Lagos — CITING Saudi government-industry partnership (or private public partnership) as successful model in "advancing education, technology innovation and economic development in the Arab World", Intel Corporation Chairman Craig Barrett, kicked off his fourth visit to the Gulf region pledging technical support for building a high-speed wireless network in the country using a long-range wireless technology known as WiMAX.

According to Intel source, Barrett also dedicated a pilot project for e-learning at a Saudi Arabian public school, which is becoming a top priority in many educational systems throughout the world.

"Our joint commitment to technological innovation shows that much can be accomplished when private industry and government work in tandem to achieve a common vision," said Barrett, whose visit to the Kingdom is the first leg of his trip to the Gulf region. He noted that "Investments in education are important to the future, in the Arab world and around the globe."

Barrett is traveling throughout the Middle East in his role as chairman of a United Nations panel on technology, and on behalf of the Intel World Ahead Programme. Intel's global initiative strives to improve education, healthcare, trepreneurship and government services by accelerating access to computers, connectivity and localized Internet content.

He is expected to visit the United Arab Emirates and also Kuwait to further promote "better, faster access to information and communications technology (ICT)."

During his visit to the leading OPEC oil producing kingdom, Barrett signed an agreement between STC, Saudi's telecom operator, and Knowledge Economic City, (KEC) of Medina, to deploy a WiMAX network, scheduled start running by 2011.

Joined by Saudi Minister of Education, H.E. Dr. Abdullah Bin Salah Bin Obaid, Barrett saw the e-learning pilot project demonstrated at Riyadh's Bishr Ibn Elbaraa School, a public school for boys in grades seven through nine. The school pilot will run in two classrooms, and outfitted with notebook computers and the specially designed Intel-powered Classmate PCs.

The smaller, student-sized netbooks are designed to be low-cost, wireless-capable, water- and shock-resistant and fully functional computers that are pre-loaded with standard software and locally relevant educational programmes. All computers used in the pilot project feature Intel's skoool Learning and Teaching Technology.

Intel worked closely with a set of local businesses, including KETAB, a manufacturer of pen-based collaborative whiteboards; Binary Works, an education service provider that implemented the hardware and provided the School Management System and the Learning Management System; Semanoor, a software vendor that provided Semanoor e-content; and MGD, a software vendor that provided Crocodile Clips virtual labs.