In this context, the Chairman of the Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship Parliamentary Committee, MP Mu'ayyad Allawane, emphasized the strategic importance of pioneering and technological centers and their pivotal role in qualifying and honing the skills of Jordanian youth and providing them with the tools of the future, pointing out that Irbid Governorate is rich in distinguished entrepreneurial models and inspiring success stories that confirm the ability of the governorate's youth to innovate and have a positive impact, and stressing the need to provide continuous support to these youth energies and national institutions to enhance the march of economic modernization and sustainable development.
In this context, the Director General of the Center, Amer Abu Dlu, who received a royal honor with a Silver Jubilee Medal from His Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Al-Hussein in 2024 in recognition of his role in developmental work and supporting the participation of youth and women in political and economic life, says::
" My journey in public work began when I was a student, as I started early in volunteering and participating with government institutions and civil society organizations. With the transition to the university stage, this participation expanded to include programs and meetings at the Arab and regional levels, forming a clear vision that youth do not only need activities and training, but also real spaces that give them the opportunity to participate, create ideas, and lead initiatives. From this idea, the experience began to take shape, leading to the establishment of the "We Rise for Sustainable Development Center" in Irbid in 2018, to transform years of work and volunteering into an organized institutional path that has expanded year after year.
Since the beginning, we have been keen to build a different identity for "We Rise" based on developing ideas and programs that start from real issues and needs, not from repeating ready-made models; the idea was not for youth to reach the programs, but for the programs to reach what youth really need. From this perspective, technology, data, and digital security have become a major part of the center's way of working, and interest later expanded to include employing artificial intelligence tools in research, analysis, and program development. One of the most prominent examples of this approach is the "Youth Council 21" experience, where the center developed an integrated digital electoral platform that included candidacy, campaigns, voting, and announcing the results, and more than 111 thousand voters participated in its elections, in an experience that reflected the institution's ability to turn technology into a tool for public participation and not just a technical means.
Today, the We Rise Center has evolved from an initiative launched in Irbid Governorate to an institution whose programs, partnerships, and presence at the national and regional levels are expanding, working on issues that bring together youth, development, technology, media, and public participation. The future of community work requires institutions that are more capable of understanding digital transformations, using data and artificial intelligence, enhancing cybersecurity, and protecting youth in the digital space, and the success of institutions is not measured by the number of activities they carry out, but by their ability to present new ideas that can be developed and expanded. This is the conclusion, an experience that started with volunteer work in Irbid, then turned into an institution that seeks to have a greater impact than the limits of the place, and to remain close to youth, their issues, and their future".
For her part, the Director of the Youth Body 'We Are All Jordan' in Irbid Governorate, Abeer Hatamleh, confirmed that the opening of the technological center "North Platform" represents a qualitative and strategic leap that provides the latest technological training and qualification programs, and opens wide horizons for pioneering youth to build their innovative projects in a supportive environment equipped with the latest technologies and shared workspaces, thereby contributing to meeting the needs of the advanced labor market and supporting the march of local development.
Hatamleh pointed to the integral role the platform plays in enhancing the digital economy system, and its strategic importance in connecting production and industrial sectors with promising youth and entrepreneurial energies. Hatamleh said that the opening of the platform translates the vision of economic modernization into reality, and forms a vital destination to support nascent ideas and small businesses, and to provide an incubator environment for networking between the public and private sectors in the northern governorates.
