The Central Department of Digital Community Development at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) has organized a community development and digital empowerment week for citizens in Aswan, within the framework of the cooperation protocol inked by MCIT and Aswan Governorate. The protocol aims to build digital capacity for people in Aswan by employing ICT in community, economic, and environmental development.
The Digital Community Development Week comprised a number of training and awareness activities. It was organized in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Om Habibeh Foundation (OHF), as part of the Digital Transformation for Sustainable Development in Egypt (DT4SDE) project of MCIT.
In promoting digital citizenship, one of the pillars of the protocol, the Central Department held two sessions within the Digital Citizenship and Online Safety initiative of MCIT. Under the theme “Promoting digital citizenship and cybersecurity,” the sessions took place at Benban Solar Park and Al-Saha Youth Center, with 100 participants. The sessions introduced the fundamentals of cybersecurity, promoted digital citizenship, and raised awareness of the safe use of the Internet and online protection.
Another session was organized on the pillar of raising community awareness of environmental issues and climate change. It focused on addressing climate issues by changing habits that are bad for the environment, promoting eco-friendly habits to save the planet, and reducing emissions. The session featured hands-on training on the platform of the E-Learning Competence Center (ELCC) of MCIT. A total of 55 people attended the session.
In a similar vein, MCIT organized two training programs on promoting e-learning and its uses and exploring new jobs in this field. The aim was to enhance youth employability and foster the use of technology in education. The first program included workshops on e-learning development in Aswan. The second consisted of workshops on instructional design and interactive screens for education and training on Articulate Storyline. It also included a workshop on producing e-content for subjects in the first term of Primary Four. The aim was to support and facilitate access to education through ICT.
In the women’s empowerment pillar, two sessions were carried out as part of the Qodwa-Tech initiative. Under the theme “Empowering Egyptian women financially and socially with digital marketing” the sessions were held at OHF premises and Benban Solar Park in Aswan. They were aimed at enhancing the economic and social empowerment of Egyptian women using ICT to support digital transformation and building productive communities by shaping a pool of women and girls who can support and train their peers in their local communities through ICT. Other objectives of the sessions included advancing women’s financial inclusion and facilitating the exchange of expertise among women in Aswan. The sessions were joined by nearly 50 women entrepreneurs in Aswan.
On the sidelines of the training activities, the committee responsible for implementing the MCIT-Aswan protocol convened to discuss the training progress and the future action plan.
