Bahrain IT Work Force
OVERVIEW: Bahrain has the highest literacy rate in the entire Middle East and this fact has largely been attributed to the successful development of the local IT work force there. But still as of now, most of the IT labor force is imported and engaged in the development of the Internet sector as well as the establishement of a number of software industries.
According to the Cultural Attache of the Bahrain
Embassy in Washington DC, the number of ICT professionals per 1000 has
been estimated to be around 20 personnel per year (1) (meaning that
20/1000 grauduate on an yearly basis). (Most of them come from the University
of Bahrain). The IT program at the university was started in 1998. The
IT workforce in the Kingdom of Bahrain could be considered as a somewhat
new idea in the context that the technology has come to the island in
the near past. One of the emerging trends in terms of the teachings
of Information Technology is the introduction of computer hardware and
software courses from the middle school level up and so forth.
In the last five years, there has been a tremendous increase in the IT labor force, jumping from a modest level of around 500 to more than 2500 personnel (1). Almost all of these are college graduates (mostly from Western universities). The largest IT organization and Brain in Bahrain is Bahrain Information and Technology Society (2) and University of Bahrain (3). In the late few years, the government has really stepped up its initiatives to ensure that there is a timely development and upbringing of a local Information Technology worse and not so much reliance on outside sources. This is so because a large chunk of the Information Technology developers and the implementers of new hardware and Internet technology in the island are foreign skilled labor and the government needs to change this trend so local people are familiar with the new and up coming technologies.
The government has launched
a number of scholarships for the proficient Bahraini students like myself
to come to the West, mainly the United States and get availed with the
latest technology and take the knowledge back home. In fact, due to
the extra careful efforts of the government to ensure the wide spread
knowledge of IT, Bahrain is the only country in the entire Gulf region
to have the highest literary rate and the higher IT local population
workforce. Most of the Bahraini IT workforce are graduates from overseas
universities, and a large proportion of the population also comes from
the University of Bahrain, which is also developing an extensive Hardware
and Software educational system. In addition to that, there are also
a number of local and international firms that are stemming up IT business
in the state due to lenient government rules and tax free environment.
These new businesses and corporations are also playing a key role in
the transformation of the local IT force to become more competitive
and up to the Western standards by giving the employees an extensive
and a very thorough training related to the related hardware and software
products. One of the biggest goals that the government has achieved
so far is the development of a $ 1 billion (local news paper quote)
IT park that would host both local and international companies as well
as having a number of training centers.
(2)Bahrain Institute of Information & Technology