Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) has announced Information Technology Academia Collaboration (ITAC) Initiative registration, through three courses for this year. This announcement for accepting suggestions and increasing the courses from two to three marks a step towards the cooperation between the intended parties, aiming to develop scientific research and foster innovation in the field of Information Technology.
Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Hazem Abdelazim, outlines that the ITAC program is one of the programs adopted by ITIDA for developing innovation and creativity in the field of Information Technology, as ITIDA focuses on these types of programs in 2010, as well as increasing creative activities for individuals and companies.
ITIDA also will announce its new international intellectual property programs, which aims to protect and encourage innovation, as ITIDA will finance each patent, in addition to preparing for workshops and training courses related to IP management.
ITIDA has set deadlines for the registration in the three courses. The deadline for accepting research suggestion for the first course is February 28th, and for the second course is June, 15th, and for the third course is October, 31st. ITIDA has also assigned a committee, containing a group of professors and industry men, to study the suggestions and the research bodies to choose the best.
In the framework of fostering cooperation between scientific research and Information Technology from one hand, and market needs from the other hand, Chief Executive Officer Deputy, Dr. Sherif Hashem, pointed to the fact that the priorities this year are for Cloud Computing, Cyber Security, Digital Content, Green ICT and Mobile Applications.
ITAC initiative contains six main programs. Product Development Projects (PDP) program is focused on maximizing information technology companies utilization from research bodies, through demanding a specific program or developing an existing one. The Advanced Research Projects (ARP) program allows researchers to think of industry needs and create new industrial applicable projects, which fosters the link between in-field activities and academic visions.
In addition to this, there are also ITIDA Fellowships (IF), and Patent Filing Program (PFP), and two programs for undergraduates; Student Graduation Projects, and Students Summer Training.
Through Product Development Projects (PDP) program, the number of financed projects through the initiative till 2009 is 16 projects.
One of the most important projects is developing a primary model device for iris recognition, which is used for security reasons to identify subjects, in addition to financing an electronic advisor for money market project, aiming to serve stock exchange dealers.
The initiative also finances the virtual teacher program, aiming to develop and strengthen teaching tools and skills, using language and communications technology, in order to provide better teaching capabilities.
In addition, many other research projects in various fields have been also financed, like an integrated system for cardiograph, circuit simulation by micro-technology, quality assurance program, and a project for gathering and analyzing data automatically through the Internet.
The Advanced Research Projects (ARP) program is a stimulator for linking project suggestions to real market, in addition to help companies benefiting from industry-applicable projects, for the general favor of the society.
One of the most important projects financed by the initiative is a diagnosis project for the endemic diseases in Egypt, using self-regulating data investigation. In addition to many other projects in different fields; audio searching and indexing project through an educational movie, computer-aided picture coloring and gray scale, and MONIO II project, this helps architects in designing.
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.
