In 1997, under the auspices of H.E. Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, RITSEC launched the Arab Child Initiative, designed to help bridge the gap between children in developing Arab countries and children from the developed world and to prepare them for the 21st century. The initiative has been very successful, using information and communication technologies to develop educational tools and facilitate the sharing of knowledge.

Internet has become an essential tool for communication and education in today's world. The Internet can be an effective and efficient means for providing information, distributing knowledge, exchanging ideas, promoting cultural awareness, and forming a network connecting people around the world. Heba Ramzy, project director, says that, "If we are looking ahead, we have to think of the future: our children. These children need more constructive and educational, but at the same time, entertaining sources in both the real world and cyberspace."

As with all its projects, RITSEC developed a prototype initiative that, if successful, would then serve as a model for implementation throughout the region. RITSEC looked at how the new information and communication technologies could be used in education and learning in children between the ages of six and fifteen.

The project team identified four main critical success factors:

1. Providing an enabling environment
   RITSEC observed international programs implemented in the US, Europe, the United Kingdom, and the Scandinavian countries to find the best practices available. The project team learned that providing the technology was necessary but not sufficient.



2. Providing training
   As in other RITSEC projects, an essential component for sustainability of the programs is providing training. Teachers must be trained on the technologies and programs in order to properly guide the children.



3. Providing content
   To date, there is little Arabic content or content in English produced by Arab countries on the Internet. Access to locally developed content, content relative to local cultures and interests, and content in Arabic is essential



4. Developing learning programs
   Once the infrastructure is in place, instructors are trained, and content available, the next step is to implement learning programs for the target groups

RITSEC has implemented a number of programs to empower children to develop programs and local content, using the technology made available through the project, and to develop models of successful uses of the new information and communication technologies in education.