The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat has witnessed, through videoconference, the signing of two cooperation agreements between the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and Purdue University, West Lafayette (PWL) in the US. PWL is ranked seventh in the United States and 35th in the world as a top ranked university for electrical and computer engineering.
 
The aim is to grant two bachelor degree programs in computer engineering and electrical engineering, as dual degrees, from Egypt University of Informatics (EUI) that MCIT is establishing at the Knowledge City in the New Administrative Capital, and PWL.
 
The agreement aims to enable Egyptian students to earn a bachelor’s degree in computer and electrical engineering from both PWL and EUI. In addition, students who obtained the bachelor’s degree have the opportunity to attend PWL to pursue a master’s degree in information security.
 
Aiming to provide, through EUI, the best educational and applied services, and the highest-level internationally accredited certifications and education, in line with the developments of the ICT industry, MCIT held extensive discussions with PWL, a top-notch university in the US for electronics and ICT.
 
The agreements represent a distinguished partnership between PWL and EUI, where EUI is represented by MCIT in the transitional phase, until EUI becomes an independent entity.
 
According to the first agreement, students spend three academic years at EUI, and the senior year at PWL, provided that they achieve the required grades and meet the requirements. Students who successfully meet all the requirements can obtain a dual degree from both universities. The second agreement provides that students can attend PWL, College of Science, Department of Computer Science, for one year, to pursue a master’s degree in information security, after obtaining the bachelor’s degree, subject to achieving the required grades and meeting the requirements.
 
Each study plan will include a number of courses offered by PWL, online, delivered by specialized faculty members at PWL, with the participation of a lecturer or a faculty member from EUI, in addition to the courses delivered by specialized faculty members at EUI and those delivered at PWL.
                                                                                                              
The agreement was signed by the Deputy ICT Minister for Infrastructure Raafat Hindy, the Dean of the College of Science at PWL Patrick Wolfe, the Head of the Department of Computer Science Sunil Prabhakar and the Dean of the College of Engineering at PWL Mark Lundstrom. 
 
From the Egyptian side, the signing ceremony was joined by the Egyptian Cultural Attaché in the US Mohamed Hamza and a number of professors of engineering and computer science and academic advisors to MCIT, including the Professor at Faculty of Computers and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Cairo University Reem Bahgat; the Professor at Faculty of Computers and AI in Cairo University Mohamed El Sharkawi; and the Associate Professor at the Faculty of Computers and AI in Cairo University Amal El Gammal.
 
From the US side, the signing ceremony was attended by the Chief Corporate and Global Partnerships Officer Dan Hirleman; the Assistant Dean of Global Engineering Programs and Partnerships Office George Chiu; the Professor and Head of Electrical and Computer Engineering Dimitrios Peroulis; the College of Science Associate Dean for Online and Graduate Education Peristera Paschou; the Professor of Computer Science Sonia Fahmy and the Professor of Computer Science Walid Aref.
 
 
It is worth mentioning that MCIT is collaborating with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research to establish Egypt University of Informatics (EUI), specialized in informatics and relevant areas, to be the first ICT specialized university in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region.

This comes as part of MCIT efforts to qualify young calibers in technology areas, in line with the developments and requirements of the digital transformation, and to hone young Egyptians’ skills to qualify them to implement “Digital Egypt” projects and compete in the global labor market. This also comes in light of the efforts employed by the State, with all its institutions, to establish the New Administrative Capital according to the latest international standards and smart city technologies, to capitalize on ICTs to deliver better and higher-quality services to Egyptian citizens.