A total of 10,000 university students and fresh graduates have registered so far for the InnovEgypt programme that builds on the creative and entrepreneurial capacities of Egypt’s youth. The programme, which participants can access for free, was set up by the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC) at the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA).
In response to the precautionary measures related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, TIEC has designed a special version for this year’s programme, entitled InnovEgypt Online. Presented entirely online, the programme has already started providing training for the participants in batches, with the training lasting from June this year until the end of October.
The programme, which is specifically designed to support and guide students and graduates, works on supporting their first steps in the field of creativity and entrepreneurship. It additionally provides the participants with the basic knowledge required to inspire and motivate them to think as entrepreneurs.
It gives them the skills to generate innovative ideas, using design-inspired thinking as an effective and innovative way to solve problems.
The training course will run for a total of 30 hours, including 16 interactive hours spread over four days of workshops.
The participants have the option of attending the programme during morning or evening training periods, according to their desire.
The programme targets graduates from 2015 or later, as well as university students in majors related to information and communication technology (ICT) who have successfully completed the second, third or fourth academic year.
The students should be enrolled on relevant courses at the Faculty of Engineering, the College of Computers and Information Technology, the College of Science (Computer and Artificial Intelligence majors), and the College of Economics and Political Science (Computer Department). Students at Engineering Institutes, and Colleges of Commerce, Applied Arts, Specific Education (Computer Department), and Industrial Education can also take part.
At the end of the programme, the trainees will receive an accredited certificate from TIEC, alongside the opportunity to participate in the Ideathon competition for the possibility of financial prizes worth EGP 360,000.
The programme consists of three main units, focused creativity and technology management around the basics of creativity and technology management, and a creative thought camp. During this, students will learn how to use different techniques to generate creative business ideas based on realistic challenges, as well as entrepreneurship. The camp will also cover the basic concepts of entrepreneurship and give detailed training on basic tools required by potential entrepreneurs to start their new business.
