INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Software for Business
Egypt’s software piracy
drop and legal reforms
boost foreign investment
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Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and
Information Technology also announced
the Cabinet’s approval on the data
protection and privacy draft law that
embraces the new EU’s General Data
Protection Regulation (GDPR).
“We are working on a comprehensive
strategy for increasing the attractiveness
of Egypt to international investors building
on our momentum and the ICT sector’s
growth which we believe will remain robust,”
said Maha Rasha, Acting CEO of Egypt’s IT
Industry Development Agency.
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“The country has the right mix of capabilities
that qualifies it to be an ideal hub for global
operations and business innovation which is
thriving and booming like never before.”
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gypt has seen a 2% drop in its
software piracy rate to reach 59%,
according to a study released by US-
based Business Software Alliance.
It revealed that Egypt has managed to
decrease the commercial value of the
unlicensed software, which declined
significantly from US$157 million in 2015 to
US$64 million last year.
The survey quantified the volume and value
of unlicensed software installed on PCs
across more than 110 national and regional
economies in addition to surveying more
than 22,500 consumers and employees in 32
countries who use PCs at home or at work.
Globally, Egypt now has lower piracy rates
than some of other global outsourcing
contenders including Morocco (64%), the
Philippines (64%), Vietnam (74%) and Sri
Lanka (77%). This is the second consecutive
year that Egypt’s piracy rates have fallen.
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INTELLIGENTCIO
Last July, the Egyptian parliament, backed
by two thirds of parliament's 596 members,
passed the cybercrime law that helps in
mitigating the cyberthreats and establishes
rules and measures to be followed by the
local ISPs.
The law, which legalises the digital evidence
for the first time in the Egyptian jurisprudence,
aims at stamping out any information inciting
violence or hatred, addressing various other
types of computer crimes, including hacking,
fraud, or any attack on private and public
information systems and networks.
“Over the past several years, the government
has taken tough measures to crack down on
the illegal use of software,” said Dr Mohamed
Hegazy, Egypt’s IPR Office Manager. “We
have managed to create a conducive
business environment through modernising
the legal framework and law enforcement,
combating piracy and protecting intellectual
property rights.”
“The new legal reforms add an edge to this
mix and generates a new wave for foreign
investmen ts into the sector.”
The recent reforms will boost Egypt’s appeal
to global firms and international data
centres, helping it achieve both economic
and cybersecurity gains.
The country has already demonstrated
increased efforts in developing its telecom
infrastructure, building tech parks bundled
with attractive investment schemes and
incentives, nurturing its talent pool through
multiple digital training initiatives on
advanced technologies such as data science
and analysis, IoT, AI and cybersecurity.
Valued at nearly EGP 59 billion (US$3.26
billion) in 2017, the Egyptian IT and IT-
enabled services (ITeS) export industry is
spurred by the expansions and increased
presence made by the existing multinational
companies and the new IT foreign direct
investments to the country. n
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