Iraq is keen to build robust IT infrastructure within the country

Iraq has recently focused into IT infrastructure development for streamlining foreign investments in the country. However, for Iraq, this is a major challenge and how government cope with it would be interesting to observe. Robust satellite connections are required for the oil and gas producers. Thus, development in IT industry will lead to huge impact on the development of oil and natural gas infrastructure. This will modernize the system and enhance the production.

Managing director of Iridium Solutions, a full-service IT company based in Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan, a semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq, Mr. Dan Bosak, stated that Iraq is challenging but an interesting place to work on. He also expressed his views by saying that company is committed towards its business. It will continue operating from the Erbil and will development better service quality in order to serve the clients precisely.

Iridium Solutions was established back in 2009, and then it has made partnership with the companies, like – Cisco, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft and VMware, etc. for providing complete IT solutions to the clients with precision and maintaining the universal standard. The company has observed quite a bit success in the Iraq. Recently, it has made a contract with with Kurdistan International Bank last year to provide connectivity between branch offices, network redesign, filtering, and VoIP services. In the oil and gas sector, major clients include HKN Energy and Hunt Oil.

Elias Bechara, Iridium Solutions president, stated that the company fairly understands its opportunities for emerging in this great market, where possibilities are high as reconstruction of the country needs robust technological development.

Dalawr Chalabi, director, Department of IT, KRG or Kurdistan Regional Government, stated that Iraq is considering a liberal approach for enhancing the trading and investment opportunities in the country. Depending upon free market principals, the government is bringing in major changes in its vision, as well as in legal frameworks. Oil and gas, banking, infrastructure, tourism and education, etc are the most important business fields of the country which require technological support, as well as investments to get rejuvenated.

The lack of OIT infrastructure is somehow stopping the country from being flourished. Bashar Saba, director of IT of Erbil Rotana, a luxury hotel, stated that due to the lack of IT infrastructure, the hotel had faced a few problems regarding its network failure which inconvenienced the guests of the hotel.
Saba remarked that the Iridium Solutions had to redesign and restructure the hotel's entire network, hardware, software and configur
ation. He said the company resolved the problems with sheer meticulousness and termed Iridium as the ‘oasis in the desert’.

Iridium Solutions has also assisted HKN Energy Ltd. and other leading multinational energy companies that are conducting operations in remote and mountainous areas of the region. Mark Jackson, HKN Energy Ltd. general manager said, "Drilling locations tend to be at high elevations making communications and Internet coverage a major challenge." The company took this challenge and came up with meticulous solutions. He said that the power grid in Erbil is better than the rest of the Iraq. IT development is the key factor for this.