The world is rapidly moving into a networked environment: Today, we connect digitally with objects that surround us in our homes, streets, working environment, etc, in what we call the digital economy.
We have surpassed the phase of communicating on a smartphone.
Innovation in the digital world has brought us into a world of applications and smart connectivity, even with our surrounding environment. Soon, we will communicate more with smart home systems, smart transport, and city systems.
Controlling TV, air conditioning systems, lighting, and refrigerators from a distance has become a reality. We will communicate and get information and data through an artificial intelligence system. Alexa from Amazon or Google Home, with which communication was impossible ten years ago, will soon help us access things and interact with them—the Internet of Things ( IoT) era.
Our youth and children will live in this so-called “digital economy or “fourth industrial revolution.” Until then, and for a better future, we must prepare them so that they can convert from consumers to contributors and to compete innovatively not only locally and in the Arab world, but globally.
Therefore, we call upon our youth and children to delve into the world of application development and be part of the digital economy.
The government and private sector should work hand in hand by integrating young people into the digital industry and teaching them how to develop games digitally. However, these programs, projects, and initiatives should teach them not only programming and writing codes but also other skills such as design, marketing, data reading and analysis, quality tests, and digital clouds.
This skill set is crucial and part of the digital development system. This way, our country will have a bright future that will allow us to compete by properly using our human resources.
Teaching programming to children and youth is essential. Still, it is also important to emphasize that digital applications compete not only by writing codes but also by how they present and display to the user through creative and attractive interfaces.
Therefore, we must teach our children how to design and use marketing to their advantage. The second phase concerns the use of these applications by focusing on the quality and stability of the App during the period of use. Therefore, we must test the games we develop before publishing them in the market and update them regularly after doing so.
We must also focus on training the new generation on the importance of quality and testing of applications before and after publishing to give the user an unforgettable experience listening to their comments and applying them to suit their needs better.
Also, In our digital initiatives and programs running through our civil society organizations, government, and private sector, we must teach our children the technical aspect of application development, which includes programming and digital design, without forgetting the importance of the R&D concept to distinguish these applications and the digital economy presence in our life.
The Jordan Gaming Lab, founded in 2011 with the Royal support of His Majesty King Abdullah II and under the supervision of the King Abdullah II Fund for Development, allows children and youth to play a significant role in mobile video games and Apps development.
The Lab provides free workshops and training programs throughout the year, investing in their passion and creativity starting at 9.
Since 2011, The Maysalward team has been working as Jordan Gaming Lab’s technical partner implementing and developing comprehensive programs that are practical and not only theoretical.
Today, and throughout the Gaming Lab, we focus on developing mobile gaming apps, which play a significant role in the digital App economy. Our activities in the Lab rely entirely on global trends such as Game Design and Development, cloud computing, virtual reality, augmented reality, and other key trends.
These free courses run in the gaming lab facilities at Amman, Aqaba, Irbid, Ma’an, and soon in Zarqa and Karak, are developing a new generation that thinks beyond programming and into marketing, administrative and logical thinking.
One aim of this collaborative environment is to raise a generation that shares knowledge and work on research and development with each other.
To grow faster and reach a global level, the Jordan Gaming Lab is helping to connect Jordanian indie developers and startups with leading international institutions, bridging through workshops and seminars. We also host the annual game development conference since 2011 and provide training workshops that contribute to developing youth skills and investing in their promising future. The Free Courses are held in the central, southern, and northern regions of the Kingdom in the existing gaming lab facilities.