The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat has delivered a speech during BRICS Future Network Innovation Forum, hosted in China on August 5-9, and attended by the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Houlin Zhao and ICT Ministers in BRICS and a number of emerging market countries.
Talaat said that Egypt is keen to leverage the Fourth Industrial Revolution opportunities to achieve comprehensive development. He underlined the efforts of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) to keep abreast of the global technological developments, carry out an ambitious plan to build a knowledge-based economy, and create a large base of qualified human calibers in future science and technology.
Moreover, the ICT Minister referred to the significance of future networks, a key issue of high priority in Egypt's development plans, and included in the recommendations of the Fourth BRICS Communication Ministers Meeting that called for more investments in future network research, digital transformation and ICT development.
Talaat added that Egypt values the approach adopted by BRICS countries in dealing with this issue, and is eager to contribute effectively to the vision and work of the future networks development group. He looks forward to creating a powerful and effective platform for dialogue between BRICS countries, countries of emerging markets and developing countries, to reach the economic and industrial objectives and achieve development.
Furthermore, the ICT Minister highlighted that MCIT is carrying out a huge digital transformation program in Egypt, in cooperation with the State institutions, with the first digital city in Egypt announced a few days ago.
MCIT is also working on creating an enabling environment for investment and for having a digital society, by developing the ICT infrastructure through deploying fiber optic networks and investing in modern technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Fifth Generation (5G). This is in addition to creating a legislative environment to ensure the protection of citizens in the digital environment, help attract direct foreign investment, and promote emerging technologies.
Talaat, also, highlighted the significance of supporting technological innovation and entrepreneurship as a fundamental pillar of development processes.
The ICT Minister, in addition, stated that the Knowledge City is currently under construction in the New Administrative Capital, to include research and innovation centers specializing in advanced technologies, in addition to an ICT specialized university.
Moreover, Talaat underlined Egypt’s keenness to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications in different areas of high importance, including healthcare services, agriculture, industry, and smart cities management. He referred to Egypt’s competitive potentials and its eagerness to become a regional hub for big data.
The ICT Minister invited the attendees to participate in the World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19), hosted in Sharm El Sheikh, from October 28 to November 22, due to be attended by over 3500 participants.
BRICS is the association of five countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. They are important markets and exporters of ICT products. The decision to hold an ICT forum for BRICS countries aims at sharing ideas, best practices and capacity building in the ICT sector.
