ESIS Extension / Egypt / IS Promotional Activities / Summary Report (1999

February 2001

Egypt
Summary Report (1999 - 2000)

1. Overview

In the years 1999-2000, several promotional activities have been undertaken in Egypt on Information Society issues.

The government has shown its decision to support and promote the information technology field and consequently, boost the information society by establishing the Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC) which currently reports to the Cabinet of Ministers.

IDSC along with a number of governmental, private and regional organisations such as RITSEC and the Internet Society of Egypt (ISE) are involved in the promotion of Information society issues.

The IDSC is a state-owned body that's mainly concerned with the promotion and development of information technology issues, such as the promotion and the formulation of plans and strategies, and the initiatives of information society.

The Internet Society of Egypt was Founded in October 1996. It is a non-profit organisation of professional individuals and institutions dedicated to promoting, managing, and facilitating the use of Internet in Egypt.

The Regional Information Technology and Software Engineering Centre hosts a number of major promotional activities concerning the information society such as CAINET '99, EuroMed '99, etc.

Finally, the local press is only superficially and circumstantially involved with IS matters : other than AL Ahram (a leading daily newspaper) which devotes 2 pages per week for IT matters, no other medium is systematically publishing relevant articles.

The main bulk of the activities identified have in fact been public initiatives undertaken by the public sector, while there have also been some private initiatives.

It should also be noted that the largest share of the promotional activities have been in the form of seminars, press conferences and presentations.

Finally, there have been some significant developments in terms of promotion of IS national strategy driven directly by the Egyptian government. Specifically, these have been undertaken by President Hosni Mubarak himself and the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (CIT).

The following document summarizes the National IS strategy and its promotion, as well as the other main promotional activities identified in the course of the period 1999-2000.

2. National and regional IS Strategies and Action Plans

The reshuffling of the Egyptian Cabinet members in October 1999 brought about the creation of a new ministry called the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information. The ministry strives to enhance the usage of technology and information systems in all the government organizations. The ministry has established four working groups to handle the issues of drafting the new telecommunications law ; of assessing an integrated master plan for telecommunications in Egypt ; of marketing and pricing new telecommunications services and to develop a business plan for them ; of human resource developments in telecommunications and IT.

Specifically, The Ministry of Telecommunications and Information aims at enhancing and promoting the usage of state-of-the-art information technology systems in all the government and society sectors. The national plan aims at promoting and developing telecommunication and information industries ; building an information-based society which applies technology in the daily activities ; developing and enhancing telecommunications and information systems for all the government sectors to serve the national needs of the society at large ; and building the required caliber for the telecommunications and advanced technologies sectors.

In line with the objectives of the national plan, the ministry has taken steps towards promoting information technology in Egypt. A major step was taken in February 2000 with the provision of Internet access to everyone interested (companies and individuals) at reduced charge rates (approximately, LE 0.15 / min) without their having to subscribe to an Internet service provider. This was achieved through Telecom Egypt which provided the necessary technology for a central Internet access system (a central server). Interested users can now have access to the Internet simply by dialing a specific telephone number.

In line with the government’s announced IS strategy, the formation of the committee responsible for the national technology development program was completed in the last quarter of 1999. The said committee is composed of the president of Egypt, the ministers of information and communications, and of industry, and the chairmen of IDSC, CAPMAS, etc. ) and is aimed at providing IT solutions to the public sector.

Specifically, the purpose of this committee is to establish and develop the Egyptian information society by increasing and encouraging investments in the technology infrastructure (such as the telecommunications networks, the Internet, and telephone systems, and in the info-structure (e.g., the development of national databases in all the ministries and organizations).

Among the objectives of the committee is to invest 1.1 billion Egyptian pounds in the next five years on major information technology projects to position Egypt as a technology center in the Middle East region and Africa. This is expected to create new employment positions for Egyptian graduates, and to establish technology areas in the new industrial zones, as well as to promote the use of technology in all sectors whether private or public. The government foresees a return on investment of 1 billion Egyptian pounds at the end of the five years.

There have been some further important developments in the course of the year 2000 :

In the course of a six-day US tour President Hosni Moubarak’s focused on cementing Egypt's position as the Middle East's IT powerhouse. Specifically, during his visit to Northern Virginia's "Internet corridor" - a region that is home to hundreds of IT companies, he has promoted the cream of Egyptian IT software personnel, and has forged an important relationship in terms of IT human resources training.

The most important outcome was IBM's announcement of a deal with the Ministry of of Communication and Information Technology (CIT), worth US$ 44 million to train 15,000 graduates in software development over the next five years, making this the company's largest-ever allocation in the Arab world. The Egyptian government is to match the funds IBM is investing, and will send 250 "trainers of trainers" each year. As an extra incentive, the top 10 percent of each six-month training cycle (each of 1500 persons) will receive an additional six months of intensive study at IBM software labs around the world.

In another development, the Minister of Communication and Information Technology (CIT), Dr. Ahmed Nazif, addressed an American Chamber of Commerce luncheon during which he outlined a comprehensive plan for developing Egypt's IT sector and described the role the ministry would play in it. The Minister’s plan for Egypt's entrance into the global technology race and proposed improvements in the telecommunication sector were outlined, with focus on the increasing demands the young generation of IT users for better connectivity and rapid data retrieval, in a country with a very high relative share of young population.

3. Description of Promotional Activities

3.1. Main Programmes related to IS stimulation

In addition to the Government’s IS strategy, several specific programs related to IS stimulation have been implemented or initiated in the past 2 years (1999-2000), as follows.

At a ministerial level, the IS activity is not considerable, and is limited only in the case of the ministry of Electricity. The said ministry has achieved a high degree of computerisation, with all the country’s power stations currently being inter-linked.

At a local Authority level, four projects have been developed within the framework of the Information Highway Project : GovernoratesNET allows each governorate in Egypt to have its own web site so that the public has access to non-classified information ; HealthNET which comprises a web site which provides information about doctors and medical specialities in Egypt ; TourNET which provides information for tourists ; and Government-on-line which is the presidential web site containing information about the names and contact details of the ministers and other government officials.

A major initiative in terms of long term planning has also been promoted by the Egyptian government to establish "Smart villages" for IT development. Dr. Ali Al Hefnawy, an advisor to Egypt's Minister of Communication and Information Technology (CIT), has stated that the ministry will create three "Smart Villages" in Sixth of October City, Alexandria and El Shoruq City. This move represents the beginning of a long-term commitment that will see the development of more "Smart Villages" throughout Egypt, and is expected to contribute towards IT and IS.

3.2 Other Interesting public and private initiatives

In addition to the above long-term programmes, a number of interesting public and private initiatives have been undertaken with a view towards IS promotion, either directly or indirectly.

3.2.1 Public Initiatives

Telecom Egypt, the national telecommunications provider in Egypt has established its own Internet Service Provider which facilitates access to the Internet to ministries and government departments. In addition, the said provider sub-contracts 52 private Internet Service Providers which supply the private sector and the individual households for a wider Internet coverage.

In the educational sector, the trend is to introduce the class of computer usage, but the process so far proves to be rather slow : the said class is taught only in selected secondary schools, their selection being based on several criteria such as the geographical location (Cairo), and the specialisation of the school (schools which specialise in commercial, industrial and agricultural matters do not qualify, whereas general secondary schools do).

3.2.2 Private Initiatives

In addition to the above, a consortium called Internet "baladna" was formed late in 1999. The said consortium aims at providing the national market with low cost computers and internet connection. This initiative is geared towards the society at large, but it is expected that the primary market will be the market of school and university students as well as graduate students who will benefit from this product.

Mobile-phone service provider MobiNil has organised a two-week mobile-phone fair, from October 1^st –15^th, 2000.

3.3 Seminars and Conferences for IS Development

An extensive range and number of promotional activities in the form of seminars and conferences have also taken place in Egypt in the years 1999-2000. Most of these identified were either in the form of Informative seminars or conferences organized by one or more of the major players

In the years up to1999 inclusive, the following seminars and conferences have been organised :

3.3.1 CAINET series since 1996

CAINET (Cairo Internet) conference is a remarkable event for promoting Internet-related applications to the Egyptian market. It has been held in Cairo since 1996 and attended annually by 800-1200 participants, 15% of whom are foreigners. It focuses on Internet applications in the following fields: Health, technology, E-Commerce, and education. In 1996, the theme of the conference was the privatisation of Internet service providers (ISPs). In 1997 the theme was the launch of the presidential web site. In 1998 the Internet Society of Egypt became a chapter of ISOC (Internet Society Organisation) and in 1999 the theme was "Internet for all". The First Lady of Egypt attended the last conference. During the conference a number of seminars and workshops are held to discuss the key issues.

3.3.2 EUROMED '98

The workshop was held during the period between 27-29 April 1998 at the Cairo Marriot Hotel. It was organised by the Ministry of culture, the Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC), the Supreme Council of Antiquities, the Regional Information Technology and Software Engineering Centre (RITSEC), the Regional IT Institute (RITI) and the Regional Arab Information Technology Network (RAITNET). The workshop dealt mainly with the topic of "Using Information Technology to Preserve Cultural Heritage." The seminar was held over a three-day period and attracted some 50 participants from abroad (it was attended by 300 participants, 250 of whom were Egyptians).

3.3.3 RITI / ISE Electronic Commerce Seminar

The electronic commerce seminar was held on May 16^th 1999 at RITI premises in Cairo. It was organised by the Regional IT Institute and the Internet Society of Egypt and it was sponsored by RITI. The seminar was conducted by Dr. Detmar Straub, the director of the doctoral programs at Georgia State University and associate professor of Information Systems. The Seminar introduced the participants to the basic concepts of electronic commerce with an emphasis on applications to business. The Seminar was attended by 43 participants mainly from the Internet Society of Egypt, The American Chamber of Commerce as well as a number of interested individuals.

3.3.4 Seminar on Arabic Web Standards Application

The aim of the seminar was to facilitate the timely and coherent development of the Arabic Web presence, by identifying and promoting the resolution of outstanding standardisation issues. The theme of the workshop was "towards building an Egyptian Information Society". It was held on November 20^th 1997, at the Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC) under the auspices of the Internet of Egypt (ISE).

3.3.5 Information Technology Development during the reign of President Mubarak

The conference was hosted by the Information and Decision Support Centre and aimed at revising the developments in information technology achieved during the reign of President Mubarak. The second objective of the conference was to set plans for the forthcoming years with regards to major information technology projects. An information technology fair was held during the conference in which all the ministries, governorates, organisations, authorities and companies working in the field participated.

In the Year 2000 a number of further significant events have been carried out as follows:

3.3.6. CAINET 2000

Organized by The Regional Information Technology & Software Engineering Center (RITSEC), the Regional Information Technology Institute (RITI), and the Cabinet Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC), under the auspices of The Internet Society of Egypt. The CAINET 2000 conference took place in 6-8 March 2000. The conference was attended by key persons and organization in Egypt and worldwide such as Mr. Vinton Cerf the father of the internet.

The conference tackled strategic issues revolving around the Internet’s impact on commerce, education, technology, and communities. Analytically, the agenda of the conference was as follows :

Technology

Evolution of Internet

Securing the Internet

IP technologies and underlying high speed networking platforms (ATM, SONET)

Multicasting and Push Services on the Net: A Regional Experience

Towards a regional IP backbone

Commerce

Electronic Commerce Strategy and Implementation Challenges

How to "e" your business- viable Business Models

E-life: trade, services, work, learning

New world economy & changing government role

From Theory to Action: Security, Logistics, & Fulfillment

Education

The importance of technology for learning

Internet and Education: Diversity or Necessity

Child Safety on the Internet

Success Stories: Web sites designed by students

Kids in the 21st Century…Critical Learners and Thinkers

Communities

Local and Regional Experience of rural Internet services

The Internet as a tool for socio-economic development

Building virtual communities on the Net

Management and Sustainability of technology access community centers

It is worth mentioning that ESIS was presented in the conference, eliciting considerable interest by the professional community.

3.3.7. "Creating Knowledge Based Industries" conference

This is the first regional conference in the Arab world with a large number of prominent MIT speakers presenting what is hot in high tech entrepreneurial activity, competition in Internet time and new rules for the knowledge-based economy in this information age. Regional specialists discussed the current environment vis-à-vis the background for creating these new economies as well as some success stories from regional high tech entrepreneurs. The conference took place in February 19-20, 2000, in Conrad Hotel, Cairo, Egypt, under the auspices of the MIT alumni association.

3.3.8 Cairo Telecomp 2000

The conference was held in Cairo, Egypt in the period from 17-20 January, 2000 under the auspices of H.E. Dr. Atef Ebeid the prime minister. The event was considered an official event to launch Egypt into the new millenium with the attendance of more than 190 companies from 22 countries to present the start of the art technologies, networks and satellite communication systems.

The conference tackled the following issues:

Wireless Technologies

Data warehousing solutions

IT Security

Financial institutions in the E-Era

Introducing new services via GSM

Other topics

The conference was attended by H.E. Mr. Yoshio Utsumi, the secretary general of the International Telecommunications Union in his first visit to the Middle East and the Arab region.

3.3.9 ICANN Cairo Meetings

More than 350 people gathered from around the world to open a round of meetings of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (March 7-10, 2000) held in Cairo, Egypt. This is the first time that these rounds of meetings are held in Africa or the middle east. The hosting organizations are the ministry of telecommunications and information, the IDSC, and the Internet society of Egypt.

The agenda for the ICANN Public Forum on March 9 called for the review and discussion of the following:

At Large Membership and elections

Considerations and policies relating to the creation of new top-level domain name registries

ccTLD delegation and administration policies

ICANN budget for 2000-2001 fiscal year

3.3.10 ACITEX

Al Ahram institution hosted Al Ahram Computer and Information Technology Exhibition from 3-6 February 2000 in the Cairo conference center. This Exhibition focused on computer solutions, peripherals, multimedia applications. The exhibition was attended by H.E. Dr. Ahmed Nazif the minister of telecommunications and information and a number of key organizations in the field.

3.3.12 Seminar on Telecommunications and Information

The Association for computer systems users in cooperation with Giza Systems company, hosted in its premises on 22^nd of March a seminar focusing on telecommunications and their role in the transfer of information. The seminar was attended by a number of professionals in the advanced technology fields.

3.3.13 COMDEX EGYPT 2000: International Computer Trade Show

One of the largest international computer trade shows in North Africa was held at the Cairo International Conference Center (CICC) for third year, on May 28-31 2000. The event provided a marketplace for resellers and corporate decision-makers to meet and sell to the region's key technology players, and was also an opportunity for IT businesses to build distribution and manufacturing partnerships throughout the region. Along with a Networking Pavilion, the exhibition also included an Internet Café, a Software Developers' Village, an international Pavilion and a separate US Pavilion.

3.3.14 CAIRO G-15 SUMMIT AND TRADE FAIR

Egypt as a member of the G-15 group that include Algeria, Senegal, Kenya, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Argentina, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Chili, Peru, Jamaica, Mexico, Venezuela, India and Indonesia hosted a summit in Cairo headed by President Hosni Moubarak and a concurrent trade fair. The trade fair aimed at supporting and encourage trade among group members and also included symposiums and workshops to deal with issues of economic cooperation among the member states, including the area of Information Technology.

3.3.15 GITEX CAIRO 2000

A number of prominent multinational organizations joined the Cairo GITEX 2000 fair in the period between 23 and 26 April 2000. The conference was supported by four major associations working in the fields of information technology, namely The Internet Society of Egypt, The Egyptian Association for Advanced technology, the PC companies owners association, and the Egyptian programming society.

3.3.16 CompuAlex Alexandria 2000

A number of local computer companies (more than 24) participated in the Alexandria CompuAlex 2000 fair, held in the period between 1 and 7 July 2000.

3.3.17 Communication Expo Vision 2000

The Communication Expo Vision 2000 fair was held in the period between 6 and 10 September 2000. More than 60 companies operating in the communications field participated in the event.

3.3.18 Infocus 2000 annual consultants event

Sharm El-Sheikh was the venue for the Infocus 2000 annual consultants’ event held last June. Over 50 of the top IT consultants in Egypt from Ain Shams University, Cairo University, American University in Cairo, and Sadat Academy, attended the conference. Throughout the meeting Infocus and Informix Middle East professionals presented the latest technologies from Informix software, CA and BaaN.

3.3.19 ESIS II Event in Egypt

Regional IT Institute with the collaboration of AC Nielsen Amer has organized a workshop about the European Survey of Information Society (ESIS) project. Dr. Sherif Kamel, the Director of Regional IT Institute, headed the workshop. Mr. Michalis Photiou, the Manager Customized Researcher, Ph. D. Sherif Hashem, the Director of Information Society Development Office (ISDO) and Eng. Hisham Mostafa, the Operations and Technical Manager in Regional IT Institute and ESIS II Program Coordinator in Egypt have presented during the event.

3.3.20 Trading on the Internet - Cairo - November 1, 2000

Over the past years the topic of electronic commerce has become a defining business to a growing degree in Egypt. To broaden the scope of e-commerce activities in Egypt, the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt Information Technology Committee held a one-day seminar on Wednesday, November 1, 2000 titled "Trading on the Internet" at the Cairo Marriott Hotel. The seminar highlighted how to access Egypt's legal and regulatory infrastructure to be e-commerce enabled for improved competitiveness in the global market.

3.3.21 Expanded Egyptian Presence at Gitex 2000

Egypt has been a regular participant at Gitex Dubai for many years. More than 25 companies, focusing largely on multimedia applications, joined the Egyptian pavilion at Gitex Dubai 2000.

Looking forward towards 2001, the CAIRO 2001 Telecomp Conference is to be held in January 16-19, 2001 at the Cairo International Conference Center (CICC)

In addition, Cairo will host the first Middle East and Arab States ITU conference and Exhibition held in 7-10 May 2001. It is co-hosted by ITU (www.itu.int) and the Egyptian government through the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. It will be the first ITU regional telecommunication conference and exhibition for the Middle East and North Africa. The conference already has confirmation for the participations of 26 countries.

3.4 Training for promoting the IS society development and raising awareness

There have also been some important promotional events related in a more direct way to training and education, during the Year 2000.

3.4.1 Artificial Intelligence Conference

In cooperation with Al Ahram institution, the National Research Center and the faculty of computer and information - University of Helwan, the American university in Cairo represented by the Computer science department hosted the eighth conference for Artificial intelligence in the period from 3-6 February 2000.

3.4.2 Careeregypt.com introduces Egypt’s first career Tools Seminar (CTS)

On the 18 th of June, careeregypt.com organised the first career tools seminar (CTS) in the Conrad International Hotel, together with The Cooperation and Development Association for Egyptian and European Youth (CDAEEY) to organize the event, The purpose of this seminar was to help introduce and inform more than 300 Egyptian University graduates about how to better improve their chances of finding the right job and career path.

3.4.3 CompuKnowledge 7

The Compuknowledge fair was held in the period between 21-24 September 2000, organized by "The Egyptian Society for Computer Companies". The main sponsor was Microsoft. Participants in the event included local computer companies.

In addition to the above, it should be noted that the Egypt International Computer User Group (EICUG), a Cairo-based forum for computer users and IT specialists, holds meetings on the third Monday of every month. EICUG, is a nonprofit organization founded three years ago. Its members include both IT novices and seasoned industry experts. The EICUG occasionally offers training sessions on practical issues such as usage of web design software or how to take apart a computer to install new hardware.

3.5 EUMEDIS Call for Proposals

The Information Society Development Office (ISDO) at the Ministry of CIT has invited the major entities to participate in the Euro-MEDiterranean Information Society (EUMEDIS) initiative that funds regional information society projects in these sectors: Healthcare networks, Electronic commerce, Research applied in industry, Tourism and cultural heritage, Education. The overall budget allocated for the five sector is 35 M Euro. Each sector has an allocated budget of 7 M Euro, with a minimum of 1 M Euro for each grant. Proposal projects will be regional and need to include at least two European partners.

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.