The Egyptian government lacks vision in order to become an innovative government, said Mohamed El-Sherif, CEO of consultancy firm LOGIC Management, on Sunday.
During his presentation at the ‘Innovation in Government’ Conference, which kicked-off on Sunday, El-Sherif explained the main challenges facing the government towards achieving innovation.
Among the challenges is the lack of talent, which El-Sherif said is employing top talents in Egypt in leading positions. He also added that accountability is key towards innovation and that can be achieved when the government engages people in the decision-making process.
El-Sherif noted that the lack of information stands as a hindrance in front of innovation. He said most of the available data from the government is usually incomplete, not updated or includes mistakes.
“The government entities should also work together in a cooperative approach, as ministries usually don’t work together,” El-Sherif stated during his presentation.
The last challenge in achieving innovation in Egypt is the political cycle, which El-Sherif said is shorter than the required time to achieve innovation, “because politicians don’t put innovation among their priorities”.
Discussing the government’s role, El-Sherif noted that citizens request their governments to address main issues such as unemployment and underdeveloped infrastructure.
“But these issues are lacking due to the low state budget, which is mostly spent on subsidies and public employees’ wages,” El-Sherif explained.
Addressing the government, El-Sherif said that it has to first want to achieve innovation “in order to be able to take the correct actions”.
“Talent is also a key to innovation but it is not enough,” according to El-Sherif, who added that the civil society and the private sector in Egypt can help the government to attain innovation.
