The Minister of Communications and Information Technology, HE Yasser El Kady opened Egypt’s Chief Information Officer Summit 2016, organised by International Data Corporation. The CIO Summit was held in Egypt for the second consecutive year, discussing opportunities of digital transformation and learning about latest trends and best practices in the world of technology.
During the ceremony, the launch of an IDC affiliated regional research centre in Smart Village was announced, in the presence of representatives from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Information Technology Industry Development Agency and a number of IDC senior officials.
The opening of the centre is under an agreement between ITIDA and IDC which took place during the CIO Summit and was witnessed by the ICT Minister. The agreement was signed by ITIDA CEO Asmaa Hosni and IDC Vice President and Regional Managing Director of IDC Middle East, Turkey and Africa, Jyoti Lalchandani.
During a meeting held between El Kady and Lalchandani in February, the idea of inaugurating an office for IDC in Egypt was put forward. MCIT seeks, through ITIDA, to attract foreign direct investment and improve Egypt’s competitiveness in this area as an attractive investment location.
According to IDC’s latest forecasts, the Egyptian ICT market is expected to total around $8.95 billion in 2016 and grow to $10.32 billion in 2019. Much of this growth will be driven by spending on IT services and packaged software, which are expected to experience CAGR of around 9% through to 2019. As the country emerges from its previous period of transition, the economy is expected to demonstrate economic growth under the new government, spurred by significant reforms and external investment.
For his part, El Kady said that the opening of IDC research centre in Egypt is a positive step, contributing to the expansion and creation of new job opportunities for Egyptians in the research and consulting areas. El Kady also said that MCIT seeks to take advantage of the return of investor confidence in the sector through implementing a development strategy to establish and spread several technology parks, which in turn contribute to improving Egypt’s position as a leading country, possessing an attractive location for investments in the ICT field, value added services and electronics design industry.
“I am delighted to witness the launch of IDC’s new research office in Egypt as it will support expansion and job creation for highly-skilled research professionals,” said El Kady. “The agreement comes as part of Egypt’s endeavours to attract foreign direct investment and is clear confirmation that the country has evolved into a favoured high-end service delivery destination for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.”
Capitalising on the increasing level of investor confidence in the ICT sector, the government is implementing a developmental strategy to establish technology parks across the country with the aim of turning Egypt into a leading, globally-recognised hub for electronic design and ICT innovation.
IDC has spent the last few years supporting ITIDA in its efforts to promote Egyptian IT and ITES companies in export markets across the GCC and Africa. ITIDA and IDC have successfully developed and executed programmes that encourage cooperation between Egyptian IT players and the systems integrators and solution providers they need access to in order to thrive in these target markets.
“Egypt is a natural fit with IDC’s strategy to invest and grow its presence across the Middle East and Africa,” says Jyoti Lalchandani, IDC’s Vice President and Managing Director for the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey.
The new opening in Cairo’s Smart Village represents IDC’s eighth office in the Middle East and Africa, joining the regional headquarters in Dubai and satellite offices in Riyadh, Istanbul, Nairobi, Casablanca, Lagos, and Johannesburg.
