Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) announced the annexation of three new projects to the Technology Incubator of Cairo University after winning in the Business Plans competition this year and passing the rehabilitation program for leadership and innovation successfully.
Thus, this rehabilitation program is considered the second generation of the competition as it was designed to assist workgroups in developing and enhancing the submitted business plans.
The three winners presented, as “Wireless Enabled Telemedicine” company works in the field of medical software, while “3D Arabic Talking Heads” company specializes in animation and cartoon simulation and “Innovation on Chip” company works in the field of TV software.
Dr. Hazem Abdel-Azim, CEO of ITIDA, announced that ITIDA has signed an agreement with Microsoft to launch Microsoft’s program “BizSpark” aiming the development of incubated emerging companies’ performance, on a condition that such companies should not exceed two years since inception. The program will provide IT companies with software, tools, and Microsoft’s technology and its applications.
Dr. Sherif Hashim, Vice Executive President of ITIDA pointed out that the Business Plans competition for the current year witnessed a huge turnout especially young people as 196 people filled the applications on the competition website, 80 of them presented a summary of a business plan while 1800 more enquired about additional information.
He also concluded that the eight projects which were announced last September, have already joined the Smart Village Incubator this year and more winning projects are expected to be announced within days to join the Assiut University incubator.
Ahmed Adel, Developers Sector Manager of Microsoft stated that:
“The BizSpark signing agreement with ITIDA can be considered as a step forward towards enhanced competition in outer markets. “This reflects positively on the entire industry, by representing an excellent model for cooperation between the private and public sectors”, Adel added.
Moreover, prizes for the competition this year have reached 5 million Egyptian pounds presented as financial support for the winning projects, in addition to providing furnished and ready headquarters, companies and IT and business management consultancy services to enhance and support these projects.
Within the framework of the Technology Incubators Program which aims at the maximum benefits of the technological expertise and transferring international IT knowledge to emerging companies, twelve emerging incubated companies will benefit from this program and the number of companies is expected to increase to eighteen by the end of this year. It is worth mentioning that 2009 is the fifth consecutive year for this competition.
About ITIDA
Located in the heart of modern business environment at the Smart Village, The Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) is a governmental entity spearheading the development of the Egyptian IT sector and increasing its global competitiveness. ITIDA, an affiliate of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), is tasked with the focal role in the developing the IT industry through identifying the needs of the local industry and addressing them with tailored programs. The agency is considered to be a one-stop-shop for foreign investors and a strategic advisor to Multi-National Companies (MNCs) investing in the Egyptian IT sector. It further plays a leading role in enhancing the Egyptian cyber security and data protection framework towards a more secure e-Business and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services positioning.
