Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 02 | Page 25

COUNTRY FOCUS reiterated their intention for cooperation in providing cutting-edge technological platforms for free to encourage Egyptian entrepreneurs to participate in Egypt ’ s Innovation Clusters ’ initiative .
IBM agreed that the company will eye new opportunities in the local market by expanding its centre of excellence in Cairo to one of the new technology parks , in addition to availing its Bluemix platform for free to the Egyptian entrepreneurs and tech start-ups .
Emaratech , a leading Dubai-based technology and consulting company , expressed its interest in establishing a call centre in Egypt in coordination with ITIDA to serve its customers from international banks .
The meeting with officials from Oracle Corporation resulted in the establishment of a regional centre for cloud computing in one of Egypt ’ s new Tech Parks to explore further expansion opportunities .
There was an agreement with Belgiumbased Oddo , a suite of open source business apps , to train Egyptians in providing technical support services as well as to give them priority while recruiting for its partner companies in Egypt .
ITIDA has been sponsoring the participation of Egyptian companies in Gitex Technology Week for 11 consecutive years . For the latest edition , it extended its support to 29 organisations . It has adopted a number of criteria for selecting companies to participate under its umbrella , including the firm ’ s expertise in the local market , compatibility of its business with the event ’ s theme , its export capacities , availability of quality certificates , and its official representation in the event .
ITIDA also reviews each prospective company ’ s compatibility with its strategy as well its extent of participation in industry and its export development programs .
ITIDA continues to drive Egypt ’ s ICT sector , the country ’ s second largest economic contributor , in terms of growth . It also extends support to the government ’ s efforts to further spread technology especially within the government and other vital sectors in order to strengthen both economic and social development .
The Egyptian Government ’ s ICT sector strategy aims to increase the industry ’ s contribution to the national GDP from EGP 52 billion in 2014 to EGP 70.2 billion by 2020 and create up to 300,000 direct
Key takeaways
• ITIDA has been sponsoring the participation of Egyptian companies in Gitex Technology Week for 11 consecutive years
• For the latest edition ITIDA extended its support to 29 organisations
• Emaratech , a Dubai-based technology and consulting company , expressed its interest in establishing a call centre in Egypt
• Nilecode , an Egyptian software design and development firm , has entered a strategic partnership with the Al Quiyadia Saudi Group of companies
• IBM agreed the company will eye new opportunities in the local market by expanding its centre of excellence in Cairo to one of the new technology parks
and indirect job opportunities within the next few years .
The GCC ’ s rapid expansion complements Egypt ’ s ICT sector which is preparing to www . intelligentcio . com INTELLIGENTCIO
25