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Information Technology
As the newly rebuilt Iraq will demand the best on offer in terms of information technology, contractors will be looking for providers of a full range of industry solutions and other e-business products, with considerable demand expected for office software, security systems, multimedia, desktop publishing (DTP), information management, mobile computing and multilingual software.
A number of attempts are being made to bring modern information technology (IT) to the people of Iraq. IT was considered a major threat to established society under the previous regime. Iraq's facilities - three teaching hospitals and a spinal cord treatment centre - have lacked modern medical information resources for decades. There are plans to bring computer-based medical resources to Iraq, providing IT equipment and training to youth and higher education centres. |
Restrictions were imposed on access to computer equipment, with less than 15 per cent of the population having access to a PC. Increasing the number of computers in the country and enabling greater ease of access to the Internet throughout Iraq will be a great aid to the country's economic development.
A number of opportunities are available for Internet service providers (ISPs) to do business in Iraq. The Internet was scarcely available previously, with less than 30,000 Internet subscribers in the entire country, services courtesy of the State Company for Internet Services. There was an annual membership charge of $55 for Internet call centres, while Iraqi companies had to pay between $2,500 and $8,000 per year to install the Internet in their offices. |
