JCP Monthly Report - December 2013

The program focuses on three key clusters: Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Clean Technology (CT), and Healthcare and Life Sciences (HLS). These clusters are further divided into target sub-sectors, including Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency, Water Management, and Waste Management in the CT cluster, and Medical Tourism, Medical Education, Pharmaceuticals, and Supporting Services in the HLS cluster. The JCP Work Planning Retreat, held from December 9-11 in Aqaba, brought together JCP staff to plan for the project's first year of activities and align them with the project's draft performance monitoring plan. The retreat provided an opportunity for team building and discussion of the current situation in Jordan, as well as the challenges and opportunities facing each sector and component. JCP staff reviewed the deliverables and activities detailed in the original JCP proposal workplan and recommended activity deletions, additions, and modifications, as well as sequencing and prioritization. The Clean Tech Cluster conducted four successful focus group sessions, bringing together 42 attendees, 80% of whom were from the private sector. The sessions were organized around the cluster's target sub-sectors and resulted in 12 new opportunities being added to the sector's list of possible priority projects and 24 opportunities being adjusted based on focus group feedback. The team followed up on each focus group session by sending a briefing document to all attendees detailing the participants' input and the team's proposed next steps. Raouf Dabbas, Advisor to the Minister of Environment, attended one of the focus group sessions and emphasized the importance of "political will" in enabling the program's success. Hanna Zaghloul, CEO of Kawar Energy, noted that the current grid caps on renewables will only support 80 MW of capacity, highlighting the need for a grid cap adjustment. The Healthcare and Life Sciences Cluster also conducted four successful focus group sessions, bringing together 37 attendees from both the private and public sectors. The sessions were organized around the target sub-sectors and resulted in the identification of new opportunities for collaboration and partnership. The Access to Finance Component began mapping the current financing environment for the three targeted JCP clusters. The project's R&D specialist joined the JCP team and began mapping JCP sector-related research conducted by Jordanian universities and research institutions. The first Workforce Development Component local staff started this month, focusing on stakeholder mapping in the areas of career development centers and entrepreneurship training. The project's draft performance monitoring plan was reviewed, and the teams began to narrow the number of indicators that will be included in JCP's final PMP submission. The retreat's final session covered two cross-cutting issues that need to be integrated into every component: gender and the environment. A gender committee was formed to help lead the project in integrating gender into its sector and component activities, and a sector-targeted gender study was planned.