The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat has delivered an address during the closing ceremony of the second round of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Empower Egypt Initiative, organized at Giza Creativa Innovation Hub.
The initiative was co-implemented by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and Dell Technologies. It provided specialized AI training to 432 students from five national and private universities, namely Cairo University, Ain Shams University, the American University in Cairo (AUC), the German University in Cairo (GUC), and the Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport (AASTMT).
In his address, the ICT Minister emphasized that digital capacity building is a key pillar of the Digital Egypt strategy. He stated that genuine progress and development in the ICT sector can only be achieved through nurturing innovation and creative thinking. The success of the ICT industry is built on innovation and creative thinking, which can only be realized by a workforce of highly skilled professionals with advanced and refined skills, the ICT Minister underscored.
The second round of the initiative featured practical AI applications to create technological solutions across five key areas: smart agriculture, smart traffic, smart government, digital healthcare, and smart economy.
The “AI Empower Egypt – Hack for Impact” hackathon was held as part of the ceremony. It focused on crafting innovative solutions for effective food waste management.
Over the past two years, the initiative has upskilled 944 students in AI, who have implemented 120 AI projects.
Talaat explained that the strategy of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) is implemented through the collaborative efforts of all elements within the information society, including the public sector, represented by MCIT, and the private sector, represented by multinationals, local small, medium and large enterprises, and startups; and academia. He emphasized that the ICT sector has been the fastest-growing state sector over the past six years, driven by concerted efforts and a shared vision aiming to maintain its leadership position regionally and internationally.
The ICT Minister pointed out that the digital capacity building strategy hinges on several key pillars demonstrated through the hackathon. The first is identifying cutting-edge ICT specializations essential for local and international job markets, which serve as a mainstay of ICT advancement. He noted that the initiative’s focus on AI has led to an unprecedented acceleration in innovation, especially with the advent of generative AI.
The second pillar focuses on integrating technical study with practical application, as the hackathon emphasized developing AI-driven solutions to address a global challenge: food waste management, a significant topic in international forums. The ICT Minister highlighted that the third pillar involves establishing partnerships in theoretical and practical training, achieved through collaboration with Dell Technologies and five top Egyptian universities. He looked forward to the involvement of other universities in the initiative.
Talaat congratulated the winning teams of the hackathon, noting that MCIT is committed to supporting events that underline the achievements of the ICT sector and enhance its success by nurturing key assets, namely trained human capital and young talents.
For his part, the Vice President and General Manager of Dell Technologies Center of Excellence in Egypt Magued Mahmoud underlined that the company views Egypt as a leading country in the AI field, thanks to its talented student pool poised to make a significant impact in the sector. He expressed pride in renewing the partnership with MCIT to collaboratively empower the Egyptian community to stay abreast of rapid developments in the digital era. Furthermore, the initiative and the hackathon exemplify Dell’s commitment to swiftly and extensively advancing and promoting AI in promising communities like Egypt, Mahmoud remarked.
During the ceremony, the ICT Minister honored the three winning teams of the hackathon. The “Code Fellas” team from GUC secured first place, while “Enigma AI” from the same university won second place. The third place was awarded to “Neural Nexus” from Ain Shams University.
It is worth noting that the AI Empower Egypt Initiative is part of the agreement between MCIT and Dell Technologies to upskill the top innovative student talent in AI across Egyptian universities. It aims to provide them with essential technical and professional support to align with labor market demands, thereby contributing to enriching the ICT sector by nurturing a pool of highly qualified professionals.
The ceremony was attended by the Vice ICT Minister for Institutional Development Ghada Labib, the Vice ICT Minister for Technological and Applied Research Planning Bakar El-Bayoumi, AASTMT President Ismail Abdel Ghafar, the CEO of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) Ahmed Elzaher, the Advisor to the ICT Minister for Technological Talents Hoda Baraka, the Head of the Applied Innovation Center (AIC) Ahmed Tantawy, and the Director of the National Telecommunication Institute (NTI) Ahmed Khattab.
