Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on Monday stressed the importance of establishing the Unified National Network for Emergency and Public Safety to secure data and communications.
The network, which the president described as “a dream come true”, will be completed nationwide within four months.
The president’s remarks came during the opening ceremony on Monday at the central control centre for the Unified National Network for Emergency and Public Safety in Mokattam, east of Cairo, Presidency Spokesman Ambassador Bassam Radi said.
Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli and a number of ministers and senior statesmen attended the opening.
Sub-centres of the network will be established in each governorate in continuity with the main centre, the president said, adding that any communication received from any governorate nationwide will be responded to and dealt with quickly and the necessary resources will be mobilised if necessary.
President Sisi listened to a detailed explanation from those responsible for the project about the geographical coverage of the national emergency and public safety network as well as the secured communications services provided by the network on all strategic directions.
For his part, Ahmed el-Saeed from the Ministry of Petroleum said, “Data is the main driver in managing all activities of the petroleum sector. That is why the ministry established the Strategic Command Centre to provide an integrated digital data system covering all activities of the petroleum sector.”
The national network assists the ministry in reading data from the control centres of industrial systems located in all production sites, el-Saeed said.
The network monitors pipelines and tank levels through long-range surveillance cameras to prevent all manner of infringements and product theft, el-Saeed added.
President Sisi said, “We have learned over the past years that there is a form of encroachment on gas and diesel pipelines, and as the cost of encroachments on diesel pipelines was great for the Egyptian government, the goal of the system is to secure the state.”
“The cost incurred by the Ministry of Petroleum during one year was enormous,” the president said, calling on the relevant ministries to help the new system to achieve the expected efficiency and quality.
The president added, “We are talking about a very large structure of gas networks and huge quantities estimated at billions, and we are ready to intervene whenever any problem occurs.”
The project of the Unified National Network for Emergency and Public Safety is a historic achievement and a major cultural shift for Egypt in dealing with crises and emergencies through a single system, in which all ministries, agencies and governorate offices participate, ensuring the quality of dealing with emergencies and their prompt containment in line with international standards.
