MINISTER of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat has met with Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology in Estonia Andres Sutt. They discussed enhancing co-operation in digital transformation, e-government applications, and cybersecurity. The meeting is part of the ICT minister’s visit to Estonia to discuss enhancing cooperation between the two countries in ICT.
During the meeting, Talaat underlined that Egypt is employing digital technologies as a key pillar for building Digital Egypt. He said that 100 digital government services were launched as part of a mega project to digitise public services and make them available through different channels to serve all the segments of society. In addition, the Egyptian government is encouraging citizens to adopt digital transactions and implementing a mega project to transform into a paperless participatory government, he added. The ICT minister revealed that Egypt ranked high on the World Bank’s GovTech Maturity Index (GTMI) in 2020.
Moreover, Talaat said he looks forward to learning from the Estonian experience. Estonia is one of the leading countries in providing digital services and adopting technology by institutions and individuals. He highlighted that Egypt’s human capital is represented in its young techies, adding that the Egyptian youth possess skills that help support Estonia’s digital society.
The meeting reviewed the Estonian efforts in digitising government services. Those efforts included launching the e-Estonia movement to transform into a digital country and render electronic services in voting, tax, business, banking, ticketing, and education.
Furthermore, Talaat met with the Global Affairs Director at the Estonian Government CIO Office Indrek Õnnik, and Director of National Cybersecurity Raul Rikk. The meeting addressed the proposed areas of co-operation between the two countries to benefit from the Estonian experience in digital transformation, especially in digital identity, policies, and regulations for achieving digital transformation, and data governance.
The two sides discussed co-operation in cybersecurity and its role in protecting the information society. Talaat explained that cybersecurity is one of the main pillars for attaining digital transformation. He reviewed the Egyptian efforts to secure the ICT infrastructure, protect vital sectors from cyberattacks, support Research and Development (R&D), build capacity in this field, and raise awareness of cybersecurity. The ICT minister added that Egypt ranks 23rd globally and 4th regionally on the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI).
The meeting discussed strengthening cooperation in cybersecurity through exchanging experiences on responding to cyber incidents, collaborating in computer emergency response team (CERT)- related technologies, and exchanging information on cybersecurity prevailing policies and best practices. They also discussed cooperation in capacity building and R&D in this field.
The meetings were attended by Egypt’s Ambassador to Finland and Non-Resident Ambassador to Estonia Haitham Salah; Deputy Minister for Administrative Development, Digital Transformation and Automation Khaled El Attar; Assistant Minister for Strategy and Implementation Sherine El-Guindy; and Vice President of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency and Chairperson of the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre (TIEC) Hossam Osman.
