Egypt has participated in the 2021 Global ICT Leadership forum organized as a hybrid event by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) and the National Information Society Agency (NIA) of South Korea.
With the theme of "Global Driving Strategies for Digital Transformation in the Post COVID Era", the forum aims to provide a timely meeting for high-level policy-decision makers, like ministers, to share and review the strategies for invigorating digital transformation against the backdrop of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The forum is an opportunity of importance for enhancing global leadership, partnership, and cooperation in the ICT and digital transformation sector.
Egypt’s Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) has contributed to the event to showcase the progress made in the country’s ICT sector in light of its Digital Transformation Strategy.
Amr Mahfouz, CEO of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), participated in the opening session, which was entitled "Digital Transformation Strategies" with several high-level policymakers, namely, Mr. Iurie Turcanu, Deputy Prime Minister On Digitalization of Moldova, Mrs. Bolor-Erdene Battsengel, Chairwoman of the Communication and IT Authority of Mongolian Government, and Phuntsho Tobgay, Secretary at the Ministry of Information and Communications of Bhutan.
Mahfouz stated: “Egypt has been prioritizing digital transformation long before the pandemic, which enabled it to steadily perform during the first outbreak of COVID-19, positioning itself as a unique agile model globally”.
Mahfouz added that in alignment with Egypt Vision 2030, and Egypt’s digital transformation strategy, MCIT has embarked on building Digital Egypt. Mahfouz explicated that Digital Egypt is an all-encompassing comprehensive vision set to be the cornerstone of Egypt's transformation into a digital society, relying on entrepreneurial thinking, government digital services for individuals, and government-to-government linking.
Additionally, Mahfouz said that Digital Egypt is based on three main pillars: digital transformation, digital skills and jobs, and digital innovation, in addition to fortifying the digital infrastructure and the legislative/regulatory framework.
He furtherly noted that the boom witnessed in the local ICT sector, which has become the fastest-growing state sector, achieving a growth rate of 16%, while the sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has reached 4.5% and a 10% growth in the number of ICT professionals.
The forum witnessed the signing of a cooperation agreement between the National Information Society Agency (NIA) and some governmental bodies and representatives of participating countries, including Egypt’s ITIDA.
The agreement aims to promote cooperation between South Korea and these countries in the ICT sector through the establishment of Information Access Centers (IAC), to be jointly funded comprehensive centers of information and communication technology.
