The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat has witnessed the signing of a co-operation agreement between the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) and Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) via videoconference. The aim is to offer the Digital Egypt Builders Initiative (DEBI) students a Master of Engineering in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data science.
The agreement aims to create a new partnership with POSTECH, which ranks highest in Asia and third among the world’s best universities with fewer than 5,000 students. Under the partnership, DEBI students will complete a one-year programme of study leading to a Master of Engineering in AI and Data Science. The first Programme cohort will begin with the Spring 2022 Semester. The syllabus covers Machine Learning (ML), applications, Virtual Reality (VR), data science, AI, and data mining.
The ICT Minister said that he values the Egyptian-Korean partnership, which supports the Egyptian efforts aimed at advancing technology and achieving scientific excellence. He also commended the co-operation with the top-notch scientific research institutions known for their excellence in AI. The co-operation is one in a series of partnerships concluded by DEBI to create an interdisciplinary programme and exchange culture and technology with South Korea, he added.
Talaat underlined that the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) is keen to invest in developing human capital and co-operate with world-class universities and educational institutions in line with its capacity-building strategy, implemented based on a pyramid-shaped approach to reach young people of different education levels and specialisations. MCIT has doubled its capacity-building budget 22 fold over three years, said the ICT Minister, explaining that the objective of the strategy is to upskill 200,000 young people in the current fiscal year. Talaat added that DEBI represents the top of the pyramid; the initiative seeks to qualify young talents to become specialists in the latest ICT specialisations through collaboration with globally renowned universities.
In addition, Talaat referred to Egypt Human Development Report 2021, published by the United Nations Development Programmeme (UNDP). The report reviews and praises the country’s achievements in human development in ten years.
The Egyptian Ambassador to Korea Hazem Fahmy commended the ICT Minister’s role in supporting DEBI, especially that it helps the country harness the power of AI and data science. Fahmy said that POSTECH ranks third among the world’s best universities with fewer than 5,000 students. He hoped that the new partnership would strengthen the Egyptian-Korean ties and result in mutual benefits in the AI field.
For his part, the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Egypt Hong Jin-wook congratulated DEBI partners for establishing a partnership with POSTECH, one of the best Korean universities. He added that the University is the optimal partner for offering exceptional educational opportunities within DEBI. Jin-wook stressed the importance of building capacity through education and training, since capacity-building is key to prosperity and welfare. He commended the Egyptian capacity-building initiatives carried out under the auspices of the ICT Minister to support digital transformation and raise the Egyptians’ competitive edge in the global labor market. The Korean Ambassador said that the partnership will help DEBI graduates to find decent job opportunities in the business sector, including in the Korean companies operating in Egypt. He added that those graduates will play a substantial role in boosting the Egyptian economy.
ITIDA CEO Amr Mahfouz said he was pleased to sign the agreement with POSTECH to offer young Egyptians a Master of Engineering in AI and data science. He added that the Egyptian youth are the key driver of the sustainable growth of the Egyptian IT sector. Mahfouz pointed out that the agreement will stimulate co-operation between the business sector and academia to create an added value to the IT industry and a wider talent pool in different technology specialisations.
The agreements was signed by Mahfouz, Kim, and Dean of Graduate School of AI (GSAI) Young-Joo Suh. The virtual signing ceremony was attended by the Advisor to the ICT Minister for Technology Innovation, Electronics Industry and Training Hossam Osman; Head of the Applied Innovation centre (AIC) Ahmed Tantawy; and senior officials from MCIT and POSTECH.
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