By Hamed Mahmoud
The Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) has signed three cooperation protocols with three civil society organizations (CSOs) specializing in the ICT.
This comes in line with the strategy of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) that works on growing and developing the IT industry in Egypt, in cooperation with the private sector and the non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Pursuant to the three-year protocols, ITIDA will provide administrative, technical and financial support, at an estimated budget of EGP 50 million, to 3 NGOs including the Chamber of Information Technology and Telecommunication (CIT), the Egyptian Information, Telecommunications, Electronics, and Software Alliance (EITESAL), and the Digital Economy and Technology General Division (DETGD) of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FEDCOC).
ITIDA CEO, Amr Mahfouz, stated that the cooperation protocols had been carefully revised this year and amended with participatory frameworks among all parties to achieve fruitful cooperation that would serve our strategic goals and integrate the roles in designing and implementing development programs and initiatives to effectively meet the local industry needs.
“The development of the IT industry is a shared responsibility between ITIDA and the private sector where we would maximize the benefits by creating a cooperative environment dependent on the understanding of benefits for all parties in order to meet the interests of the member companies of those organizations and serve ITIDA’s three-pronged strategy of opening new IT markets, developing digital skills and stimulating technological innovation and entrepreneurship.”, Mahfouz added.
Waleed Gad, CIT’s Board Chairman, said: “We value the fruitful role of ITDA in supporting the development of various Egyptian companies through this collaboration, especially as we are key partners in shaping the future of Egypt’s vision towards the digital transformation.”
For his part, DETGD Head Khalil Hassan Khalil said that the first phase of the Tawteen initiative will be launched immediately in cooperation with ITIDA and a number of banks operating in the Egyptian market. These include Banque Misr and QNB Al-Ahly Bank to empower small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to leverage digital transformation, create non-traditional jobs, and open new markets for SMEs and entrepreneurs.
Dr. Hazem Al-Tahawi, EITESAL’s Chairman said that the strategic vision of his association is in the same line with ITIDA’s plans to develop and build the local industry capacities in order to achieve a fair share for the local IT companies in national DX projects.
Al-Tahawi added, “EITESAL will work along with ITDA to boost the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in Cairo, South Valley, Delta, and Alexandria, through incubating young people’s innovative ideas.
