The Minister of Higher Education Khaled Abdel Ghaffar and the Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat witnessed, today, through videoconference, the signing of a cooperation protocol between the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and Cairo University to transform an affiliated center to the University in Bein El Sarayat area into a center for innovation and entrepreneurship.
The signing ceremony was attended by Cairo University President Mohamed Osman Elkhosht, the Acting CEO of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) Amr Mahfouz and the Advisor to the ICT Minister for Technology Innovation, Electronics Industry and Training Hossam Osman.
The 25 year protocol is part of the efforts for building an innovative and creative Egyptian community that produces science and technology and is capable of defining the national priorities, with linking the strategies of research centers and universities to the national strategy.
The protocol, also, comes in light of the Prime Minister’s directives for exploiting the building next to Cairo University and the surrounding lands, in Bein El Sarayat, Giza, on which a decree was previously issued, granting Cairo University the right to use the land to establish a center for innovation and entrepreneurship.
The development process includes a set of necessary technical and technological construction works and procedures, as well as architectural work to preserve the heritage value of the building, transforming it into an innovation and entrepreneurship center for the students and graduates of Cairo University and other Egyptian universities. This also targets nurturing innovative young people in ICT, through specialized technical and scientific supervision.
The Minister of Higher Education highlighted that the protocol enhances the cooperation between the two ministries, to complete the underway projects, and reflects his ministry’s keenness to establish innovation centers in different universities. He commended MCIT efforts in developing the information infrastructure in different universities, achieving digital transformation and restoring the aforementioned building to establish a center for training, innovation and technological entrepreneurship at Cairo University.
Moreover, Abdel Ghaffar stressed the need to expedite the building preparation, so that the building can start operating soon and serve as a cultural beacon for students. He underlined the significance of preserving the archaeological character and exterior of the building during the restoration process, with adding the right lighting to it, thus combining between the old building’s originality and authenticity, and modernity.
For his part, the ICT Minister stated that the cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education is close, strong and at a fast pace, adding that signing the cooperation is the culmination of the joint cooperation in establishing technology innovation hubs in six universities and the ICT university in the Knowledge City.
Talaat said that the cooperation includes implementing university hospitals and universities automation projects and developing digital exams systems. The two ministries, also, collaborated in an Artificial Intelligence (AI) conference, at the beginning of this year, with cooperation in research areas to be completed, he added.
The ICT Minister, also, highlighted that the protocol targets establishing an innovation center that will help provide an enabling environment for promoting innovation and growing entrepreneurship among students and graduates of Egyptian universities. The center will be established in a way that reflects the authenticity of Cairo University, he added.
The protocol was signed by the Deputy ICT Minister for Infrastructure Raafat Hindy and the Vice President of Cairo University for Graduate Studies and Research Abdel Rahman Zekri.
