The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat has witnessed the signing ceremony of a cooperation protocol between the National Telecommunication Institute (NTI) of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), and 22 major global and local companies specializing in ICTs.
The cooperation is aimed at training and upskilling about 2,000 youth enrolled in the Digital Egypt Youth (DEY) initiative in more than 15 training disciplines in the latest ICTs, including embedded systems, advanced networks, cybersecurity, fifth generation (5G) technologies, fiber-optic networks, cloud computing, and Artificial Intelligence (AI). It also targets honing youth’s hands-on experiences, qualifying them for the labor market, fulfilling its needs for highly specialized competencies, as well as creating job opportunities for the outstanding youth to work in the companies participating in DEY.
NTI Director Iman Ashour signed the cooperation protocols with the four mobile network operators (MNOs) in Egypt: Telecom Egypt, Vodafone, Orange, and Etisalat Misr, as well as the major companies operating in the field of electronics and embedded systems: Valeo, Avelabs, Scitech, and Alfa Electronics. This is in addition to the major companies operating in disciplines, such as networks, cybersecurity, AI, and cloud computing. These companies include Huawei, Global Brand, Fixed Group, SecuriCIP, Zero&One, IT Visionary, HITS Solutions, TECH-HUB, BMB Group, Digitize, Visioneering, Engineering Systems, Rawda, and Elharefa platform.
The ICT Minister witnessed the signing ceremony of a cooperation protocol between MCIT and NTI to train graduates in some advanced tracks in ICT within DEY initiative. The protocol was signed by the Deputy ICT Minister for Infrastructure Raafat Hindy and NTI Director.
The signing ceremony was attended by various officials from MCIT and NTI as well as CEOs, board members, and heads of technology sectors of the ICT companies participating in the initiative. This is in addition to the participation of Cisco, Amazon, and Fortinet, which have distinguished training partnerships with NTI.
In his remarks, Talaat emphasized that constructive partnerships between the public sector, represented by MCIT, and the private sector are one of the most significant features of the ICT sector. The ICT sector is a major driving force for development and the fastest-growing state sector for four years in a row.
Talaat pointed out that the digital capacity-building strategy launched by MCIT includes various initiatives aimed at expanding the number of trainees and providing several technological specializations to achieve a positive impact on both the public and private sectors. The goals of the government are achieved by providing training, creating job opportunities for youth, and fulfilling the requirements of the private sector of trained calibers, skills, and experiences based on knowledge, study, and hands-on training.
The ICT Minister added that MCIT has increased the number of trainees within four years by 56-fold. The budget for technical training increased by 26-fold, rising from 4,000 trainees with a 50 million EGP budget, to 225,000 trainees at 1.3 billion EGP in the current fiscal year. The volume of digital exports in Egypt reached 4.9 billion USD over the past fiscal year, up from 3.2 billion USD. The ICT Minister pointed out that the digital talent pool is a major attraction for companies to export digital services from Egypt.
The protocols are aimed at the companies’ participation in implementing hands-on training within their different premises for one month for all trainees in DEY initiative. This is in addition to participating in creating the training content for different training programs, according to the work needs of each company, cooperating with NTI in selecting trainees for the initiative, creating job opportunities for those who excel in the initiative and employing them by the end of the scheduled training period.
According to the protocols, the duration of the training program extends to four months. The total number of training hours reaches 540 hours, divided as follows: 288 hours of technical training, 132 hours for developing personal skills and managing digital projects as well as effective business communication skills in English, and 120 hours of practical training at the ICT companies participating in the initiative.
DEY initiative is being implemented to train 2,000 students in three phases (each phase lasts for four months for one year). NTI provides training in technical disciplines, skills development, and project management for a period of three months. The companies participating in the initiative provide hands-on training for another month at their premises. At the end of the training, trainees will receive certificates accredited by NTI and the participating companies as well as professional training certificates accredited by the companies.
It is noteworthy that DEY is aimed at preparing graduates of ICT disciplines in cooperation with international and local companies participating in the initiative by upskilling trainees in the areas required in the current and future labor markets locally and globally, including technical skills, communication skills, and business administration as well as freelance and professional English skills.
