ESIS extension / Key Person Contacts and Organisations / Egypt / Update Memo 2

Overview October 1999: Egypt

During the past few years, there has been a growing interest for the promotion and development of the Egyptian Information Society on a national, regional and international level.

The Cabinet of Ministers, represented by the Egyptian Cabinet Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC) which is a state-owned organisation established to develop information technology applications and tools and apply them in various industry sectors, has undertaken major steps towards the realisation of the information society in Egypt.

Egypt's "information highway" project was initiated in 1995 at which time a number of pilot networks were launched. The "Health Net", the "Tourism Net", the "Culture Net", the "Libraries Net", the "Government Online", the "Governorates Net" and the "Community Centres" being among them. The "information Highway" project was undertaken to promote and develop the use of the Internet in the various fields and consequently promote the concept of an information-driven society in Egypt.

A number of organisations and authorities are involved in the promotion and creation of the information society in Egypt. Other than IDSC, the most important of these organisations being:

the Regional Information Technology and Software Engineering Center (RITSEC)
the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS)
and the State Information Service (SIS).

Please note that this report has been prepared under the sole responsibility of the ESIS II contractors.
It does not necessarily reflect the views of the Commission, nor does the Commission accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of information contained herein.
The ESIS Team of contractors welcomes any additional information or corrections.