COUNTRY FOCUS: EGYPT
Information Technology is forming
the cornerstone of a modernisation
agenda in Egypt. With an ambitious
blueprint to build a new capital, that
includes the country’s answer to Silicon
Valley, Egypt’s Digital Transformation is
progressing impressively.
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Innovation at the heart of
Egypt’s capital strategy
T
he Egyptian Government has
recognised the importance of
the implementation of a Digital
Transformation agenda to modernise every
aspect of the country’s society.
During the ‘Creativity and Culture in the
Digital Society Age’ symposium held at Cairo
Opera House, Minister of Communications
and Information Technology (MCIT) Amr
Talaat spoke about the importance of the IT
industry and how creativity and innovation
were at its core.
He pointed out that the progress of society is
one of the state’s priorities and the use of IT
was a cornerstone of the ministry’s strategy
to achieving this.
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INTELLIGENTCIO
During the Symposium, Talaat explained
how the MCIT had put a great emphasis on
increasing options for young Egyptians and
providing job opportunities.
This would be achieved, he said, through
the provision of training programmes with
the aim of providing training to 20,000
young people within the next three years
using direct training techniques and
digital platforms.
He referred to the most important initiatives
being implemented including the Next
Technology Leaders (NTL) Initiative and the
Wazeefa Tech Initiative, which aims to link
training programmes with industry needs to
provide training in specialised technologies.
This is in addition to launching a digital
academy for providing free self-training for
Arab youth, and the specialised training
programme for providing training to
1,500 young people in the establishment,
operation and maintenance of fibre optic
networks, as well as the establishment of
the IT national academy for People with
Disabilities (PwDs).
A number of technology parks have also
been inaugurated in four governorates
to extend the principle of technological
development. MCIT is also co-operating
with the Ministry of Higher Education
and Scientific Research to implement
eight technological innovation hubs in
Egyptian universities to create a system
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