Al-Darrab, Abdullah

Riyadh, Deputy Governor of Technical Affairs, ICT Commission of Saudi Arabia

Abdullah Al-Darrab graduated from California State University – Sacramento (USA) with a  B.Sc. in Electrical & Electronic Engineering. He joined the MoPTT as Director of the Mobile Telephony Department in 1981, and was promoted to various posts including Director of Telecom Networks, Director General of Cable Networks and Director General of Mobile and Rural Telecom. He chaired the ModArabtel team (a regional project under ITU supervision) for preparation of the common technical specifications for Digital Mobile Communications in the Arab states. In 1998, he was appointed to the post of Vice President for Engineering Affairs at the Saudi Telecom Company (STC), and supervised the Planning, Design and Implementation of major nationwide telecom network expansion projects. He also played a key role in leading the introduction of Internet service in Saudi Arabia. He represented the Kingdom at numerous international meetings and conferences, and was elected Vice Chairman of ITU Study Group (SG-8) in the Radio Sector at the Plenipotentiary Conference (Düsseldorf 1990). He was re-elected for a period of ten successive years and headed several international meetings with worldwide representation. Mr. Al-Darrab was appointed in 2001 to the post of Deputy Governor for Technical Affairs at the newly formed Communications and Information Technology Commission.  He participated in the 1^st phase of the WSIS and in most of the prep-com meetings for the summit. In particular, he is chairman of the KSA national committee for summit preparation.