President reviews progress of ‘Digital Pioneers’ initiative
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi convened a meeting on Wednesday with Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat, and Director of the Egyptian Military Academy Lieutenant General Ashraf Zaher.
The meeting reviewed state’s efforts to qualify and train cadres in the field of communications and information technology (CIT) and software, to become a key pillar in the digitalisation, consequently promoting digital exports as a key element in national economic development, Presidency Spokesman Mohamed Al Shenawy said.
Discussions also touched on the ongoing efforts to bolster Egypt’s competitiveness in the CIT, making it a major global destination for investment by companies operating in exporting digital services, including software, in light of Egypt’s competitive advantages in the field, foremost of which is its geographical location and the availability of qualified human resources, Spokesman Al Shennawy said.
The meeting discussed, in detail, developments of the ‘Digital Pioneers’ initiative, which aims to qualify a large group of young Egyptians, free of charge, through scholarships in various CIT fields to help them join the labour market in this promising sector, Al Shennawy added.
This will be achieved through providing young people with the necessary technical and practical training in leading companies, in addition to building personal skills, including foreign languages.
Specialisations which the initiative will cover, have also been addressed during the meeting, including artificial intelligence, data science, cybersecurity, software development, networks and digital infrastructure, digital arts, circuit design and building embedded systems.
The meeting also emphasised expansion of beneficiary base of ‘Digital Pioneers’, so that registration can be open for citizens from all governorates, who has the ability to acquire education and the desire to take CIT as a career, regardless of the practical background or educational qualification.
The initiative aims to make a leap in the number of trained cadres in the CIT field, the quantity and quality.
President Sisi stressed the importance of turning into an integrated digital society, supporting and increasing the number of independent professionals, and expanding training and digital capacity building through applied technology schools and Egypt’s digital innovation centres.
The president also underlined the significance of investing in human resources, mainly youth, and providing scholarships and training, qualification and capacity building programmes in line with the modern requirements of the labour market and the knowledge-based economy, Al Shennawy noted.
