Overview of Program Director at Mercy Corps

Market access and cross-border business partnerships

Studies:

o Market Mapping: Identify areas for business partnerships, niche areas of cooperation,

market needs and third party investment prospects by market assessment and mapping of

the Palestinian and regional ICT markets.

o Palestinian (ICT) companies GAP analysis: to develop their capacity and to help them

compete in the global market.

Objectives/Activities

o Increase market access and demand for Palestinian products and services

Promotional website and marketing materials.

B2B meetings, Networking workshops and conferences.

Business Development and Marketing Unit.

o Improve the quality of products and services produced by the Palestinian ICT

industry

Quality Management Training:

CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration) training and certification

20 CEO and team leaders benefited.

Project Management Training and certification (PMI).

13 senior managers benefited.

Graduate training to foster youth employability

Provide Palestinian ICT professionals with market demanded technical skills

o Mobile programming:

J2ME (13), iPhone bootcamp (14), advanced iPhone development (15)

o Web and Application Development: Database & SQL, Advanced PHP

25 ICT Professionals benefited

o Cisco certified Network Administrator CCNA level 1,2,3,4

145 graduated, 95% employment

Improve Palestinian ICT Professionals exposure to International markets and ICT culture

o Organize visits of ICT experts and influencers to Palestine

o Participate in regional and international networking events and ICT trade expos

o Organize visits to multinational companies’ facilities.

Provide newly graduated students with practical and on the job training.

o Subsidized apprenticeship training at local and regional ICT companies.

95 apprentices at local Palestinian companies

31 apprentices at International IT companies

Entrepreneurship and Start-up support

Enhance youth entrepreneurship, marketing and business skills

o Team-Start business creation program to provide entrepreneurs with mentorship,

business creation and acceleration support

93 professionals benefited.

o Entrepreneurship Workshops: for entrepreneurs and technologists to exchange

knowledge, knowhow and initiate new businesses

Startup Weekend (150 ICT Professionals Participated)

Hackathon (70 software developers participated)

o Access to investment capital: Improve opportunities for Palestinian entrepreneurs to

establish high growth knowledge-based businesses

Seed-fund as investment in start-ups and business expansions ($200,000

invested, 6 startup companies created)

o Self-employment opportunities: Create platform for freelance developers to sharpen

their skills and earn money.

Arab Developer Network Initiative (ADNI) in partnership with Google

ICT capacity building of TVET institutions

Improve the quality and relevancy of the service provided by TVET Institutions.

Improve the overall quality of services provided by institutions

o Management Information System

9 institutions Financial management systems

4 Human resources management system

3 Inventory and Assets management systems

8 students records keeping and class room management system

o ICT Infrastructure,

Networks installations

Computer workstations and office equipment

Software

Network servers

o Staff training

Server administration

MS Office

Web content management

o Online Resources

Online Employment System

Online Career Resource Center

Virtual Training Resources Library

Improve the training capacity of the TVET Institutions

o Five Cisco certified training academies were established

Training facilities infrastructure rehabilitation (4 institutions benefited)

Computers, lab equipment, network and software (5 training labs equipped)

Online International certified training curriculum and materials.

ITE

CCNA level 1,2,3,4

Network security

Teaching aid equipment (2 Interactive smart boards, 3 LCD projectors)

Training and certification of trainers.

2 Cisco certified Maser Trainers

8 Cisco certified trainers

o Three Microsoft IT Centers were established

Training facilities infrastructure rehabilitation (2 institutions benefited)

Computers, lab equipment, network and software (3 training labs equipped)

Online International certified training curriculum and materials.

Digital literacy

Microsoft Office

Advanced applications and web development

Teaching aid equipment (1 Interactive smart boards, 2 LCD projectors)

Training and certification of trainers.

10 Trainers were trained and certified

o Entrepreneurship & Business training course: On-line entrepreneurship and business

skills training course (Bader Online)

o Intel Learn Program: to extends learning opportunities beyond the classroom using an

engaging project-centered approach

Technology and Community: to tap into youth’s interest in their communities

and feed their curiosity with creative, technology-driven projects.

Technology at Work shows learners how computers are used in a variety of jobs

and careers

Technology and Entrepreneurship Using Internet tools and office applications,

learners research and formulate a business idea. Then they create and present a

business plan for that idea