politburo diktat 2.0

Semiconductor giant Intel has announced plans to set up a technological center in the politically volatile Gaza Strip.

The “Intel Information Technology Center of Excellence”, to be located at the Islamic University of Gaza, will aim to promote technology skills, knowledge transfer and economic development in the region.

The Intel IT Center of Excellence–a project undertaken in conjunction with nonprofit organization American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA)–will expand educational and employment opportunities, provide critical IT support for local businesses and organizations, and help stimulate the IT market in Gaza.

“The best way to sustain peace in the region is to give people a sense of hope in the future, which means offering dignity, freedom, and an opportunity to improve one’s life. This Center is fulfilling those needs with professional IT jobs in the difficult Gaza environment. It signals progress and fosters hope,” explained a spokesman from ANERA. A spokesman from Paul S. Otellini’sIntel (nasdaq: INTC - news - people ) concurred: “We don’t want to discount the tension in the area…but from our perspective, we view it as something that can have a positive impact.”

The Intel Information Technology Center of Excellence is intended to provide IT training to Palestinians and stimulate development of high-tech industry in an area where half the labor force is unemployed.

“We don’t want to discount the tension in the area … but from our perspective, we view it as something that can have a positive impact,” said Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy. “If you talk to the leaders of the Palestinian Authority, this is exactly the kind of thing they want. They want education, they want paths to improve the economic well-being of their citizens.”

It will be staffed primarily by Palestinians and will be located a couple of miles outside Gaza City in an area staked out to become a technology park with the Intel center as its anchor, said Peter Gubser, president of ANERA. Construction is expected to begin in about two months, with completion a year later.