The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat has visited the Knowledge City. The City is currently being established in the New Administrative Capital following the latest technological systems to build an integrated information society that attracts global investments and fosters digital innovation.
The ICT Minister inspected the construction works and closely reviewed the implementation status of the first phase of the Knowledge City project, which will be completed this year.
The first phase of the Knowledge City includes four buildings: Applied Innovation Center (AIC), Egypt University of Informatics (EUI), Center of Excellence (CoE) in universal design and assistive technology (AT), as well as a training facility that includes the Information Technology Institute (ITI) and the National Telecommunication Institute (NTI).
Talaat highlighted that the Knowledge City is one of the most prominent pioneering projects implemented by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) within the framework of building Digital Egypt. The project includes multiple activities to support research and innovation in AT, develop digital skills, foster digital innovation, and attract investments of global technology companies. This is along with harnessing AT for advancing the digital transformation process in Egypt.
The ICT Minister was accompanied on his tour by the Deputy ICT Minister for Infrastructure Raafat Hindy, the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) CEO Amr Mahfouz, the Advisor to the ICT Minister for Technology Innovation, Electronics Industry and Training Hossam Osman, ITI Chairwoman Heba Saleh, NTI Director Iman Ashour, the National Academy of Information Technology for Persons with Disabilities (NAID) Chairman AbdEl-Monem El-Sharkawy and EUI President Reem Bahgat.
During his visit to EUI, Talaat witnessed the signing of a cooperation protocol between EUI and Telecom Egypt. The protocol is aimed at providing financial support by Telecom Egypt to finance 16 full scholarships for the top high school graduates nationwide. Telecom Egypt is a strategic sponsor for the students’ academic studies at EUI within the initiative launched by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
The protocol was signed by Bahgat and the Executive Vice President for Human Resources at Telecom Egypt Karim Youssef.
The ICT Minister also witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between NAID affiliated to MCIT, and EUI. The MoU aims to integrate and empower Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) in the higher education system and support scientific research, development and entrepreneurship in AT. This is in addition to PwDs participation in applied scientific research and laboratory cooperation. The MoU is part of MCIT national plan to support and upskill PwDs.
The MoU was signed by NAID Chairman and EUI President.
The ICT Minister pointed out that the two signed agreements come as a continuation of the effective partnerships established by EUI. The partnerships aim to create a distinguished educational and research environment and develop a digital talent pool and informatics experts. The two agreements support EUI efforts to provide full scholarships to top high school graduates, support research and development (R&D), and leverage entrepreneurship in AT.
The signing ceremony was attended by EUI Vice President for Academic Affairs Mohamed El-Sharkawi, faculties’ deans, faculty members and associate professors, and several university students.
In a related context, Talaat held an interactive dialogue that lasted for more than two hours with EUI students to know their opinions and suggestions and know their future insights for EUI and success stories. He praised their ideas and the scientific insights they had acquired during their academic studies.
The ICT Minister emphasized that EUI provides distinguished training opportunities for university students in cooperation with international companies. He pointed out that leaders and officials of ICT-specialized international companies will be invited to hold extensive discussions with EUI students and raise awareness of different technological disciplines and the fields required in the current and future labor market.
EUI was founded by MCIT in collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research as the first specialized university in ICT and related fields in the Middle East and Africa. EUI faculties include the Faculty of Computing and Information Sciences, the Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Business Informatics, and the Faculty of Digital Arts and Design.
The University provides 16 specialized educational programs to meet the labor market’s needs for specialists in the state-of-the-art ICT fields, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), data engineering, Fourth Industrial Revolution, electronics manufacturing, communication sciences, FinTech, digital marketing, animation, User Experience (UX), and digital game development.
