The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) continues with its projects and initiatives to promote entrepreneurship and innovation among the youth, to create non-traditional job opportunities and develop innovative technological solutions. This comes as part of MCIT efforts to foster technological innovation and support entrepreneurship.
In this regard, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat stated that promoting technological innovation-based entrepreneurship is one of the key pillars of MCIT strategy for building Digital Egypt, and a main plank of strengthening Egypt’s position in the global ICT industry scene.
Egypt is a regional leader in attracting investments in startups, in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. In 2020, Egyptian technology startups made the largest number of investment deals in Africa, making up 24% of all transactions in the region, he added.
Talaat said that innovation is one of the mainstays of building a knowledge-based economy, and a key driver of economic growth. MCIT is keen to provide the necessary support to create an environment that promotes entrepreneurship and innovation among the Egyptian youth, nationwide. This is achieved through establishing Creativa Innovation Hubs, helping entrepreneurs to develop their ideas and turn them into value-added products, and supporting startups and strengthen their role in the digital transformation system.
The ICT Minister highlighted that the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC) carries out programs to boost technological innovation and entrepreneurship, starting with promoting that culture among students, then providing financial, technical and logistic support to foster their innovative projects and display their final products in global markets.
This year, TIEC managed to create 4,025 job opportunities from the programs targeting startups, in addition to providing support and training for 766 entrepreneurs, Talaat said. He added that MCIT strives to establish Creativa Innovation Hubs nationwide to achieve equality in development.
MCIT also implemented the first phase of Creativa Innovation Hubs project to enable young people, in governorates, to innovate and unleash their creativity. The Hubs have accelerators and business incubators; they also host youth training programs in different ICT fields and entrepreneurship skills. This is in addition to innovation competitions to encourage university students and entrepreneurs, in governorates, to start their ICT projects.
Five pilot Hubs are successfully running in Mansoura, Menoufia, Minya, Sohag and Qena Universities, with five more being established in Ismailia, Aswan, Cairo, Giza, and the Knowledge City in the New Administrative Capital. The third phase of the project is being planned, to establish Hubs in more governorates. In this regard, protocols of cooperation were signed to establish Hubs in Benha and Fayoum Universities, and discussions were made to establish a Hub in Kafr El Sheikh Governorate.
Furthermore, the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), an affiliate of MCIT, is collaborating with the Industrial Modernization Center (IMC) and Siemens Egypt to establish and equip the first Industry 4.0 Innovation Center (IIC) in Egypt, in the Knowledge City in the New Administrative Capital.
The IIC aims to raise awareness of the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies and their practical applications in smart factories, adopt advanced technology in local manufacturing, and provide training in automation and digitization techniques. This is in addition to providing the necessary support in the areas of stimulating industrial innovation and designing smart factories in a way that contributes to the transfer of knowledge and the development of the industrial sector.
In an effort to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and freelancers grow, Our Digital Opportunity initiative was launched, where 10% of Digital Egypt projects are assigned to SMEs to undertake, through the initiative’s platform. In this respect, 16 projects, with a total value of EGP 44 million, were assigned to SMEs. The second batch of projects is being prepared.
Moreover, Startup Launchpad initiative was created in collaboration with the American University in Cairo (AUC) Venture Lab, a member of the Babson Collaborative for Entrepreneurship Education of Babson College. The aim is to help the technological innovation ecosystem in Egypt flourish, through building young people’s capacity in entrepreneurship to carry out projects capitalizing on innovative technological solutions.
Completing the first round of the initiative were 13 startups specializing in areas including Artificial Intelligence (AI), data science, e-commerce platforms, cloud computing; digital game, application and web development.
In addition, ITIDA and Visa, the global payment technology company, launched ITIDA-VISA Mentorship Program, targeting entrepreneurs and startups specializing in fintech. The program offers a full-fledged package of benefits and services to enhance participants’ capabilities and help develop innovative fintech solutions.
Furthermore, in response to the request of a large number of university students, a new round of InnovEgypt program was announced. InnovEgypt is a training program in innovation and entrepreneurship tracks and skills, targeting university students and graduates majoring in ICT.
