In 2022, the ICT sector made several achievements at different levels. The efforts exerted by MCIT to build Digital Egypt involved a large number of projects that aim to drive digital transformation in different areas, attract foreign investments, build Digital Egypt, stimulate technological innovation and entrepreneurship and indigenize the electronics industry.

In July 2022, the President of Egypt inaugurated a number of Digital Egypt projects , including submarine cable landing stations in Ras Gharib, Zaafarana, and Sidi Krir, the Regional Data Hub (RDH), WE Schools for Applied Technology, Creativa Innovation Hubs and the Egyptian Postal Museum after being developed. The President of Egypt also launched Digital Egypt Platform, which offers a wide range of digital government services in different sectors.

The ICT sector also achieved significant growth as proved by many indices, and outstanding growth rates in different areas, retaining its position for the fourth year in a row as Egypt’s fastest growing sector. In addition, the ICT sector’s competitiveness increased, becoming a favorite destination for many international IT companies keen to expand their business in the Egyptian market in many IT areas, offshoring services and the electronic industry.

- The ICT sector grew at a rate of about 16.7% in 2021/2022, compared to a growth rate of 16.1% in 2020/2021, to become the fastest growing sector in Egypt for the fourth year in a row.

- The ICT sector’s contribution to the GDP reached 5% in 2021/2022.

- The ICT sector achieved in 2021/2022 a domestic product estimated at around EGP 150 billion, compared to EGP 128.7 billion in 2020/2021.

- Digital exports grew to US$ 4.9 billion in 2021/2022, compared to US$ 4.5 billion in 2020/2021.

- Egypt moved up on the World Bank’s GovTech Maturity Index (GTMI) 2022, becoming among the countries of Group A, which is the highest category in the Index, up from Group B in 2020 and C in 2018.

- Egypt ranked second, up from tenth in 2021, among Arab and African countries, in the Universal Postal Union (UPU) Integrated Index for Postal Development (2IPD).

- Egypt moved up four spots on the Network Readiness Index by Portland Institute, moving from the 77th spot in 2021 to the 73rd.

- Egypt moved up five spots on the Global Innovation Index (GII), compared to its ranking last year, according to the report by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in partnership with Portland Institute. Egypt ranked 89th globally, compared to 94th in 2021.

- Egypt won the Speedtest Award for the fastest fixed Internet speed in Africa, presented by Ookla, the global leader in network intelligence and connectivity insights.

Digital Capacity Building

- MCIT and its affiliates provided training to 125,000 trainees at a cost of EGP 700 million in 2022.

- Three batches graduated from Digital Egypt Builders Initiative (DEBI), a scholarship aimed at granting a professional master’s degree in one of the following disciplines: data science and Artificial Intelligence, cyber security, robotics and automation, digital arts, and financial technology. The initiative is carried out in collaboration with major international universities as well as local and global ICT companies to provide the initiative’s students with the practical experience, and in collaboration with major companies and institutions to develop the leadership, personal, and language skills of students.

- The first batch included 109 students, who obtained a professional master’s degree from the Canadian University of Ottawa in three tracks: AI and data science, cyber security and robotics and automation. A second batch, including 34 students, obtained a degree from the Canadian University of Ottawa in AI and data science; and a third batch of 55 students received their degree from Queen’s University in Canada in AI and data science.

- Within DEBI, agreements were signed with Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) to grant students a master’s degree in business analysis within the FinTech track, and with University College Cork in Ireland to grant a master’s degree in digital cultures within the digital arts track.

- Digital Egypt Cubs Initiative (DECI) was launched as a free program for top-performing students, from the first year of preparatory school to the second year of secondary school, in Egyptian schools nationwide. DECI is offered in different areas such as digital arts, software development, network and information security, AI and robotics. Activities were carried out to develop the personal and leadership skills for 8,400 students, in addition to a basic program for 3,937 students.

- Egypt University for Informatics (EUI), one of the first specialized universities in Africa and the Middle East in ICT and related areas, organized, at its headquarters in the Knowledge City, the Climate Change Hackathon (Climathon) to find technical solutions and produce prototypes from creative ideas to reduce the risks of climate change and its negative impacts on the planet through the use of IT. Climathon was joined by 1,500 students from 50 Egyptian, Arab and African universities in 33 countries.

- EUI made unprecedented scientific achievements. Its faculty members published excellent research papers in top scientific journals, while students won first prize in several competitions . EUI sports teams won many prizes and ranked first in local and international competitions. Student Mohamed El Gendy won two silver medals at the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) 2022 Pentathlon World Championships, in both the Senior and Junior categories, and he was named the world’s best player for 2022 by UIPM.

- EUI offered 21 full scholarships to the top-performing high school students in 2022 as well as scholarships funded by ICT companies and banks for students to study in one of its four faculties: Faculty of Computing and Information Sciences, Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Business Informatics, and Faculty of Digital Arts and Design. EUI offers 16 academic programs in future sciences, with the aim of indigenizing the technology industry and its advancements in Egypt.

- EUI signed a memorandum of understating with Teradata Egypt to cooperate in the preparation and development of an integrated training curriculum for its students in AI and data science, focusing on practical and industrial experience. EUI also signed an agreement with Microsoft to offer grants to top students and provide smart classrooms for them. EUI also received visits from different ministers, ambassadors and diplomatic missions from African and Arab countries to promote scientific cooperation and exchange expertise.

- The implementation of the second phase of EUI was launched, including expanding the construction of new five buildings to be completed in 2024.

- The Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) provided training to 70,000 trainees through the initiatives and programs it supports and implements, most notably “Future Work is Digital” initiative. ITIDA contributed to the creation of 30,000 new job opportunities in different IT areas.

- The number of trainees graduated from the different initiatives and programs offered by the Information Technology Institute (ITI) reached 12,738 trainees in 2022. Programs included professional training, intensive training, summer training, technology ambassadors as well as the elective subjects in the university curriculum of a number of faculties and academies.

- The number of trainees benefiting from the training content through the ITI digital platform for e-learning “Mahara Tech” reached around 135,000 trainees, brining the total number of trainees through the platform to about 435,000.

- The National Telecommunication Institute (NTI) provided training to 14,198 trainees through its initiatives, including the fiber optical network installations, testing and maintenance course, Digital Egypt Youth (DEY) training program for graduates and recruits, DEY at Knowledge City, Wazeefa Tech, Summer Training Program for students, B-Secure Program, VMware Training Program, Postgraduate Diploma in communication and information engineering and short training programs in ICT for the employees of the public and private sectors and state universities and institutes.

- A number of protocols and cooperation agreements was signed between NTI and Egyptian ministries, entities and universities as well as with ICT international companies to carry out training programs NTI signed cooperation agreements with 22 local and international major ICT companies to implement DEY - Four Months to train and develop the skills of 2,000 young graduates in ICT.

- The President of Egypt inaugurated two WE Schools for Applied Technology, which were launched in cooperation with Ministry of Education and Technical Education, bringing the total number of WE Schools to seven, including in Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Dakahlia , Suez, Minya and New Valley. WE School is the first smart school specialized in ICT, which aims to prepare a generation of technicians able to compete in the labor market.

- Two training courses by the Egyptian African Telecom Regulatory Training Center (EG-ATRC) were implemented in the field of telecommunication regulation, with the participation of 22 African countries.

Institutional Development

- Providing digital capacity building on the knowledge, culture, behaviors and digital skills to 13,990 employees and leaders from ministries and entities moving to the New Administrative Capital to adjust to the new work environment .

- Providing digital capacity building on the knowledge, culture, behaviors and digital skills to 8,587 employees and leaders in governorates and their affiliated entities.

- An integrated plan was implemented to provide technical support to employees and leaders from the Units of Information Systems and Digital Transformation, to develop the general and special digital capacities of 2,007 employees from the ministries and entities moving to the New Administrative Capital and 1,582 employees in governorates and their affiliated entities.

- Supporting the institutional development of the universal health insurance system through the implementation of development and digital capacity building programs for 2,211 employees of the system.

- Supporting the institutional development of the justice and law enforcement system through the implementation of development and digital capacity building programs for 5,149 justice and law enforcement entities, including Ministry of Interior, Public Prosecution and courts of all levels; this contributes to providing litigation services with less time and effort.

- Supporting the institutional development of Al-Azhar Institution by implementing development and digital capacity building programs for 1,507 employees and teachers and fostering technology innovation among students and employees.

- Promoting digital awareness and digital capacity development among citizens to support digital and financial inclusion; 37,121 citizens took part in the digital institutional development initiatives in Egypt’s governorates.

Digital Innovation and Start-up Development

- The President of Egypt inaugurated Eight Creativa Innovation Hubs in Aswan, Qena, Sohag, Minya, Menoufia, Ismailia, Mansoura and Cairo; this is implemented in the framework of a plan aiming to spread the innovation hubs in all governorates of Egypt to create a stimulating environment for technology innovation and entrepreneurship by increasing the number of hubs from three to 30 at total investments of EGP 5 billion. The hubs include specialized technological labs, centers for training, seminars and workshops and technology incubators to establish and develop the capacities of the startups and link between young people, investors and local and international major companies operating in the fields of innovation and entrepreneurship.

- Among the inaugurated innovation hubs was that in Sultan Hussein Kamel Palace, which incubates technology startups; this comes in light of Egypt’s interest in transforming historic and cultural buildings into innovation hubs, while preserving their architectural style and heritage value.

- An agreement was made with two prestigious international companies specializing in the field of empowering startups and accelerating their growth; Plug and Play to run the Innovation Hub at Sultan Hussein Kamel Palace and Global 500 to run the Innovation Hub in Giza.

- Egyptian technology startups attracted investment and financing deals with more than US$ 600 million in 2022, a growth rate of more than 22% compared to last year when they attracted investments worth US$ 491 million.

- An application based on satellite images and AI technologies was developed to identify the distribution of Egyptian lands, draw the boundaries of agricultural lands, places with roads, trees, fish farms and water sources, and identify some crops. The app was developed by the Applied Innovation Center (AIC) in cooperation with the Agricultural Research Center, affiliated with the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation.

- Building on the success in developing an application that uses AI to diagnose diabetic retinopathy with more than 95% accuracy, the app was approved to be activated and used in the early detection of diabetic retinopathy for one million citizens through 10 university hospitals across Egypt. The application was developed in cooperation with the Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University.

- A significant progress was made in developing applications that perform automatic simultaneous translation of written and read texts from Egyptian colloquial Arabic to European and Asian languages and vice versa, at high accuracy.

- The Applied Innovation Center, representing Egypt, was invited to join an international alliance of 17 leading countries in the application of advanced IT, especially the use of AI to develop and improve the efficiency of government systems and services.

Offshoring and Freelancing

- Digital Egypt Strategy for Offshoring Industry 2022-2026 was launched to double the volume of Egypt’s exports of offshore IT products and services; the strategy offers a new incentive package to attract and expand investments, enable local companies, encourage the creation of new businesses and promote Egypt’s competitiveness in the fields of R&D and value-added services to contribute to accelerating the growth of knowledge economy.

- ITIDA achieved further growth in offshoring industry in Egypt by promoting the investment incentives offered by the strategy; ITIDA signed agreements with 48 companies in 2022 to establish offshoring centers or expand existing centers, with a total number of 56 centers.

- Agreements were signed with 29 international companies in the presence of the Prime Minister, last November; these will provide more than 34,000 new job opportunities for Egyptian youth in the fields of offshoring over three years, with an export value of US$ 1 billion per year by 2025.

- The initiative “Future Work is Digital” aiming to build digital capacities in freelancing skills contributed to increasing the sector’s freelancers to 13,500 in 2022, bringing the total number to more than 30,000 freelancers.

- As part of Egypt Makes Electronics (EME) strategy aiming to deepen local manufacturing, MCIT provided facilitations to make Egypt an attractive destination for companies operating in electronics industry and design.

- The strategy attracted many manufactures to Egypt to serve the local market and export to regional markets; three of the largest manufacturers of mobile phones and tablets (Vivo, Nokia and Samsung) started to manufacture in Egypt with a total investment of EGP 2 billion and a production capacity of 20 million mobile phones.

- An agreement was concluded with OPPO to establish a factory to manufacture mobile phones in Egypt with a production capacity of 4.5 million units annually and investments of about US$ 20 million to join the other 10 factories owned by the company around the world and so that this factory becomes a regional hub of OPPO to manufacture and export to Arab and African markets.

- Two fiber optic cable plants started operation in Egypt with a production capacity of about 8,000 KM and foreign and local investments to meet the demand of local and regional markets; the two factories started exporting to Europe from the 4th quarter of 2022.

- The number of specialized companies in electronics design grew 22% with new global and local companies entering the Egyptian market, whereas new 10 companies started their work with the design of integrated circuits and embedded systems. This is in addition to expanding the existing design companies, which contributes to the creation of more job opportunities by an average of 18%.

- More than 57 international and local companies work in Egypt in the electronic design industry.

- GSA Egypt was established as a regional division of the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) to promote cooperation in the semiconductor industry and stimulate business environment. More than 20 specialized companies joined GSA Egypt.

- Agreements were signed with 26 international and local companies specialized in electronic design and embedded software to operate in the Industry 4.0 Innovation Center (IIC) in the Knowledge City at the New Administrative Capital.

- ITIDA funded seven research projects in advanced electronics and mass production; this is in addition to the registration of five international patents and the publication of 12 papers by specialists in electronics in cooperation with international and local companies operating in Egypt; this promotes Egypt’s position in the fields of R&D and technological innovation.

Digital Transformation

- The President of Egypt launched Digital Egypt Platform to offer digital government services to save citizens’ time and effort.

- Digital Egypt Platform currently offers more than 165 services in various sectors compared with 100 services by the end of 2021. Services include food subsidy, notarization, courts, traffic, vehicle license renewal, civil status, agriculture, social insurance, real estate taxes, commercial registry, social housing and health insurance.

- The number of registered users on Digital Egypt Platform reached around 6.5 million citizens who conducted 28 million service transactions, compared with 4.2 million citizens by the end of 2021.

- Egypt was named by GovStack a leaderin applying the concepts and principles of digital design for governments. GovStack initiative aims to support countries in digital transformation; it is implemented in Egypt as part of the the Supporting e-Government and Innovation in the Public Administration (InnoPA) project by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) on behalf of the German government.

E-signature

- A new phase of digital services based on e-signature started by working on the integration of e-signature technology with various e-applications in government agencies.

- ITIDA issued operation permits to Delta for Electronic Systems and Fixed Misr for Digital Solutions and Information Security, which obtained e-signature licenses in 2021. This is in addition to renewing the licenses to other e-signature service providers in Egypt. The service was launched with three mobile operators to make it easier to reach people.

- The number of issued certificates increased from 8,000 in 2020 and 55,000 in 2021 to more than 130,000 certificates by the end of November 2022.

- The volume of transactions conducted using e-signature rose from 4 million by the end of 2020 to more than 153 million by the end of 2021, then to 375 million transactions by the end of 2022 with a growth rate of 142%.

National and International Digital Infrastructure

As part of MCIT efforts to provide very efficient telecommunication services through a secured digital infrastructure, it implemented several projects in 2022 to develop the national and international digital infrastructure. Achievements included:

- Egypt recorded the fastest fixed Internet speed in Africa, with a median fixed broadband speed of 45 Mbps in October 2022, up from 4th in Africa in January 2019, at 6.51 Mbps, according to Speedtest by Ookla.

- 2,930 mobile towers were established to improve the quality of telecommunication services provided to citizens, an increase of 30% compared with last year.

- The President of Egypt inaugurated three submarine cable landing stations in Ras Gharib, Zaafarana and Sidi Krir, bringing the total number to 10 stations. The aim is to strengthen the international infrastructure and ensure continuity and stability of the service provided to the countries receiving international connectivity services.

- The President of Egypt inaugurated the Regional Data Hub (RDH) of Telecom Egypt at a total cost of EGP 2.8 billion and with a total capacity of 24 megawatts.

- The Internet Corridor of Egypt (ICE) in Morshedeen Road was finalized. This long-cherished dream of the ICT sector was implemented in one year. ICE is a fiber optic crossing route connecting landing stations on the Red Sea to others on the Mediterranean. The new submarine cable “Red2Med” of Telecom Egypt was inaugurated; Red2Med runs from Ras Ghareb landing point in the Red Sea to the landing station in Port Said in the Mediterranean Sea through Internet Corridor of Egypt (ICE), the golden route in Morshedeen Road. The cable is the shortest, fastest and most secure way to transfer data between East and West. Red2Med is also a breakthrough in the cable routes between East and West and the connection between Africa, Europe, and Asia. This step enhances Egypt’s position as a global hub for data transmission and raises the efficiency of the international telecommunications infrastructure in Egypt.

- An agreement was signed by Telecom Egypt and Grid Telecom, a subsidiary of the Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) in Greece, on building a Mediterranean subsea system connecting Egypt and Greece.

- The total length of international crossing routes in Egypt grew from 2,700 km to 5,350 km.

- The National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) made many efforts to improve the quality of telecommunication services provided to citizens and took measures to ensure governance, transparency and free competition; the most notable taken measures are as follows:

- Seven licenses for providing telecommunication services were renewed and three new licenses were granted.

- Three registration certificates for providing cloud computing service in Egypt were issued.

- The regulatory framework for providing IoT services in Egypt was issued, which is one of the most important pillars of the Fourth Industrial Revolution as it enables the operation of smart city systems and their digital services, such as home system, smart meters, and the smart transportation system.

- A new branch of NTRA was opened in Sharm El-Sheikh to serve the public.

- Ten new initiatives were launched to improve user satisfaction with the services provided; the most outstanding of them is an initiative to offer benefits to users when paying tuition fees using e-wallets, an initiative to encourage costumers to activate and use e-wallets to avoid its deactivation, and an initiative for the elderly to encourage them to sign up for and use e-wallets.

- E-wallets services were added to My NTRA App, through which, and by using the National ID number, it is possible to check the list of e-wallets registered in user’s name at the four mobile operators in Egypt and banks and delete them.

- New cooperation agreements were signed with the approved labs for international testing by NTRA in China and were put into force starting January 2022.

- Frequencies in the Time Division Duplex (TDD) 2600 MHz band were made available, helping improve the quality of voice and data transfer and increase average download speed 55% for all operators .

- New frequencies were allocated for Orange Egypt at 30 MHz in the TDD 2600 MHz band at US$ 440 million, to be used in providing mobile services in Egypt.

- Supporting Phase One of the Decent Life national initiative for developing the Egyptian countryside through NTRA Universal Service Fund (USF) at EGP 1.25 billion.

- Projects were implemented to improve the quality of services and coverage in Matrouh, North Sinai and Qalyubiya through USF at a total of EGP 100 million.

- NTRA met the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems (QMS) requirements for regulating telecommunication services in the Egyptian market for the second year in a row.

Egypt Post

- Egypt Post continued its efforts to implement the comprehensive development plan, with the total number of developed offices reaching 3,600 out of 4,000 offices.

- Egypt Post achieved a financial surplus of nearly EGP 4 billion.

- Fifty new mobile post offices were added, with an increase of about 60% from last year.

- Sixty eight new post offices were established, bringing the total number to 4,300 post offices, spread all over Egypt.

- In light of efforts exerted to preserve the state’s assets and heritage buildings, the President of Egypt inaugurated the Egyptian Postal Museum after development and renovation; the development included the redesign and expansion of its interior, the increase of its displayed objects, and adoption of AI technologies, QR codes and augmented reality.

- The historic Cairo Main Post Office in Attaba was inaugurated. The Office witnessed major development and refurbishment, with its historic value and original design remaining intact. It was equipped with advanced systems and technological solutions, offering all kinds of financial, postal, and governmental services as well as Digital Egypt services. In addition, three historic post offices were inaugurated in Aswan.

- The Smart Village Post Office was inaugurated and equipped with the latest technological systems and smart solutions.

- Egypt Post launched “Wassalha”, an advanced shipping service that capitalizes on AI and geographic information system (GIS) techniques; This serves all citizens desiring to ship parcels from door to door and benefit from Egypt Post services.

- Egypt Post launched “Yalla Super App” which is the first super app in Egypt, the Middle East and Africa to offer various financial and non-financial solutions to individuals, merchants and companies. The App offers payment service provider (PSP) solutions; launched in cooperation with VISA and PaySky.

MCIT role in the national project “Decent Life” for developing the Egyptian countryside includes implementing projects that aim to upgrade the information infrastructure in rural villages and promote digital literacy to create an interactive digital society. MCIT achievements in Decent Life included the following:

- Seventy seven villages had fiber optic cables installed to provide high speed internet services to their citizens.

- The total number of mobile towers in Decent Life villages reached 1,019 to improve the quality of telecommunication services: 443 new mobile towers were established and 576 were developed.

- 741 post offices were developed and equipped with ATMs. Postal outlets were also made available in 333 service complexes to provide postal services.

- In light of the implementation of “Digital Decent Life” initiative, about 34,960 citizens in the villages targeted within the first phase of the initiative received digital literacy and skills training. Socially influential individuals were trained and qualified to become knowledge ambassadors capable of delivering digital literacy training. A total of 761 citizens were qualified, including female coaches, knowledge teachers, imams (preachers) from the Ministry of Endowments, and facilitators from the National Council for Women. Training was also delivered to 3,335 employees, members of the Decent Life team, at governorates city halls and subordinate service directories.

- The Digital Decent Life platform was launched in beta, with the aim to create an interactive digital society.

- The Central Department for Digital Community Development trained about 20,000 people through Qodwa-Tech initiative, IT Clubs, e-learning and digital citizenship initiative.

- The number of beneficiaries of telemedicine services reached around 11,000 citizens. The project aims to link health units in unprivileged and remote areas with university hospitals.

- The number of visits on Kenana Online Platform (community knowledge portals) reached 4 million in 2022.

- Around 500 disabled jobseekers registered in the database of the National Network for PWD Services. The Network was launched by MCIT to link persons with disabilities with employers and organizations providing qualification programs, training and employment.

- The National Academy of Information Technology for Persons with Disabilities (NAID) developed “Wasel” app for the deaf and hard of hearing, in cooperation with Avaya. The app facilitates access to several services, including ambulance, police emergency, firefighting, and electricity emergency, via free video calls. The new version of Wasel contains several user interface (UI) improvements and offers new services, such as simultaneous interpreting in the sign language by highly experienced interpreters from the National Relay Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing. This is in addition to online form-filing services in line with Egypt’s vision for achieving digital transformation. The Center is one of a kind in the Arab World and Africa and offers its services for free.

- Twenty two computer labs in 22 disability care homes affiliated with the Ministry of Social Solidarity, were supplied with equipment. in addition, 100 special education schools affiliated with the Ministry of Education were provided with technological support.

The services of the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy were made accessible to people with hearing and visual impairment through technological applications, tablets and computers supported with touch-screen displays.

In 2022, several measures were taken aiming at developing the IT and electronics industries and stimulating the growth of ICT startups. The most prominent measures included:

- The President of Egypt issued directives on providing support for the establishment of companies through digital notices via a platform created for this purpose, removing all obstacles facing startups and entrepreneurs. This is in addition to allowing the opening of virtual companies without being bound by the necessity of having physical premises to save expenses and facilitate procedures for these companies. Moreover, the requirements of establishing a one-person company and expanding the establishment of free investment technology zones as well as tax exemptions for startups are to be facilitated. Also, a whitelist to import electronic components for specialized companies is to be applied.

- The cabinet approved the amendment of the executive regulations of the Companies Law to make the minimum capital of a one-person company just EGP 1,000 when establishing the company, instead of EGP 50,000. This decision was taken after the discussions between MCIT and the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones to facilitate the procedures for investors in IT startups.

- In light of the efforts to support and stimulate the expansion in the mobile phone industry, MCIT agreed with the Ministry of Trade and Industry to add this important industry to the export burdens refund program to attract more investments to this promising industry. The incentives to support the mobile phone industry include clearing mobile parts and manufacturing components from NTRA fee and coordinating with the Ministry of Finance (Customs Authority) to set clear and binding customs classification for all customs outlets, so that the customs tariff on mobile device components and accessories is within the 2% range, down from 10%.

- In MCIT keenness to promote the growth of the technology startup sector in Egypt, a cooperation protocol was signed between the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) and the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) and ITIDA. The protocol aims to create an attractive legislative and procedural environment for investment and find innovative solutions that suit the work nature of startups, facilitate their operations and contribute to overcoming all obstacles facing the growth of investments in this promising sector.

- The Egyptian Economic Conference 2022 resulted in a number of recommendations on the development of the ICT sector, most notably stimulating R&D; launching a training and qualification program for those who meet the criteria, under the supervision of industry experts; introducing language skills programs in technology faculties, as a key requirement, in line with the requirements of international companies. This is in addition to establishing an economic zone for IT industry in Knowledge City in the New Administrative Capital, and creating a whitelist to register the companies operating in it; indigenizing the IT and electronic solutions industries; providing financing and increasing financial and export incentives to boost high-tech exports; extending the umbrella of financing programs for SMEs with an interest rate of 5% to include companies of this industry; and giving priority to the products of these companies in the national projects. The conference’s recommendations also included working on attracting ICT companies to Egypt, constantly following up and developing existing legislations to keep pace with the rapid technological developments and building on the exerted efforts in the field of infrastructure development.

- Prompting African-Egyptian cooperation in ICT by organizing and chairing the second meeting of the African Working Group on AI and signing agreements and memoranda of understanding with three African countries: Rwanda, Nigeria and Zambia.

- Promoting cooperation in ICT with a number of Arab countries, including Jordan, Iraq, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Yemen, Djibouti, Somalia and Algeria; a memorandum of understanding was signed with Tunisia on ICT and post.

- NTRA signed cooperation agreements with Saudi Arabia, United Arab - Emirates and Romania.

- MCIT hosted and chaired the meeting of Executive Bureau of the Arab Telecommunications and Information Council of Ministers (ATICM).

- MCIT participated in the Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a leading organization in developing policies reflecting expected developments and anticipating major technical changes in the world.

- The National Digital Development Review was prepared by a national committee, with members from 30 government and non-governmental entities and in cooperation with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).

- Egypt won the memberships of ITU Council, Region D (Africa) and ITU Radio Regulations Board (RRB).

- Egypt, represented by Egypt Post, was elected Chair of the Postal Union for the Mediterranean (PUMed) for the cycle 2023-2025.

- Egypt was selected to host the Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) 2023.

- NTRA interactive app “My NTRA” was selected as one of the five Champion Projects of WSIS Prizes in the e-government category.

- Mahara-Tech platform of the Information Technology Institute (ITI) won the ESCWA Digital Arabic Content (DAC) Award for Sustainable Development. The winners were announced during the Arab Forum for Sustainable Development (AFSD).

- Egypt, represented by Egypt Post, won first place, a gold medal and the Innovative Management Award for “Win” customer loyalty program and Yalla Super App. The award was presented by the African Association for Public Administration and Management (AAPAM) during its 41st Roundtable Conference.

- Egypt Post was named the best in Africa in applying digital transformation in five services, according to a study conducted by UPU International Bureau.

- Egypt Post won, for the second consecutive year, the Express Mail Service (EMS) Cooperative Customer Care Award, presented by the Universal Postal Union (UPU). The award came in recognition of Egypt Post’s high-quality EMS customer service, having achieved the highest quality levels and complying with international inquiry and delivery standards.

- The International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) presented a letter of appreciation to Egypt Post for its impressive performance. Egypt Post also won UPU Rising Star Award 2022 for having made outstanding progress in the UPU Integrated Index for Postal Development (2IPD).

- The “Jobs and Skills for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) with Focus on ICT-Based Solutions” project was selected as a Champion Project in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prizes 2022 in the e-employment category.

MCIT prepared the information infrastructure of Sharm El Sheikh, which hosted the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 27) for providing digital services, high-speed internet and telecommunication services at hotels and tourist facilities that hosted the participants. MCIT provided the following services:

- Providing free internet services at Sharm El Sheikh Airport at high efficiency and capacity to meet the huge traffic during COP 27.

- Raised internet speed in all tourist facilities in Sharm El-Sheikh; nearly 100 hotels were connected to a fiber optic network, making Sharm El Sheikh the first city in Egypt to offer world-class internet services.

- Providing high speed internet at international standards in all areas and halls of the conference.

- Launching COP27 mobile application to facilitate the access of participants to many health, tourism, and logistics services. They can plan their trips, know COP27 latest news, and translate instructions or signs into their languages. The application also provides access to main emergency services and direct contact with customer service agents for visitors, and facilitates navigation through the conference halls. The app was completely developed by Egyptians, in cooperation with a national company and in coordination with digital services providers from ministries and government agencies through technological systems to provide various services to COP27 participants.

- Transforming the cellular base stations of Telecom Egypt into environmentally-friendly ones by installing solar power plants, expanding and upgrading Sharm El-Sheikh’s mobile network, and using all available frequencies to absorb the surge during COP27.

- Linking “Wasel” app to the conference’s official app system to enable people with hearing impairments and communication difficulties participating in the conference to access services easily. This was the first time in the history of climate conferences that a special platform for people with hearing impairments was offered to provide logistics and technical services and answers their inquiries in International Sign (IS) language.

- Providing special computers, screen readers and Braille printers in two computer centers to serve the visually impaired participants; this is implemented for the first time in the history of the UN annual conference on climate change, in coordination with the UN Secretariat.

- Participating in the conference with nine mobile telemedicine units in the field hospital and connecting them with Sharm El Sheikh International Hospital to facilitate the access of participating delegations to the best health and medical services.

- Launching a project for institutional development and sustainable digital operational excellence of government institutions, which contributes to simplifying processes and procedures, saving expenses, maintaining efficient asset management and saving time, resources and energy. The pilot project was launched in Sharm El Sheikh.

- Participating in COP27 through 15 workshops to raise awareness of the role of information technology in facing climate change. The workshops were organized in cooperation with various relevant parties.

- Signing a memorandum of understanding with Microsoft Egypt to establish a governmental center of excellence in Egypt to build capacity in the field of measuring carbon emissions and issuing electronic reports, to contribute to achieving institutional sustainability.

- Announcing a new partnership with Microsoft to use AI to enhance the efficiency of the agricultural sector through cooperation in developing innovative agricultural applications to help farmers improve water use in irrigating crops and access information that helps them predict climate changes and take preventive measures to protect crops. This partnership is implemented in cooperation with other partners in Egypt and Africa to ensure maximum benefit for farmers and promote sustainability practices across the African continent in a way that supports farmers’ interests.

- NTRA launched three new initiatives to face climate change and promote green and circular economies.