A total of 80 business plans are competing for the fifth Business Plan Competition, according to Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) CEO Dr. Hazem Abdelazim.
Co-sponsored by Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), ITIDA and Technology Development Fund (TDF), the competition is an annual contest offering contestants the opportunity to turn their ideas into a product, a service or a company.
Winners will join the Technology Incubators Program, which aims at supporting innovative ideas and private business activities in the field of information and communication technology (ICT), Dr. Abdelazim noted.
Proposed projects have to meet conditions related to intellectual property rights (IPR) and the teamwork presenting the business plan.
Dr. Abdelazim said this year's competition witnessed a high turnout on the youth's part. More than 180 applicants, he added, signed up in the contest online; 80 of them presented detailed summaries of their business plans and about 1800 others inquired about more information.
Several local, regional and international organizations contacted ITIDA for coordinating the coming rounds of the contest, which proves an obvious interest in Technology Incubators Program.
ITIDA Vice President Dr. Sherif Hashim said the competition targeted ICT innovators, whether fresh graduates, experienced professionals or founders of startup companies.
Dr. Hashim added the Entrepreneurship Qualification Program, the second generation of Business Plan Competition, was designed to be an advanced assessment tool for business plans in terms of ideas, operational process, teamwork and the person in charge.
The project idea and work plan are being evaluated in another stage of the program to set a clear assessment, he said.
The assessment defines the possibility of the team's success in turning the plan into a product or a service and a project then a company, creating new job opportunities and an added value.
LE 5,000,000 are offered for the prizes of this year's competition in the form of financial funds, equipped offices for winning startup projects and companies and technical and business consultations.
Over the past five years, the competition has witnessed several successful business plans that jointed the Technology Incubator Program and turned into successful companies, including Al-Khawarizmi Language Software, Bird ICT, SilMinds and Pulse companies.
