How has Egypt addressed the impacts of Covid-19, including the surge in demand for ICT services?
A $1.9bn nationwide upgrade of the telecoms infrastructure, deployed over two years, was key to a well-performing internet, supported by resilient infrastructure, throughout the pandemic’s peak period. On the human development side, the government propagated a number of online capacity-building initiatives to increase digital competency. For example, Future Work is Digital is a government-sponsored technology learning and upskilling scholarship that aims to benefit 100,000 workers seeking opportunities in the global freelance marketplace. Its focus specialisations are data modelling and analysis, web development and digital marketing. This unique programme is open to all members of society and also offers hands-on experience. Collaboration with other government organisations – for example, the Ministry of Health – was demonstrated in the establishment of a telemedicine platform where citizens could receive 24/7 assistance. Moreover, a partnership with the Ministry of Education and Technical Education, and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, allowed 16m students to shift online smoothly.
In what ways can investment in intelligent technologies boost economic competitiveness?
Egypt is spearheading numerous initiatives to apply advanced digital technologies to serve citizens better, increase productivity and support the economy. Our priority at this stage is to create a base of expertise among tech-savvy professionals and youth by offering intensive training and learning opportunities. Building on this potential, heavy investment is currently being directed to research and development, where strong global collaborations are materialising. The research efforts aim to utilise technologies like artificial intelligence, data science and the internet of things to address specific and pressing challenges in fields such as urban planning, natural language processing, health care, medicine, agriculture, irrigation, water management, education and resource optimisation.
The government is also building innovation centres to improve the national entrepreneurial spirit. Hosted on university campuses with the objective of forging closer collaboration between academia, industry and investors to benefit the country’s entrepreneurs, they aim to create unprecedented economic competitiveness at the local community level before extending it to the wider world. Since 2019 Egypt has maintained its leadership in the MENA region for start-up-focused financing and investment deals; this reflects the attractive business environment that both investors and entrepreneurs are seeking.
Where can ICT play a role in supporting the ongoing evolution of the public sector in Egypt?
Egypt is implementing a mega-project for the digital transformation of the public and private sectors. Work is progressing to realise the digital government initiative, Digital Egypt, which includes the transformation of government activities and services into a platform model: 75 digital services are now offered nationwide, with plans to reach 170 by end-2021.
The pandemic undoubtedly accelerated the uptake and acceptance of digital services. To support the efforts of transformation and increase trust in the ICT ecosystem, the Personal Data Protection Law came into force in July 2020. The law is modelled, to a large extent, on the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation and will support Egypt’s efforts to become a regional data centre.
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