Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) participated in the Global Financial Times Outsourcing and Offshoring Conference held in London on the 28th of April, 2009.
ITIDA participated in the international conference as a main sponsor aiming to explore the main trends and best practices in the ICT industry and its related services in a world hit by a financial crisis.
The conference addressed effect of the current economic turmoil on the outsourcing industry – mainly the services' sector – and provided a better understanding of the ongoing challenges as well as the best approaches applied by major ICT companies.
BPO industry experts, services providers and consultants participated in the conference in order to discuss the main trends and vital issues that will influence the outsourcing industry in the coming years.
The two-day event was mainly dedicated to brainstorming, sharing expertise, and gaining insights into challenges and prospects of the BPO industry. The conference attracted a significant number of participants representing major companies working in the field, analysts, informed speakers, and policy advisors.
During the conference, Amin Kheir El Din; ITIDA's Board Member and Strategy advisor, gave a speech highlighting Egypt's strategy to increase its ICT exports. He discussed Egypt's competitive advantages as a hot spot for global outsourcing, with competitive cost structures and abundance and sustainability of its talent pool being main traits.
Kheir El Din also drew the attention of the attendees to recent international reports ranking and naming Egypt as an emerging hot spot for IT/BPO services.
Egypt was awarded the Best Outsourcing Destination in 2008 by the National Outsourcing Association (NOA) in Britain.
The conference's agenda included several discussion topics such as the future expectations with regards to the current financial crisis, the risks and challenges posed by the second wave of globalization, and how the economic turmoil is affecting outsourcing and cross border services' providers.
The conference included roundtable discussions that addressed specialized topics as legal process outsourcing, and knowledge process outsourcing, Information Technology Outsourcing and other forms of business constituting the higher end of the value chain.
It's worth mentioning that The Financial Times had previously issued a report about Egypt's ICT industry indicating its major developments, the growing number of Multi-National companies investing in the country, and the unequivocal support shown by the government to the sector.
