| Project Detail |
Project Development Objective (PDO) 35. The PDO is to increase economic opportunities for IT service firms in the West Bank and Gaza. Economic opportunities are defined as the set of circumstances that make the creation of an increasing number of high skilled and sustainable jobs possible, and hence increase revenues over the long term. B. PDO-Level Result Indicators 36. The PDO-level indicators are the following: (a) Value of new contracts signed between local IT service firms benefiting from project activities and international buyers (b) International buyers signing new contracts with local IT service firms benefiting from project activities (c) Additional private investment made by firms benefiting from project activities toward technology and skill upgrading 37. The rationale behind the PDO indicators is as follows: (a) International buyers signing new contracts with local IT service firms benefiting from project activities. The value of new contracts signed between local IT service firms benefiting from project activities and international buyers provides a proxy for the enhanced managerial and technological capabilities that local firms have built during the lifetime of the project. Those new capabilities are expected to be a proxy for the firms’ ability to generate more contracts in the future. Moreover, this indicator provides a proxy for capability building through learning-by-doing and knowledge transfer from international buyers, which positions firms for more contracts with more firms and for generating more jobs in the long run. (b) The number of international buyers signing new contracts with local IT service firms benefiting from project activities provides a proxy for the local conditions for long-term job growth. Contracts from more international buyers signal that the demand side of the market recognizes that local firm capacity has been built and that there is local ecosystem in place to support them. A growth in international buyers is also expected to have a demonstration effect on global market for the West Bank and Gaza as an IT services/outsourcing destination, and hence lead to the attraction of more buyers and the creation of more local jobs. (c) Additional private investment made by firms benefiting from project activities toward technology and skill upgrading provides a proxy for investment in building the capabilities of firms, and under the assumption that these investments in physical, relational, or human capital translate into enhanced capabilities, in their ability to gain more contracts from more buyers in the long term. This indicator also provides a proxy for the expectations of firms as to future growth in demand for their services, from which new jobs will be generated. |
