Iraq gets its own IT and telecom industry association

ITP.net

An association designed to bring together Iraq's telecom and IT industry was unveiled yesterday, with the aim of uniting ICT providers, NGOs, universities and the government as the country looks to continue to rebuild its telecom and IT capacity.

Lewis E. Shadle, senior advisor and chief ICT architect with the multi-national forces in Iraq, was one of the founders of the project. He told CommsMEA that the aim of the Information Technology and Telecommunications Industry Association (ITIA) of Iraq is "to bridge the gap between the private sector and the government, and to lobby on behalf of the industry".

"We will provide our members with a platform to give direct input into the Iraqi legislative framework and also develop common standards to the benefit of the entire industry," the ITIA said in a statement.

The organisation was founded last month, and senior figures from the telecom sector attended the association's first meeting yesterday at the Iraq Telecoms conference in London.

Shadle said the success of the ITIA would depend on the buy-in of stakeholders in the telecoms and IT sector in Iraq, and that although it had the support of coalition forces he did not want it to be a coalition-driven entity.

The ITIA is looking for funding, which Shadle said would be vital for the organisation to support the full-time staff needed to help it to achieve its aims.