The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat has met with a number of founders of distinguished ICT startups, within the framework of the second edition of “Startup Day.” The event was organized online by the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), through the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC).
The meeting reflects the keenness of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) to communicate directly and effectively with young entrepreneurs to help them scale up their businesses, discuss the challenges they face, and strengthen the role of startups in achieving the digital transformation.
The meeting was attended by ITIDA Acting CEO; Amr Mahfouz, the Advisor to the ICT Minister for Technology Innovation, Electronics Industry and Training Hossam Osman, and a number of startup founders.
A three-hour open discussion took place between the ICT Minister and the participating youth, where the ICT Minister underlined that fostering tech innovation and entrepreneurship and creating an enabling environment for the growth of startups, is a key pillar of MCIT strategy.
Talaat said that Egypt has made big strides in this field as the country retains its first position in the Middle East and Africa region (MEA) in attracting the largest number of startup investment deals, and the second in the volume of investments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, he said, adding that we still have much more to achieve to enhance Egypt’s global position.
The ICT Minister referred to MCIT efforts in helping startups achieve sustainable growth, the most prominent of which is providing training programs in digital skills and developing the necessary cadres for startups, nationwide. This is achieved through launching a group of initiatives based on a hierarchical approach, through providing short-term training programs to create a broad base of digital calibers, as well as long-term training programs, for a fewer number of trainees in more in-depth technology specializations.
Furthermore, Talaat presented MCIT most remarkable initiatives, including Future Work is Digital (FWD) that targets training 100,000 young people in three specializations: data science, digital marketing and web development, with the aim to boost their competitiveness in the freelancing market. This is in addition to the 500-500 initiative that targets training 500 young people in data science and Artificial Intelligence (AI), in nine months; as well as an initiative implemented in collaboration with Huawei, for training 10,000 young people in different ICT areas through virtual labs, amidst the Coronavirus pandemic.
MCIT is also cooperating with the ecole Pour l'Informatique et les Techniques Avancées (EPITA) to train 200 people on AI technologies and empower them to train 1,000 to 1,500 trainees. In addition, MCIT launched Digital Egypt Builders Initiative (DEBI), to start next February. DEBI targets training 1,000 graduates of the Faculties of Engineering and Computer Science, for a year, granting trainees a Master’s degree in one of the in-depth ICT majors, as well as a set of advanced skills that are necessary for project management.
Moreover, a project is implemented for establishing Digital Egypt innovation centers in a number of universities nationwide, to provide students and fresh graduates with technical training and teamwork, time management and other strategic skills, with the aim to bridge the gap between the labor market requirements and startup needs of cadres, and the outputs of academic education. Work started in five centers, at the beginning of October, with two more to start operating by the end of this year.
The second phase of the project will start with establishing two centers: one near Cairo University and the other near Ain Shams University, as well as four more centers in Benha, Alexandria, Damietta and Zagazig.
MCIT is keen to help startups contribute to implementing Digital Egypt projects, through “Our Digital Opportunity” initiative. It is carried out by virtue of the ICT Minister’s decree, obliging all MCIT affiliated organizations to enable the implementation of 10% of all the projects through the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups registered in ITIDA database, said the ICT Minister.
The first set of projects was made available on the initiative portal, ensuring transparency and equal opportunities for startups to apply for those projects. The submitted proposals were evaluated and the participating companies were invited to join training courses that help develop their technical presentation skills. The winning companies will be announced shortly, with another set of projects and opportunities to be available soon.
Talaat highlighted that by the end of the pandemic, a number of exhibitions will be held outside Egypt to showcase the startups in regional and international markets, to strengthen their competitiveness.
MCIT training strategy aims to build a broad base of digital calibers and provide a free environment for young trainees to choose the appropriate labor market, inside or outside Egypt, without being limited to the local labor market, said the ICT Minister. He invited the young people to explore the initiatives listed on the websites of MCIT and its affiliated organizations, and express their opinions in the available training programs and report to what extent these programs manage to meet their needs.
Talaat stated that MCIT is currently working on creaking the Skill Bank that will serve as a database including data of all participants at MCIT specialized programs, allowing employers to explore their skills and select from them to join their companies.
During the meeting, the startup founders presented their pioneering experiences in different ICT fields. The major challenges and obstacles facing the growth of startups were also addressed, as well as their proposed solutions. These solutions include creating an enabling legislative environment and MCIT support in providing affordable workspaces with high-speed internet.
The startup founders requested that MCIT help connect them with other ministries and agencies to facilitate their businesses, and provide them with skilled young people in technology specializations to work in their startups. This is in addition to helping them tackle the problems and challenges pertaining to importing the electronics and telecommunication equipment used in Internet of Things (IoT) solutions and others, and working to develop solutions for facilitating and expediting the custom release procedures.
At the end of the meeting, Talaat directed for collecting the suggestions, problems and challenges mentioned during the meeting, holding periodic follow-up meetings and forming specialized committees involving legal experts and ITIDA officials, as well as inviting a representative from the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI). The aim is to reach solutions to the challenges facing startups. This is in addition to holding workshops that bring together young entrepreneurs and representatives of a number of agencies and ministries to answer the young people’s inquiries and help them face their challenges, in light of the companies' business activity.
Startup Day is a leading event, dedicated for establishing effective communication between MCIT and entrepreneurs and startups founders, listening to their success stories, sharing their experiences, shedding light on their successful entrepreneurial projects, and helping transform their projects into successful promising startups. This year’s event is the second of its kind, with the first held in March 2019, through which the ICT Minister called to holding this event on regular basis.
