Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 39 | Page 48

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. ///////////////// 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. 48 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 www.intelligentcio.com