size and arrangement of illustrative material and copy, and select style and size

of type. Confer with clients to discuss and determine layout design. Develop graphics and layouts for product illustrations, company logos, and Internet

websites. Review final layouts and suggest improvements as needed. Prepare illustrations or rough sketches of material, discussing them with clients or

supervisors and making necessary changes. Use computer software to generate new images. Key information into computer equipment to create layouts for client or supervisor. Maintain archive of images, photos, or previous work products. Prepare notes and instructions for workers who assemble and prepare final layouts for

printing.

Technology used in this occupation: Data base user interface and query software, desktop publishing software, graphics or photo imaging software, web page creation and editing software, web platform development software.

14. Information Security Analysts

Main role: Plan, implement, upgrade, or monitor security measures for the protection of computer networks and information. May ensure appropriate security controls are in place that will safeguard digital files and vital electronic infrastructure. May respond to computer security breaches and viruses.

Sample of reported job titles: Information Technology Specialist, Data Security Administrator, Information Security Analyst, Information Security Officer, Computer Specialist, Information Security Specialist, Information Systems Security Analyst, Computer Security Specialist, Information Security Manager, Information Technology Security Analyst

Responsibilities: Encrypt data transmissions and erect firewalls to conceal confidential information as it is

being transmitted and to keep out tainted digital transfers. Develop plans to safeguard computer files against accidental or unauthorized

modification, destruction, or disclosure and to meet emergency data processing needs. Review violations of computer security procedures and discuss procedures with violators

to ensure violations are not repeated. Monitor use of data files and regulate access to safeguard information in computer files. Monitor current reports of computer viruses to determine when to update virus

protection systems.

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Modify computer security files to incorporate new software, correct errors, or change individual access status.

Perform risk assessments and execute tests of data processing system to ensure functioning of data processing activities and security measures.

Confer with users to discuss issues such as computer data access needs, security violations, and programming changes.

Train users and promote security awareness to ensure system security and to improve server and network efficiency.

Coordinate implementation of computer system plan with establishment personnel and outside vendors.

Technology used in this occupation: Authentication server software, Internet directory services software, active directory software, network monitoring software, network security or virtual private network VPN management software, transaction security and virus protection software.

15. Information Technology Project Managers

Main role: Plan initiate, and manage information technology (IT) projects. Lead and guide the work of technical staff. Serve as liaison between business and technical aspects of projects. Plan project stages and assess business implications for each stage. Monitor progress to assure deadlines, standards, and cost targets are met.


Responsibilities: Manage project execution to ensure adherence to budget, schedule, and scope. Develop or update project plans for information technology projects including

information such as project objectives, technologies, systems, information specifications, schedules, funding, and staffing.

Monitor or track project milestones and deliverables. Confer with project personnel to identify and resolve problems. Develop and manage work breakdown structure (WBS) of information technology

projects. Submit project deliverables, ensuring adherence to quality standards. Prepare project status reports by collecting, analyzing, and summarizing information and

trends. Direct or coordinate activities of project personnel. Establish and execute a project communication plan. Assign duties, responsibilities, and spans of authority to project personnel.

Technology used in this occupation: Data base user interface and query software, development environment software, enterprise resource planning ERP software, pattern design software, and project management software.

16. Management Analysts

Main role: Conduct organizational studies and evaluations, design systems and procedures, conduct work simplification and measurement studies, and prepare operations and procedures manuals to assist management in operating more efficiently and effectively. Includes program analysts and management consultants.

Sample of reported job titles: Management Analyst, Business Analyst, Administrative Analyst, Employment Programs Analyst, Program Management Analyst, Quality Control Analyst

Responsibilities:

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Gather and organize information on problems or procedures. Analyze data gathered and develop solutions or alternative methods of proceeding. Confer with personnel concerned to ensure successful functioning of newly implemented

systems or procedures. Develop and implement records management program for filing, protection, and

retrieval of records, and assure compliance with program. Review forms and reports and confer with management and users about format,

distribution, and purpose, and to identify problems and improvements. Interview personnel and conduct on-site observation to ascertain unit functions, work

performed, and methods, equipment, and personnel used. Document findings of study and prepare recommendations for implementation of new

systems, procedures, or organizational changes. Prepare manuals and train workers in use of new forms, reports, procedures or

equipment, according to organizational policy. Design, evaluate, recommend, and approve changes of forms and reports. Plan study of work problems and procedures, such as organizational change,

communications, information flow, integrated production methods, inventory control, or cost analysis.

Technology used in this occupation: Analytical or scientific software, data base user interface and query software, electronic mail software, enterprise resource planning ERP software, project management software.

17. Multimedia Artists and Animators

Main role: Create special effects, animation, or other visual images using film, video, computers, or other electronic tools and media for use in products or creations, such as computer games, movies, music videos, and commercials.

Sample of reported job titles: Multimedia Specialist, Animator, Creative Director, Art Director, Artist, Graphic Artist, Graphic Designer, Illustrator, 3D Artist, 3D Animator, Animation Director

Responsibilities: Create two-dimensional and three-dimensional images depicting objects in motion or

illustrating a process, using computer animation or modeling programs. Design complex graphics and animation, using independent judgment, creativity, and

computer equipment. Make objects or characters appear lifelike by manipulating light, color, texture, shadow,

and transparency, or manipulating static images to give the illusion of motion. Apply story development, directing, cinematography, and editing to animation to create

storyboards that show the flow of the animation and map out key scenes and characters. Participate in design and production of multimedia campaigns, handling budgeting and

scheduling, and assisting with such responsibilities as production coordination, background design and progress tracking.

Create basic designs, drawings, and illustrations for product labels, cartons, direct mail, or television.

Develop briefings, brochures, multimedia presentations, web pages, promotional products, technical illustrations, and computer artwork for use in products, technical manuals, literature, newsletters and slide shows.

Script, plan, and create animated narrative sequences under tight deadlines, using computer software and hand drawing techniques.

Implement and maintain configuration control systems.

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Assemble, typeset, scan and produce digital camera-ready art or film negatives and printer's proofs.

Technology used in this occupation: Computer aided design CAD software, development environment software, graphics or photo imaging software, operating system software, video creation and editing software, web platform development software.

18. Network and Computer Systems Administrators

Main role: Configure, and support an organization's local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), and Internet systems or a segment of a network system. Monitor network to ensure network availability to all system users and may perform necessary maintenance to support network availability. May monitor and test Web site performance to ensure Web sites operate correctly and without interruption. May assist in network modeling, analysis, planning, and coordination between network and data communications hardware and software. May supervise computer user support specialists and computer network support specialists. May administer network security measures.

Sample of reported job titles: Systems Administrator, Network Administrator, Network Engineer, Information Technology Specialist (IT Specialist), Local Area Network Administrator (LAN Administrator), Information Technology Manager (IT Manager), Information Technology Director (IT Director), Systems Engineer, Network Manager, Network Specialist

Responsibilities: Maintain and administer computer networks and related computing environments

including computer hardware, systems software, applications software, and all configurations.

Perform data backups and disaster recovery operations. Diagnose, troubleshoot, and resolve hardware, software, or other network and system

problems, and replace defective components when necessary. Plan, coordinate, and implement network security measures to protect data, software,

and hardware. Configure, monitor, and maintain email applications or virus protection software. Operate master consoles to monitor the performance of computer systems and

networks, and to coordinate computer network access and use. Load computer tapes and disks, and install software and printer paper or forms. Design, configure, and test computer hardware, networking software and operating

system software. Monitor network performance to determine whether adjustments need to be made, and

to determine where changes will need to be made in the future. Confer with network users about how to solve existing system problems.

Technology used in this occupation: Administration software, configuration management software, network monitoring software, network security or virtual private network VPN management software, transaction security and virus protection software.

19. Operations Research Analysts

Main role: Formulate and apply mathematical modeling and other optimizing methods to develop and interpret information that assists management with decision making, policy formulation, or other managerial functions. May collect and analyze data and develop decision support software, service, or products. May develop and supply optimal time, cost, or logistics networks for program evaluation, review, or implementation.

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Sample of reported job titles: Operations Research Analyst, Operations Research Manager, Scientist, Analytical Strategist, Business Analytics Director, Business Insight and Analytics Manager, Decision Analyst, Operations Research Group Manager

Responsibilities: Specify manipulative or computational methods to be applied to models. Define data requirements and gather and validate information, applying judgment and

statistical tests. Collaborate with senior managers and decision makers to identify and solve a variety of

problems and to clarify management objectives. Perform validation and testing of models to ensure adequacy and reformulate models as

necessary. Develop and apply time and cost networks to plan, control, and review large projects. Formulate mathematical or simulation models of problems, relating constants and

variables, restrictions, alternatives, conflicting objectives, and their numerical parameters. Develop business methods and procedures, including accounting systems, file systems,

office systems, logistics systems, and production schedules. Design, conduct, and evaluate experimental operational models in cases where models

cannot be developed from existing data. Study and analyze information about alternative courses of action to determine which

plan will offer the best outcomes. Prepare management reports defining and evaluating problems and recommending

solutions.

Technology used in this occupation: Analytical or scientific software, computer aided design CAD software, data base reporting software, data base user interface and query software, development environment software, object or component oriented development software.

20. Portals & Collaboration specialist

Main role: Configures and customizes user requirements into content management systems (e.g. SharePoint) and ensures that the system is operating optimally. Additionally, the Specialist looks for ways to improve content process workflows, business collaboration and project communications. Collaboration Specialists also improve efficiency by working with Legal and IT departments on record definition (emails, contracts, project plans, etc.) retention and retirement.


Responsibilities: Define universe of content, workflow and develop processes and policies Designing and developing Intranet, Extranet and Internet portals using for example

Microsoft SharePoint. Custom development, configuration and administration Develop and implement workflow solutions. .NET development within the SharePoint framework Address and reconcile problems in accordance to scope, timeline, and budgetary

parameters Partner with end-users to diagnose and resolve critical content management related

challenges/problems.

Technology used in this occupation: Object-Oriented development software, Web languages (HTML, CSS, JavaScript), integration platforms, Database platforms, enterprise collaboration portals.

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21. Software Developers, Applications

Main role: Develop, create, and modify general computer applications software or specialized utility programs. Analyze user needs and develop software solutions. Design software or customize software for client use with the aim of optimizing operational efficiency. May analyze and design databases within an application area, working individually or coordinating database development as part of a team. May supervise computer programmers.

Sample of reported job titles: Software Engineer, Application Integration Engineer, Programmer Analyst, Software Development Engineer, Computer Consultant, Software Architect, Software Developer, Technical Consultant, Applications Developer, Business Systems Analyst.

Responsibilities: Modify existing software to correct errors, allow it to adapt to new hardware, or to

improve its performance. Develop and direct software system testing and validation procedures, programming, and

documentation. Confer with systems analysts, engineers, programmers and others to design system and

to obtain information on project limitations and capabilities, performance requirements and interfaces.

Analyze user needs and software requirements to determine feasibility of design within time and cost constraints.

Design, develop and modify software systems, using scientific analysis and mathematical models to predict and measure outcome and consequences of design.

Store, retrieve, and manipulate data for analysis of system capabilities and requirements. Consult with customers about software system design and maintenance. Supervise the work of programmers, technologists and technicians and other engineering

and scientific personnel. Coordinate software system installation and monitor equipment functioning to ensure

specifications are met. Obtain and evaluate information on factors such as reporting formats required, costs,

and security needs to determine hardware configuration.

Technology used in this occupation: Development environment software, object or component oriented development software, program testing software, web platform development software.

22. Software Developers, Systems Software

Main role: Research, design, develop, and test operating systems-level software, compilers, and network distribution software for medical, industrial, military, communications, aerospace, business, scientific, and general computing applications. Set operational specifications and formulate and analyze software requirements. May design embedded systems software. Apply principles and techniques of computer science, engineering, and mathematical analysis.

Sample of reported job titles: Software Engineer, Software Developer, Systems Engineer, Network Engineer, Developer, Publishing Systems Analyst, Application Developer, Averaged HEND (High-Energy Neutron Data) Data Product Lead (AHD Product Lead), Business Systems Analyst, Computer Consultant

Responsibilities: Modify existing software to correct errors, to adapt it to new hardware, or to upgrade

interfaces and improve performance. Advise customer about or perform maintenance of software system.

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Analyze information to determine, recommend, and plan installation of a new system or modification of an existing system.

Consult with engineering staff to evaluate interface between hardware and software, develop specifications and performance requirements, or resolve customer problems.

Direct software programming and development of documentation. Store, retrieve, and manipulate data for analysis of system capabilities and requirements. Confer with data processing or project managers to obtain information on limitations or

capabilities for data processing projects. Consult with customers or other departments on project status, proposals, or technical

issues, such as software system design or maintenance. Coordinate installation of software system. Prepare reports or correspondence concerning project specifications, activities, or status.

Technology used in this occupation: Data-base management system software, development environment software, object or component oriented development software, operating system software, program testing software.

23. Software Quality Assurance Engineers and Testers

Main role: Develop and execute software test plans in order to identify software problems and their causes.

Sample of reported job titles: Quality Assurance Analyst (QA Analyst), Quality Assurance Director (QA Director), Software Quality Assurance Engineer (SQA Engineer), Software Quality Engineer, Product Assurance Engineer, Software Test Engineer

Responsibilities: Design test plans, scenarios, scripts, or procedures. Test system modifications to prepare for implementation. Develop testing programs that address areas such as database impacts, software

scenarios, regression testing, negative testing, error or bug retests, or usability. Document software defects, using a bug tracking system, and report defects to software

developers. Identify, analyze, and document problems with program function, output, online screen,

or content. Monitor bug resolution efforts and track successes. Create or maintain databases of known test defects. Plan test schedules or strategies in accordance with project scope or delivery dates. Participate in product design reviews to provide input on functional requirements,

product designs, schedules, or potential problems. Review software documentation to ensure technical accuracy, compliance, or

completeness, or to mitigate risks.

Technology used in this occupation: Development environment software, object or component oriented development software, operating system software, program testing software, web platform development software.

24. Web Administrators

Main role: Manage web environment design, deployment, development and maintenance activities. Perform testing and quality assurance of web sites and web applications.

Sample of reported job titles: Corporate Webmaster, Information Technology Manager (IT Manager), Web Site Manager

Responsibilities: Back up or modify applications and related data to provide for disaster recovery.

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Determine sources of web page or server problems, and take action to correct such problems.

Review or update web page content or links in a timely manner, using appropriate tools. Monitor systems for intrusions or denial of service attacks, and report security breaches

to appropriate personnel. Implement web site security measures, such as firewalls or message encryption. Administer internet/intranet infrastructure, including components such as web, file

transfer protocol (FTP), news and mail servers. Collaborate with development teams to discuss, analyze, or resolve usability issues. Test backup or recovery plans regularly and resolve any problems. Monitor web developments through continuing education, reading, or participation in

professional conferences, workshops, or groups. Implement updates, upgrades, and patches in a timely manner to limit loss of service.

Technology used in this occupation: Application server software, graphics or photo imaging software, operating system software, web page creation and editing software, web platform development software.

25. Web Developers

Main role: Design, create, and modify Web sites. Analyze user needs to implement Web site content, graphics, performance, and capacity. May integrate Web sites with other computer applications. May convert written, graphic, audio, and video components to compatible Web formats by using software designed to facilitate the creation of Web and multimedia content.

Sample of reported job titles: Webmaster, Web Designer, Web Developer

Responsibilities: Design, build, or maintain web sites, using authoring or scripting languages, content

creation tools, management tools, and digital media. Perform or direct web site updates. Write, design, or edit web page content, or direct others producing content. Confer with management or development teams to prioritize needs, resolve conflicts,

develop content criteria, or choose solutions. Back up files from web sites to local directories for instant recovery in case of problems. Identify problems uncovered by testing or customer feedback, and correct problems or

refer problems to appropriate personnel for correction. Evaluate code to ensure that it is valid, is properly structured, meets industry standards

and is compatible with browsers, devices, or operating systems. Maintain understanding of current web technologies or programming practices through

continuing education, reading, or participation in professional conferences, workshops, or groups.

Analyze user needs to determine technical requirements. Develop or validate test routines and schedules to ensure that test cases mimic external

interfaces and address all browser and device types.

Technology used in this occupation: Application server software, development environment software, graphics or photo imaging software, object or component oriented development software, web platform development software.

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Annex 2 - How to Prepare: ICT Fields of

Study Annex 2 outlines fields of computer study as organized internationally. It aims to sharpen discussions of skills, curricula and investments in workforce preparedness, and more fundamentally, it aims to allow students to define and pursue one set of qualifications through their education. Annex 2 contains the following ICT fields of study:

1. Computer Science 2. Computer Engineering 3. Computer and Communications Engineering 4. Computer Systems Engineering

5. Software Engineering (Software Development)

6. Information Technology and Communications (ITC)

7. Information Technology (IT)

8. Management Information Systems (MIS)

9. Computer Information Systems (CIS):

10. Information Technology (IT) Management

11. Computer Education

12. Graphic Design

13. Security Engineering

14. Web Engineering

15. Multimedia

16. Geographic information system (GIS)

1. Computer Science

“Computer science (CS) is the systematic study of algorithmic methods for representing and transforming information, including their theory, design, implementation, application, and efficiency. The discipline emerged in the 1950s from the development of computability theory and the invention of the stored-program electronic computer. The roots of computer science extend deeply into mathematics and engineering. Mathematics imparts analysis to the field; engineering imparts design. The main branches of computer science are the following:

Algorithms: the study of effective and efficient procedures of solving problems on a computer. Theory of computation concerns the meaning and complexity of algorithms and the limits of

what can be computed in principle. Computer architecture concerns the structure and functionality of computers and their

implementation in terms of electronic technologies Software systems, the study of the study of the structure and implementation of large programs.

It includes the study of programming language and paradigms, programming environments, compilers, and operating systems.

Artificial intelligence concerns the computational understanding of what is commonly called intelligent behavior and the creation of artifacts that exhibit such behavior

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Other important topics in computer science include computer graphics, database, networks and protocols, numerical methods, operating systems, parallel computing, simulation and modeling, and software engineering.”

Source: School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, available at www.eng.buffalo.edu/undergrad/academics/degrees/cs-vs-cen.

2. Computer Engineering:

Definition 1: “A broad discipline that incorporates the fields of computer science and electrical engineering. Computer engineering emphasizes the theory, design, and development of computers and computer-related technology including both hardware and software.” Source: "Computer Science Specializations" was produced by staff of "The Advising Quarterly" a publication for professionals in international education worldwide published by AMIDEAST, available at www.bibl.u-szeged.hu/afik/compw.html. Definition 2: “Computer engineering (CEN) is the design and prototyping of computing devices and systems. While sharing much history and many areas of interest with computer science, computer engineering concentrates its effort on the ways in which computing ideas are mapped into working physical systems. Emerging equally from the disciplines of computer science and electrical engineering, computer engineering rests on the intellectual foundations of these disciplines, the basic physical sciences and mathematics. The main branches of computer engineering are the following:

Networks: concerned with design and implementation of distributed computing environments, from local area networks to the World Wide Web.

Multimedia computing is the blending of data from text, speech, music, still image, video and other sources into a coherent DataStream, and its effective management, coding-decoding and display.

VLSI systems: involves the tools, properties and design of micro-miniaturized electronic devices (Very Large Scale Integrated circuits).

Reliable computing and advanced architectures considers how fault-tolerance can be built into hardware and software, methods for parallel computing, optical computing, and testing.

Other important topics in computer engineering include display engineering, image and speech processing, pattern recognition, robotics, sensors and computer perception.”

Source: School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, available at www.eng.buffalo.edu/undergrad/academics/degrees/cs-vs-cen.

3. Computer and Communications Engineering

“This program is concerned with the design and use of computing devices and communication systems for processing, retrieval and storage of information. Areas include design of computer hardware, software and networks and design of telecommunication devices and systems.” Source: Notre Dame University, available at: www.ndu.edu.lb/academics/fe/ecce/comp_comm.htm.

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http://www.bibl.u-szeged.hu/afik/compw.html



http://www.ndu.edu.lb/academics/fe/ecce/comp_comm.htm


4. Computer Systems Engineering

“Graduates of the program have a solid foundation in the fundamental concepts of computer hardware and software design, electrical engineering, mathematics, physics, and can apply these skills to solve real-world problems. Graduates are in a position to take advantage of a wide variety of professional opportunities available to computer systems engineers in industries including computer software, computer hardware, telecommunications, electronics, consulting, healthcare, aviation, energy, national defense, robotics and a broad spectrum of financial institutions.” Source: University of Alaska, Anchorage, available at www.uaa.alaska.edu/computerscienceandengineering/computersystemsengineering/ .

5. Software Engineering (Software Development)

“A still-evolving discipline based on computer science, computer technology, management, and engineering economics. Concerned with the cost- effective development and modification of computer software components, software engineering may use computer-aided software engineering (CASE) to reduce the time required by programmers to generate new programs and revise old ones. Courses in software engineering may be available through undergraduate computer science departments; advanced study is available at the graduate level.” Source: "Computer Science Specializations" was produced by staff of "The Advising Quarterly" a publication for professionals in international education worldwide published by AMIDEAST, available at www.bibl.u-szeged.hu/afik/compw.html.

6. Information Technology and Communications (ITC)

“Information and communications technology or information and communication technology (ICT), is often used as an extended synonym for information technology (IT), but is a more specific term that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals), computers as well as necessary enterprise software, middleware, storage, and audio-visual systems, which enable users to access, store, transmit, and manipulate information. The phrase ICT had been used by academic researchers since the 1980s, but it became popular after it was used in a report to the UK government by Dennis Stevenson in 1997 and in the revised National Curriculum for England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2000. The term ICT is now also used to refer to the convergence of audio-visual and telephone networks with computer networks through a single cabling or link system. There are large economic incentives (huge cost savings due to elimination of the telephone network) to merge the audio-visual, building management and telephone network with the computer network system using a single unified system of cabling, signal distribution and management.” Source: Wikipedia, available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_and_communications_technology.

7. Information Technology (IT)

“Information technology (also referred to as IT) is the application of computers and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve, transmit and manipulate data. The term is commonly used as a synonym for computers and computer networks, but it also encompasses other information distribution technologies such as television and telephones. Several industries are associated with

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http://www.uaa.alaska.edu/computerscienceandengineering/computersystemsengineering/


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_technology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_communications

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_software

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middleware

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Stevenson,_Baron_Stevenson_of_Coddenham

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Curriculum_(England,_Wales_and_Northern_Ireland)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Curriculum_(England,_Wales_and_Northern_Ireland)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convergence_(telecommunications)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_network

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_network

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_and_communications_technology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_industry


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information technology, such as computer hardware, software, electronics, semiconductors, internet, telecom equipment, e-commerce and computer services. In the copy business context, the Information Technology Association of America has defined information technology (IT) as "the study, design, development, application, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems". “The business value of information technology is to automate business processes, provide information for decision making, connect business with their customers, and provide productivity tools to increase efficiency.” “In an academic context, the Association for Computing Machinery defines it as "undergraduate degree programs that prepare students to meet the computer technology needs of business, government, healthcare, schools, and other kinds of organizations .... IT specialists assume responsibility for selecting hardware and software products appropriate for an organization, integrating those products with organizational needs and infrastructure, and installing, customizing, and maintaining those applications for the organization’s computer users. Examples of these responsibilities include the installation of networks; network administration and security; the design of web pages; the development of multimedia resources; the installation of communication components; the oversight of email systems; and the planning and management of the technology lifecycle by which an organization’s technology is maintained, upgraded, and replaced." “Humans have been storing, retrieving, manipulating and communicating information since the Sumerians in Mesopotamia developed writing in about 3000 BC, but the term "Information Technology" in its modern sense first appeared in a 1958 article published in the Harvard Business Review; authors Leavitt and Whisler commented that "the new technology does not yet have a single established name. We shall call it information technology (IT)." Based on the storage and processing technology employed, it is possible to distinguish four distinct phases of IT development: pre-mechanical (3000 BC – 1450 AD), mechanical (1450–1840), electromechanical (1840–1940) and electronic (1940-present). This article focuses on the most recent period, (electronic) which began around the year 1940.” Source: Wikipedia, available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Technology.

8. Management Information Systems (MIS)

“MIS programs emphasize the understanding and application of computer technology to organizational problems, the design of computer-based systems for data processing, and the design of decision-support systems for management. University business departments may offer undergraduate courses and programs in MIS; many graduate business schools provide advanced study in MIS.” Source: "Computer Science Specializations" was produced by staff of "The Advising Quarterly" a publication for professionals in international education worldwide published by AMIDEAST, available at www.bibl.u-szeged.hu/afik/compw.html.

9. Computer Information Systems (CIS):

“This specialization, which is closely related to management information systems and information science, integrates the computer applications of data processing with problem solving to improve the efficiency of organizations. Course work in CIS may be available through undergraduate computer science or business degree programs.”

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductors

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_equipment

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-commerce

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_services

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Technology_Association_of_America

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_for_Computing_Machinery

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuneiform

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Business_Review

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Business_Review

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Technology



Source: "Computer Science Specializations" was produced by staff of "The Advising Quarterly" a publication for professionals in international education worldwide published by AMIDEAST, available at www.bibl.u-szeged.hu/afik/compw.html.

10. Information Technology (IT) Management

“The discipline whereby all of the technology resources of a firm are managed in accordance with its needs and priorities. These resources may include tangible investments like computer hardware, software, data, networks and data center facilities, as well as the staffs who are hired to maintain them. Managing this responsibility within a company entails many of the basic management functions, like budgeting, staffing, and organizing and controlling, along with other aspects that are unique to technology, like change management, software design, network planning, tech support etc. IT Management is a different subject from management information systems. The latter refers to management information methods tied to the automation or support of human decision making. IT Management, as stated in the above definition, refers to the IT related management activities in organizations. MIS as it is referred to is focused mainly on the business aspect with a strong input into the technology phase of the business/organization.” Source: Wikipedia, available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_technology_management.

11. Computer Education

“The graduates… are given the qualification to work in middle and high schools as teachers after graduating the Department of Computer Education. Also other than being teachers, they can find jobs in computer related businesses such as conglomerates smaller companies and general corporations other than laboratories, government institutions, and finance institutions. Department of Computer Education not only nurtures competent teachers demanded in this era, but also aims on nurturing professionals of computer. The curriculum is prepared to open the future to teachers by completing the whole course, and to have no problem in choosing other computer related occupations as professionals.” Source: Korea University, College of Education, available at http://educa.korea.ac.kr/eng/intro/intro3_9.jsp

12. Graphic Design

“This Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree program with a specialization in Web Design gives students the opportunity to understand the basic principles of web design and how to plan and develop well-designed websites that combine effective navigation techniques with the creative use of graphics, sound and typography. Courses are structured to assist students in the development of their goals as they acquire the knowledge and skills common to professional web designers and developers.” Source: American Intercontinental University, available at http://www.aiuniv.edu/Degree-Programs/Bachelor-Of-Fine-Arts-In-Visual-Communication-Specialization-In-Web-Design.

13. Security Engineering

“A specialized field of engineering that focuses on the security aspects in the design of systems that need to be able to deal robustly with possible sources of disruption, ranging from natural disasters to malicious acts. It is similar to other systems engineering activities in that its primary motivation is to support the delivery of engineering solutions that satisfy pre-defined functional and user requirements, but with the added dimension of preventing misuse and malicious behavior. These constraints and restrictions are often asserted as a security policy.”

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budget

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_design

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_information_systems

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_technology_management

http://educa.korea.ac.kr/eng/intro/intro3_9.jsp

http://www.aiuniv.edu/Degree-Programs/Bachelor-Of-Fine-Arts-In-Visual-Communication-Specialization-In-Web-Design

http://www.aiuniv.edu/Degree-Programs/Bachelor-Of-Fine-Arts-In-Visual-Communication-Specialization-In-Web-Design

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineering

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requirements

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_policy


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Source: Wikipedia, available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_engineering.

14. Web Engineering

“The establishment and use of sound scientific, engineering and management principles and disciplined and systematic approaches to the successful development, deployment and maintenance of high quality Web-based systems and applications.” Source: Department of Computing and Information Systems, University of Western Sydney Macarthur, available at http://www-itec.uni-klu.ac.at/~harald/proseminar/web11.pdf.

15. Multimedia

“Multimedia degree programs can encompass aspects of graphic design, art, web design, advertising, writing, photography. Students who earn a bachelor's degree in multimedia often go on to work in professions that allow them to communicate artistically through technology.”

“The multimedia field is very broad, and can encompass several areas of communication, technology and the arts. Most bachelor's degree programs in multimedia provide students with a basic overview of graphic design, video and audio technology, multimedia theories and visual communication techniques. While enrolled in a bachelor's degree program in multimedia, students apply learned skills to practical projects, such as short video commercials, audio clips or Web pages. They must learn how to develop a project, create a schedule, stick to a deadline, manage a team and produce a cohesive result. B.A. in Multimedia programs can prepare graduates for entry-level multimedia careers, internships or graduate degree programs in media-related fields. “

Source: Educational Portal, available at http://educationportal.com/bachelor%27s_degree_programs_in_multimedia.html

16. Geographic information system (GIS)

“Geographic information system (GIS) is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographical data. The acronym GIS is sometimes used for geographical information science or geospatial information studies to refer to the academic discipline or career of working with geographic information systems. In the simplest terms, GIS is the merging of cartography, statistical analysis, and database technology. A GIS can be thought of as a system—it digitally creates and "manipulates" spatial areas that may be jurisdictional, purpose, or application-oriented. Generally, a GIS is custom-designed for an organization. Hence, a GIS developed for an application, jurisdiction, enterprise, or purpose may not be necessarily interoperable or compatible with a GIS that has been developed for some other application, jurisdiction, enterprise, or purpose. What goes beyond a GIS is a spatial data infrastructure, a concept that has no such restrictive boundaries. In a general sense, the term describes any information system that integrates stores, edits, analyzes, shares, and displays geographic information for informing decision making. GIS applications are tools that allow users to create interactive queries (user-created searches), analyze spatial information, edit data in maps, and present the results of all these operations. Geographic information science is the science underlying geographic concepts, applications, and systems” Source: Wikipedia, available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_information_system.

77

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_engineering

http://www-itec.uni-klu.ac.at/~harald/proseminar/web11.pdf

http://educationportal.com/bachelor%27s_degree_programs_in_multimedia.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_data

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acronym

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_system

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistical_analysis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spatial_data_infrastructure

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_systems

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georeference

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_making

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIS_applications

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_information_science

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_information_system


Annex 3 – Additional Data Tables Annex 3 presents detailed views from 18 of Gaza’s ICT companies, interviewed on aspects of technical market demand. It shows the gap between employer demand and graduates’ skills in Gaza. To outline the gap, each aspect of the ICT skills package is represented here in at least four dimensions. The four dimensions can be explained as follows:

Time Trends: Each ICT company interviewee was asked whether the importance of a skill or job role was likely to increase, decrease or remain stable over the coming two to three years. The resulting time trends capture anticipated changes in market demand. This information can help to direct training choices, but alone it is not sufficient to identify a promising path of study. Workforce: Interviewees were asked to evaluate the adequacy of Gaza’s current workforce, the existing pool of talent for each core job or skill. Workforce adequacy suggests whether there is enough skilled competition to meet market demand. Staff Skill: Interviewees were asked to evaluate the skills of their existing staff within their own company. Graduates’ Proficiency: Interviewees were asked to evaluate the skills of recent ICT graduates.

Views from regional experts from Jordan (two) and Egypt (four) are shown for comparison in

some of the tables. Regional experts were asked about the importance of job roles and skills in

their markets.

The tables included in this annex are:

Table 32 – Core ICT Job Roles – Full Table

Table 33 – Core ICT Skills – Full Table

Table 34 – Core ICT Skills: Hardware Maintenance and Networking Skills

Table 35 – General and ICT Strategic Consulting Skills

Table 36 – Skills in ICT Applications

Table 37 – Certifications – Full Table

78


79

Table 32 – Core ICT Job Roles – Full Table

ICT Job Role

Time Trends Workforce Staff Skills Graduates' Proficiency Jordan Egypt

Opportunity Classification D

ecre

asi

ng

Imp

ort

an

ce

Sta

ble

Im

po

rtan

ce

Incre

asi

ng

Imp

ort

an

ce

No

ne /

In

ad

equ

ate

En

ou

gh

/ S

urp

lus

No

ne /

Th

eo

reti

cal

Ap

pli

ed

/ E

xp

ert

No

Sk

ills

Th

eo

reti

cal

On

ly

Th

eo

reti

cal

&

Ap

pli

ed

Exp

ert

No

t Im

po

rtan

t /

Mo

dera

te

Imp

ort

an

t /

Ver

y

Imp

ort

an

t

No

t Im

po

rtan

t /

Mo

dera

te

Imp

ort

an

t /

Ver

y

Imp

ort

an

t

Project Manager 6% 22% 72% 83% 17% 22% 78% 94% 6% 0% 0% - 2 - 4

Co

mp

eti

tive

Op

po

rtu

nit

ies

Application Developer 0% 33% 67% 35% 65% 6% 94% 29% 71% 0% 0% 1 1 - 4

Database Application Administrator

0% 33% 67% 35% 65% 18% 82% 47% 41% 12% 0% 1 1 2 2

System Programmer 13% 31% 56% 65% 35% 35% 65% 59% 35% 6% 0% 1 1 2 2

Systems Analyst 6% 23% 71% 76% 24% 24% 76% 71% 29% 0% 0% - 2 1 3

Test Specialist 12% 29% 59% 94% 6% 87% 13% 88% 12% 0% 0% 1 1 2 2

Iden

tifi

ed

Sk

ills

Gap

Security Service Specialist

0% 6% 94% 88% 12% 71% 29% 82% 18% 0% 0% - 2 2 2

Portals & Collaboration Specialist

15% 39% 46% 81% 19% 50% 50% 88% 12% 0% 0% - 2 3 1

Quality Assurance Specialist

0% 29% 71% 88% 12% 71% 29% 94% 6% 0% 0% - 2 2 2

Network

Administrator 13% 40% 47% 29% 71% 21% 79% 53% 35% 12% 0% 1 1 2 2

Mo

dera

te

Op

po

rtu

nit

ies

Multimedia Specialist 18% 47% 35% 56% 44% 39% 61% 25% 62% 6% 6% - 2 3 1

Graphic Design

Specialist 6% 41% 53% 35% 65% 31% 69% 24% 71% 0% 6% - 2 1 3

Source: Mercy Corps Interviews and Regional Survey, 2013

79


Table 33 – Core ICT Skills – Full Table

Core ICT Skill



ecre

asi

ng

Imp

ort

an

ce

Sta

ble

Imp

ort

an

ce

Incre

asi

ng

Imp

ort

an

ce

No

ne/

Inad

eq

uate

En

ou

gh

/

Su

rplu

s

No

ne/

Th

eo

reti

cal

Ap

pli

ed

/

Exp

ert

No

Sk

ills

Th

eo

reti

cal

On

ly

Th

eo

reti

cal

& A

pp

lied

Exp

ert

No

t

Imp

ort

an

t /

Mo

dera

te

Imp

ort

an

t /

Very

Imp

ort

an

t

No

t

Imp

ort

an

t /

Mo

dera

te

Imp

ort

an

t /

Very

Imp

ort

an

t

HTML4-5+CSS+JavaScript 0% 12% 88% 50% 50% 15% 85% 33% 50% 8% 8% 1 - 1 3

Hig

hly

Co

mp

eti

tive

Sk

ills

PHP 6% 6% 88% 29% 71% 12% 88% 14% 64% 14% 7% - 2 1 3

ASP.Net 14% 15% 71% 29% 71% 46% 54% 7% 57% 29% 7% - 1 - 4

Database Platform MySQL 6% 35% 59% 20% 80% 6% 94% 27% 53% 20% 0% - 1 1 3

Windows Platforms 6% 47% 47% 14% 86% 7% 93% 0% 71% 21% 7% - 1 - 4

Linux 6% 5% 89% 64% 36% 33% 67% 46% 54% 0% 0% - 1 2 2

Iden

tifi

ed

Sk

ills

Gap

Quality Assurance 0% 12% 88% 100% 0% 71% 29% 100% 0% 0% 0% - 2 2 2

Mobile Platforms 6% 6% 88% 93% 7% 71% 29% 86% 7% 7% 0% - 2 1 3

Programming/Coding Standards 13% 34% 53% 85% 15% 47% 53% 77% 15% 8% 0% 1 1 - 4

.NET Platform 0% 50% 50% 75% 25% 33% 67% 42% 50% 8% 0% 1 2 - 4

Database platform Oracle 12% 41% 47% 64% 36% 43% 57% 69% 23% 8% 0% - 1 3 1

Programing Language Java 6% 31% 63% 79% 21% 54% 46% 29% 36% 36% 0% 1 - 1 3

Software Testing 13% 31% 56% 100% 0% 43% 57% 85% 15% 0% 0% 1 1 2 2

Systems Analysis & Design 0% 29% 71% 79% 21% 19% 81% 86% 14% 0% 0% - 2 1 3

Perl 50% 30% 20% 100% 0% 86% 14% 100% 0% 0% 0% 1 - 3 -

JAVA Platform 25% 19% 56% 64% 36% 36% 64% 21% 64% 14% 0% - 1 2 2

Mo

dera

te

Op

po

rtu

nit

y

Sk

ills

Microsoft SQL-Server 14% 43% 43% 43% 57% 17% 83% 25% 67% 8% 0% - 1 1 3

Programing Lang. C# 17% 50% 33% 57% 43% 57% 43% 43% 21% 36% 0% - 1 - 4

Programing Lang. C++ 62% 23% 15% 64% 36% 67% 33% 20% 33% 47% 0% 1 1 2 2

Sk

ills

of

Decli

nin

g

Imp

ort

an

ce

Programing Lang. Visual Basic 62% 23% 15% 21% 79% 46% 54% 27% 20% 53% 0% - 1 2 2

Programing Language C 69% 23% 8% 71% 29% 70% 30% 7% 36% 57% 0% - 1 3 1


80


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Table 34 – Core ICT Skills: Hardware Maintenance and Networking Skills

Hardware Maintenance and Networking Skills


Decre

asi

ng

Imp

ort

an

ce

Sta

ble

Imp

ort

an

ce

Incre

asi

ng

Imp

ort

an

ce

No

ne /

Inad

eq

uate

En

ou

gh

/

Su

rplu

s

No

ne /

Th

eo

reti

cal

Ap

pli

ed

/

Exp

ert

No

Sk

ills

Th

eo

reti

cal

On

ly

Th

eo

reti

cal

&

Ap

pli

ed

Exp

ert

Hardware Maintenance 29% 43% 29% 9% 91% 0% 100% 25% 50% 25% 0%

Networks 20% 40% 40% 9% 91% 17% 83% 18% 64% 18% 0%


Table 35 – General and ICT Strategic Consulting Skills

General and ICT Strategic Consulting

Skills


Decre

asi

ng

Imp

ort

an

ce

Sta

ble

Imp

ort

an

ce

Incre

asi

ng

Imp

ort

an

ce

No

ne /

Inad

eq

uate

En

ou

gh

/

Su

rplu

s

No

ne /

Th

eo

reti

cal

Ap

pli

ed

/

Ex

pert

No

Sk

ills

Th

eo

reti

cal

On

ly

Th

eo

reti

cal

&

Ap

pli

ed

Ex

pert

ICT Experts 6% 19% 75% 93% 7% 20% 80% 100% 0% 0% 0%

Consultants and Strategists (Non-ICT)

15% 8% 77% 33% 67% 62% 38% 100% 0% 0% 0%


81


Table 36 – Skills in ICT Applications

ICT Applications



ecre

asi

ng

Imp

ort

an

ce

Sta

ble

Im

po

rtan

ce

Incre

asi

ng

Imp

ort

an

ce

No

ne /

In

ad

equ

ate

En

ou

gh

/ S

urp

lus

No

ne /

Th

eo

reti

cal

Ap

pli

ed

/ E

xp

ert

No

Sk

ills

Th

eo

reti

cal

on

ly

Th

eo

reti

cal

& A

pp

lied

Exp

ert

No

t Im

po

rtan

t /

Mo

dera

te

Imp

ort

an

t /

Ver

y

Imp

ort

an

t

No

t Im

po

rtan

t /

M

od

era

te

Imp

ort

an

t /

Ver

y

Imp

ort

an

t

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

0% 18% 82% 100% 0% 40% 60% 100% 0% 0% 0% - 2 - 4

Iden

tifi

ed

Sk

ills

Gap

NGO Management 0% 17% 83% 64% 36% 64% 36% 100% 0% 0% 0% 1 1 3 1

School Management 0% 25% 75% 82% 18% 44% 56% 67% 22% 11% 0% - 1 3 1

Human Resource Management

7% 36% 57% 86% 14% 40% 60% 92% 0% 8% 0% - 2 1 3

Hotels and Restaurants

8% 54% 38% 75% 25% 60% 40% 90% 10% 0% 0% - 2 3 1

Point of Sale (POS) 0% 45% 55% 31% 69% 50% 50% 82% 9% 9% 0% - 1 2 2

Co

mp

eti

tive

Financial Management Information Systems (FMIS)

0% 15% 85% 23% 77% 50% 50% 80% 20% 0% 0% 1 - 3 1

Multimedia 19% 31% 50% 33% 67% 25% 75% 22% 78% 0% 0% 1 1 4 -

Mo

dera

te o

r

Decli

nin

g

Op

po

rtu

nit

y

Games 23% 23% 54% 90% 10% 57% 43% 78% 22% 0% 0% 1 1 3 1

Web Design 0% 19% 81% 8% 92% 7% 93% 9% 82% 9% 0% - 2 - 4


82


83

Table 37 – Certifications – Full Table

Certifications

Workforce Adequacy (Graduates' Proficiency)

Staff Skills Impact/Influence of

Certifications When Hiring

No

Cert

ifie

d

Pro

fess

ion

als

Few

Cert

ifie

d

Pro

fess

ion

als

En

ou

gh

Cert

ifie

d

Pro

fess

ion

als

To

o M

an

y

Cert

ifie

d

Pro

fess

ion

als

No

ne /

Th

eo

reti

cal

Ap

pli

ed

/

Exp

ert

No

/L

ow

Imp

act

Imp

ort

an

t/

Req

uir

ed

Oracle 38% 54% 8% 0% 82% 18% 62% 38%

ICDL 9% 18% 36% 36% 30% 70% 67% 33%

Google Standards 70% 30% 0% 0% 90% 10% 73% 27%

Adobe 70% 30% 0% 0% 90% 10% 75% 25%

Microsoft 7% 43% 36% 14% 46% 54% 83% 17%

CISCO 0% 60% 20% 20% 62% 38% 38% 62%

Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) 9% 45% 27% 18% 67% 33% 62% 38%

Security Professional 86% 14% 0% 0% 100% 0% 67% 33%

CISSP Certified Information Systems 80% 20% 0% 0% 78% 22% 75% 25%

Linux+ 33% 58% 8% 0% 82% 18% 75% 25%

Security+ 61% 28% 0% 0% 100% 0% 75% 25%

A+ 45% 36% 0% 18% 87% 13% 80% 20%

Linux Professional Institute Certified Level (LPICL) 54% 45% 9% 0% 82% 18% 82% 18%

Certified Wireless Technology Specialist ( CWTS) 64% 27% 0% 0% 89% 11% 83% 17%

Certified Wireless Network Engineer (CWNE) 64% 27% 0% 0% 89% 11% 83% 17%

VCP ( VMware Certified Professional ) 83% 17% 0% 0% 89% 11% 86% 14%

Certified Wireless Network Administrator (CWNA) 64% 27% 0% 0% 80% 20% 86% 14%

Network+ 45% 45% 9% 0% 87% 13% 86% 14%

Project Management Professional (PMP) 92% 8% 0% 0% 91% 9% 67% 33%

Certified Information Security Manager(CISM) 85% 0% 0% 0% 82% 9% 66% 33%

Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) 92% 8% 0% 0% 100% 0% 89% 11%


83


Annex 4 - Bibliography

Works Cited Academy Cube, Neelie Kroes and Jim Snabe: New Ways to fight Youth Unemployment in Europe, March

5, 2013. Booz & Company, Understanding the Arab Digital Generation, 2012. Chris Forman (Carnegie Mellon University) and Avi Goldfarb (University of Toronto), ICT

Diffusion to Businesses, June 2005. Country Management Unit for the Palestinian Territories and Information Communication

Technologies Unit, Microwork for the Palestinian Territories Feasibility Study, World Bank, February 2013.

David Streitfeld, As Boom Lures App Creators, Tough Part Is Making a Living, New York Times,

November 2012. Department of Economics and Geography, University of North Florida, An Analysis of the

Determinants and Effects of ICT Diffusion in Developing Countries, 2003. Information and Communications Technology Council, Outlook for Human Resources in the

Information and Communications Technology Labour Market, 2008 to 2015, October 2008. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Association for Computing Machinery,

Computer Science Curricula 2013, Ironman Draft, February 2013. International Finance Corporation and World Bank, Doing Business Project, Economy

Rankings, available at: http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings. Jenna White, Jason Saul, Cheryl Davenport, Cisco Pioneers Market Development Approach in Palestine,

Cisco, November 2012. KPMG Ford, Rhodes, Thornton & Co., Training Needs Analysis for ICT Industry of Sri Lanka, July

2009. Lilac Alsafadi, Rana Abunafesa, ICT Skills Gap Analysis of the Saudi Market, Proceedings of the World

Congress on Engineering and Computer Science, October 2012. Marlyn Sousou, Sector Report ICT Jordan, British Embassy-Jordan, 2009 McKinsey Global Institute, Internet Matters: The Net's Sweeping Impact on Growth, Jobs and Prosperity,

2011. Moustafa El-Gabaly, Mehdi Majidi, The Information Communication Technology (ICT) Penetration and

Skills Gap Analysis, Planning and Learning Inc., July 2003.

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http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings


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Nicholas White, ICT Business Development: Market Opportunities in Gaza and Region, Mercy Corps study, January 2012.

PALiNVEST Corporation, Enabling Technology Sector Growth in Gaza - EnTeG² Base Line Report,

October 2011. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Household Survey on Information and Communications

Technology, November 2011. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, ICT Business Survey, October 2012. PITA, Palestinian ICT Labor Market Gap Analysis, PITA Employability Program – Gaza,

February 2013. S. Al-Agtash, Workforce Assessment in the Jordanian ICT Industry, International Journal of Social and

Organizational Dynamics in Information Technology, Volume 1, Issue 4, pp.18-36, 2011. Solutions for Development Consulting Co., Palestinian ICT Private Sector 3-Year Strategy and

Development Plan, March 2012. United Nations, Gaza in 2020 a liveable place?, August 2012. United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, Who answers to

Gazan women? An economic security and rights research, 2011. World Bank Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, Fiscal Challenges and Long Term Economic Costs: Economic

Monitoring Report, March 19, 2013.

Works Consulted Iyad Adwan, Ziad Deeb, ICT Needs Assessment Report, Insight for Consultancy & Development,

July 2012. Majcher-Teleon Agnieszka, Slimène Olfa Ben, Women and Work in Jordan, July 2009. Mina Baliamoune-Lutz, Department of Economics and Geography, University of North Florida,

Information Technology for Development, An analysis of the determinants and effects of ICT diffusion in developing countries, 2003.

Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, Workforce in Jordanian ICT Industry:

Evaluation and Needs Assessment, September 2010.

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