The Iraq Technical Education Pilot Program (ITEPP)

The Center for Advanced Defense Studies
The Iraq Technical Education
Pilot Program (ITEPP)
A Comprehensive Approach to Post-Conflict Education
CADS Background
Introduction to ITEPP
Project Objectives
Project Design
Results: Stability & Economic Growth
10 G Street NE, Suite 610
Washington, DC 20002
Tel: (202) 289-3332
Fax: (202) 789-2786
www.c4ads.org

Legal Information
Information in this presentation is provided in connection with CADS products. No license, express or implied, by estoppel or otherwise, to any intellectual property rights is granted by this presentation. Except as provided in CADS’ terms and conditions of sale for such products, cads assumes no liability whatsoever, and cads disclaims any express or implied warranty, relating to sale and/or use of cads® products including liability or warranties relating to fitness for a particular purpose, merchantability, or infringement of any patent, copyright or other intellectual property right. CADS products are not intended for use in medical, life saving, or life sustaining applications. CADS may make changes to specifications and product descriptions at any time, without notice. All products, dates, and figures specified are preliminary based on current expectations, and are subject to change without notice. The center for advanced defense studies, CADS, the CADS logo, are trademarks or registered trademarks of the center for advanced defense studies or its subsidiaries in the united states and other countries. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

The Center for Advanced Defense Studies
What is the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (CADS)?
A Nonprofit with a Global Network
The Center is a public charity and research organization dedicated to improving global stability and security. It leverages a global network of over forty nonresident fellows, a board of directors including former ambassadors, members of Congress, military officers, and corporate leaders, and ongoing relationships with top universities to provide requirements-driven data collection and analysis, professional information and service integration, and intelligent consulting.
Examples of program initiatives
Over the past 10 years, the Center has successfully implemented a range of program initiatives. Past accomplishments in education and technology include:
Partnership with RIT
The Center sustained a 3-year partnership with the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) to offer the first cross-disciplinary Master’s Degree featuring concentrations in Cyber Security, CBRNE Defense and Counterterrorism. Courses were taught in Washington, D.C. by CADS experts and faculty members.
Advanced XML Security Lab
For this Intel-sponsored project, CADS researchers investigated the impact of the large-scale deployment of information-sharing platforms using XML, a set of rules used for document coding that is widely used by government and industry. The Center subsequently released the XML Web Services Vulnerability Model, which resulted in an XML threats taxonomy that is used by Intel and is cited by Cisco and LSI Corporation as a de facto industry standard.
Emerging Technology Initiative (ETI)
The ETI is a program designed to build partnerships between technology startup companies generating cutting-edge research with federal government users. In 2008, CADS initiated a pilot study for a standardized technology linkage program conducted with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Aided by the Center’s partnership with U.S. venture capital firm Oxantium Ventures, CADS provided standardized briefs of technology companies to the NASA Ames Research Center as part of their Venture Capital Network program.

Introduction
The Iraq Technical Education Pilot Program (ITEPP)
The Center for Advanced Defense Studies (CADS) seeks funding for a Summer 2012 launch of the Iraq Technical Education Pilot Program (ITEPP).
Mission
ITEPP will support Iraq reconstruction through distance learning initiatives and a durable network of U.S. and Iraqi businesses and academic institutions.
From Baghdad to Boston
ITEPP supports Iraqi students as they pursue Boston University’s Master of Science in Computer Information Systems (MSCIS) degree. Cutting-edge distance learning technologies allow students to view lectures and fully interact with instructors during office hours, while remaining in Iraq. Both during and after the degree program, ITEPP supports its students with internships, job placement, and a startup-grant mechanism.
Purpose
The Center is committed to Iraq reconstruction through the restoration of vital social infrastructure. Tertiary education is an important component of economic growth, social stability, and normalized international relations, but one that is too often neglected by educational aid programs. ITEPP fills a gap in higher education reconstruction in Iraq, and fully reinvests the products of education and professional growth into regional stability.
Where Funding Goes
Funding for ITEPP will cover BU MSCIS tuition, student and faculty facilities, cost of living stipends during the Future Technology Leaders (FTL) internship phase, and the creation of the Iraq Entrepreneurship Fund (IEF) to support program graduates who wish to start their own businesses in Iraq. Taken together, the MSCIS, FTL, and IEF components of ITEPP offer Iraqi students the opportunity to drastically improve their personal welfare while also contributing to stability and economic growth in Iraq.

ITEPP’s Three-Tiered Design
Project Design
I.
II.
III.
BU MSCIS Degree
Foreign Technology Leaders (FTL) Program
Post-Degree Support and Iraq Entrepreneurship Fund (IEF)

Tier I: BU MSCIS Degree
The Degree
ITEPP students will take courses online for the Master of Science in Computer Information Systems (MSCIS) degree from Boston University. A resident professor from Baghdad University will lead each cohort through class modules and will be available to proctor exams and hold office hours.
The BU MSCIS program offers concentrations in Database Management and Business Intelligence, Health Informatics, IT Project Management, and Security.
Program Structure
ITEPP students will complete eight BU online courses and the two-course equivalent Baghdad University thesis program, making them eligible to receive a dual BU-Baghdad University degree.
The total timeline for each class of the MSCIS program, including all BU and Baghdad University requirements, is 21 months.

Tier II: Foreign Technology Leaders (FTL)
The Foreign Technology Leaders Internship Program
ITEPP’s second component, the Future Technology Leaders (FTL) internship program, uses existing relationships between the U.S. Department of State and technology-focused American companies to facilitate a 12-week summer internship for students.
Placement Locations
In early pilot programs, the U.S. embassy in Baghdad placed 13 students in internships at AT&T, Engine Yard, Square, and Mozilla.
ITEPP students will have the option of interning in either the U.S. or Iraq, depending on personal considerations, visa availability, and funding. FTL will prioritize placing students in internships in Iraq.
Placement Parameters
FTL will rely on a network of international and Iraqi businesses that:
(1) require workers educated in IT disciplines;
(2) can offer ITEPP students significant insight and practical training in their chosen IT field; and
(3) have the capacity to hire ITEPP students after graduation.
The creation of this network will allow ITEPP students to attain significant hands-on experience as students and, later, as degree-holding professionals.

Tier III: Post-Degree Support
Post-Degree Support
The third component of ITEPP provides MSCIS degree-holders with several options for their professional development. Program graduates can either seek employment through ITEPP’s network of companies operating in and expanding into Iraq, or, assuming successful completion of the FTL internship, can access ITEPP’s Iraq Entrepreneurship Fund (IEF).
The Iraq Entrepreneurship Fund
The IEF will give students access to start-up loans of up to $20,000. It is designed to fund requests by up to 25% of each ITEPP graduating class.
IEF will be administered by experienced fund managers, including Drs. Newton Howard and Richard Wirt of CADS, as well as partners from the U.S. Department of State.

Results: Economic Growth
Economic Growth in Iraq
Iraqi Technical Proficiency
There is a clear need for IT professionals in Iraq as the country’s economy grows. In the past decade:
Internet penetration in Iraq has risen more than ten-fold.
Telecommunications infrastructure increased more than 100-fold.
Emerging Opportunities
Iraq’s growing petro-chemical, finance, and telecommunications industries are experiencing explosive growth—and need technical experts.
For example, North Refineries Company, the firm in charge of the oil refineries in the northern city of Baiji, recently announced a $9.6 million deal with Honeywell to provide technology upgrades, support, and training for control systems.
Iraqis have already begun seizing the opportunities
presented by economic growth to meet demand for
Information technology.
In 2004, Iraq’s Central Organization for Statistics listed 201 registered internet cafes in Iraq; that number had more than doubled to 454 in the latest survey in 2007.
A study published by Springboard Research shows that IT spending in Iraq during the 2009 fiscal year exceeded $55 million, and was predicted to reach $63.2 million in 2010.
Source: U.S. Army

Results: Economic Growth
ITEPP’s Role in Economic Growth
Unfulfilled Demand
The high rate at which IT jobs are added to the Iraqi economy means that tertiary education in post-conflict Iraq is not yet adequate to meet demand.
A senior official at the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office estimates that to meet Iraq's increasing demand, “there is a requirement to train 200,000 to 300,000 IT specialists in the next five years.”
Added Benefits of IT Growth
An increase in the number of Iraqi IT professionals will not only meet growing demand in IT sectors, but will drive the modernization of important infrastructure in non-IT sectors as well.
In the Iraqi banking sector, an audit of the two state-run banks identified “inadequate and outdated information technology and infrastructure” as a major weakness, and noted that most trades in the Iraqi Stock Exchange are still conducted by hand.
The Missing Link
The modernization and expansion of these sectors will depend on a substantial, indigenous IT workforce in Iraq.
ITEPP has the potential to train this workforce .
Source: One Laptop per Child

Results: Stability
The Stability-Education Link
Tertiary Education Needed
Tertiary education is a vital pillar of security in post-conflict
regions.
The World Bank reports that “slow progress in the expansion of secondary and tertiary education tends to generate a backlog of frustrated and unemployed youth ripe for recruitment into violence or crime.”
The absence of higher education institutions also “hampers economic development and, in the longer term, weakens the entire educational system.”
Source: James Gordon Photography
Remote Education is Key
Remote education allows academic institutions in post-conflict regions to reintegrate with the international
academic community.
At a 2007 education conference in northern Iraq, former UN senior engineer Ala’a Al-Din J. Kadhem Al-Radhi outlined his belief that keeping “higher education viable is essential to maintaining and rebuilding national intellectual capacity to facilitate growth in all sectors.

Results: Stability
Slow Recovery
Tertiary education is particularly susceptible to disruption in conflict zones.
Why?
Students in secondary and tertiary institutions are typically close to the age of military or factional conscription, and therefore likely to be directly involved in conflicts.
Because academic forums may be seen as hotbeds of political activism, universities and colleges are often targeted by combatants and government forces.
Since tertiary institutions are more complex and expensive than schools that provide more basic education, tertiary institutions are less likely to survive protracted conflict on community resources alone.
Neglect
Higher education is often neglected in post-conflict regions, and therefore recovers more slowly than primary education.
International agencies have a strong tendency to focus resources on basic education while neglecting the secondary and tertiary levels.
The World Bank finds that 43% of international lending to post-conflict zones is directed towards primary education and only 12% towards higher education.
Of the $1 billion the U.S. spent on foreign education aid between 1994 and 2005, 46% was specifically for primary education and only 12% was earmarked for tertiary education.
Source: Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System

Mitigating “Brain Drain”
Filling the Tertiary Education Vacuum Responsibly
ITEPP is designed to prevent “brain drain,” the process through which countries with low standards of living or high rates of violence or oppression lose their brightest and most ambitious nationals to the workforces of more stable or more prosperous countries.
How ITEPP Prevents Brain Drain
First, the program is designed around remote education. As a result, students enjoy the educational benefits of an American university without severing ties to their home culture. Remote education also eliminates the need for significant cultural training, international travel, or other additional overhead.
Second, ITEPP will prioritize placing students in internships located in Iraq. The internship component of ITEPP ensures that students put their education to use while still pursuing a degree, contribute in significant ways to the ongoing reconstruction and development of Iraq, and do not sacrifice their cultural or national ties in accomplishing the previous two objectives.
Third, ITEPP will provide long-term support for its graduates in the form of the Iraq Entrepreneurship Fund. The businesses supported by this fund will benefit the reconstruction of the Iraqi economy, while also reducing the international footprint in Iraq by taking on part of the IT burden currently shouldered by American and other foreign workers.

A Holistic Approach
ITEPP: A Path to Success
ITEPP is a holistic approach to post-conflict tertiary education. As students advance through each phase of the program, from the BU degree to FTL to IEF, they continue down a clear and singular path to personal success and societal contribution. This approach not only ensures a high program success rate, but also guarantees that all program expenditures, even during ITEPP’s early phases, ultimately go toward putting skilled Iraqis to work for their country.
Source: U.S. Army

Contact Information
Executive Director:
LTC David E. A. Johnson, USA (Ret.), david.johnson@c4ads.org
For business or technical inquiries, please contact:
Mr. Farley Mesko, Operations Officer, farley.mesko@c4ads.org
10 G Street NE, Suite 610
Washington, DC 20002
Tel: (202) 289-3332
Fax: (202) 789-2786
www.c4ads.org
Government Contracting Information:
Type of Entity: 501(c)3 Nonprofit (Tax Exempt)
DUNS: 192561012
CAGE: 4MT61
NAICS: 541720
PSCs: AD92 - R&D-OTHER DEFENSE-A RES/EXPL
DAD93 - R&D-OTHER DEFENSE-ADV
DEVAM11 - R&D-INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS-B
REAM12 - R&D-INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS-A
REAZ12 - R&D-OTHER R & D-A RES/EXPL DEV

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The Iraq Technical Education Pilot Program (ITEPP)

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The Iraq Technical Education Pilot Program (ITEPP) Presentation Transcript