TRA approves five IT projects worth Dh57m

Abu Dhabi: The UAE Tele-communications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has approved five projects worth Dh57 million from its dedicated information and communications technology fund (ICT Fund), which has resources exceeding Dh400 million.

Mohammad Al Ganem, TRA director-general and board member, said on Sunday that "of the projects approved, there's a Dh50 million project that will connect colleges and universities in the UAE electronically. The idea is to allow the universities to do research through this network. Besides the education network, there's a plan to build incubators... in fact, there are 20 projects in the pipeline."

Al Ganem was addressing a press conference at the Abu Dhabi International Exhibition Centre, shortly after ICT signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ruwad Establishment, a business institution.

The MoU aims to establish funds to finance education, training and research and development projects in information technology and telecom.

Opportunities

"This agreement will enable us to access and evaluate the existing opportunities in IT and telecom in the UAE, thus cooperating with Ruwad to provide the necessary finance and support for these projects," said Ahmad Hameed Al Mazroui, chairman of the Board of Trustees of the ICT Development Fund.

He added: "This support will mainly target the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) community which forms a vital part of the national economy."