Palestinian IT Market Booming

The deployment of ICT in Palestine started relatively late in comparison with developed countries and some countries in the Third World. Palestinian companies began their work in providing ICT in the West Bank and Gaza only in the early 1980’s with services that were mostly focused on retail and some wholesale of computers and electronics. All of the Palestinian companies were mostly sub-agents to the Israeli dealers and had limited experience in after-sale services and programming software. The few companies that offered software and programming services focused on accounting-related packages to serve the local market. The Palestinian ICT market during the Israeli occupation years was severely constrained by the total Israeli control over the ICT products.

It was not until after the Oslo Agreements and the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) that the Palestinian ICT market began to rejuvenate as a result of less control over the private sector and the boom in the global ICT which had a ripple effect on the Palestinian economy. The growth in the Palestinian ICT sector was induced by increased demand for ICT products and services by the Palestinian private sector, universities and the public sector, as well as the establishment of the first Palestinian ISP, which made the Internet commercially accessible to all.

The Palestinian ICT sector started to show significant growth by the end of 1995. The biggest end-user of technology products and services was the PNA, followed closely by Local Government (Municipalities) and then by the larger companies, especially utility companies such as the Jerusalem District Water and Electricity Companies. By 1997, the Palestinian telecommunication sector was 100% privatized with the creation of PALTEL, the Palestine Telecommunications Company, which was licensed to be the exclusive telecommunication operator in Palestine. PALTEL installed a digital network connecting the West Bank and Gaza and currently offers a wide range of services such as standard fixed telephone lines, leased lines, ISDN connections, ADSL.

At present, the IT sector is a playing a vital role in the Palestinian economy. It was characterized by its fast development and growth, where it witnessed growth rates ranged between 25 - 30 % until year 2000. In the last decade, an immense development was also noticed in the fixed and mobile telecommunications in addition to the wide spread of the subscription free internet and broad band services.

The software industry produced a wide range of solutions and packages in areas such as human resources management, projects and sales management, Finance and accounting, education related solutions, management information systems, children education and entertainment. In addition to that, many solutions were specifically designed to address specific public, NGO, and private enterprises needs.

Many new companies were also established and specialized in web development, e-business solutions, web portals development, ICT consultancy, training, and office automations.

Many private sector firms and institutions such as PICTI, PNINA participate annually in international exhibitions. Many companies also established presence in Arab countries. Other companies succeeded in exporting their solutions to the regional markets. Examples of these markets are Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt, and Jordan.

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