The 26th edition of the International Technology Exhibition and Conference in the Middle East and Africa (Cairo ICT) 2022 kicked off on Sunday.
The opening activities witnessed the signing of 3 cooperation agreements to launch major digital development projects to support and lead the digital transformation in Egypt at all levels to serve all economic sectors, particularly the financial, banking, educational, health and other sectors.
These agreements were signed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and efinance company for financial and digital investments, in the presence of the Minister of Supply and Internal Trade and 13 of the largest international technology companies. In addition, an agreement with Dell Technologies was signed to support the health sector by digitizing the data of the Aswan Heart Center.
The opening ceremony attendees included the Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Supply, and Internal Trade; the President of the Financial Regulatory Authority; the Deputy Minister of Digital Development, Communications, and Media of the Russian Federation; the President of the Sharjah Research, Technology, and Innovation Complex, and a large group of leaders from major institutions and leading companies in the fields of technology and digital transformation.
The opening activities of Cairo ICT 2022, which will last until 30 November, included listening to the visions and statements of ministers and officials from Egypt, Russia, the UAE and leaders of the world’s leading technology companies, as well as discussions on the development of the situation on the local and global digital scene in conjunction with the opening of more than 400 Egyptian and international technology companies’ pavilions, offering their latest technologies to enhance the competitiveness of the Egyptian market.
Osama Kamal, CEO of Trade Fairs International, the organizer of the Cairo ICT, said that the exhibition begins its first year in the second quarter of a century for the exhibition at a time when Egypt has organized a large number of successful events throughout the year.
He added that Egypt organized the COP27 global climate conference with unparalleled success, in terms of attendance, results, discussions and the number of participating countries, explaining that Cairo ICT is one of the most important international conferences and forums that brings together many technology officials and digital transformation leaders from different countries of the world.
Kamal stressed the importance of participating in global and regional conferences, explaining that direct human communication and interdependence will never end, and human matters will continue to exist and continue, despite the fact that technology has changed a lot in the nature of relationships by dealing with distance at work, learning and others, but the traditional form of convergence, expressing his hope that humans will keep it because direct communication between human beings is required.
Kamal touched on the change in the consumption pattern of various tools, whether in content or in all aspects of life, and in various fields of business.
In his speech, Ayman Ashour, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, welcomed the attendees, and said that the launch of the activities of the twenty-sixth session of Cairo ICT comes under the main title of “Leading the Challenge” or “leading change”, with the participation of many major international and Egyptian companies, adding that he was keen to visit the companies to learn about the advanced technologies offered by these companies.
The minister valued the fact that the ministry’s first participation in the exhibition is the guest of honour for the current session, explaining that the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research depends on information and communication technology and the development that has taken place in it, as it serves more than 3.5 million Egyptians and foreigners in universities and institutes, in addition to tens of millions who receive scientific, research or community services as well as advisory services.
Ashour mentioned that the interest in technology is one of the most important axes of the Ministry of Higher Education’s focus in developing 25 projects since the beginning of the new millennium, in parallel with the country’s march in digital transformation in three tracks, including the development of educational institutions; 27 public universities, 27 private universities, 10 technological universities, 8 colleges of technology, and 6 branches of international universities with 150,000 faculty members.
The minister explained that the second track focuses on the use of remote technologies, as the ministry began with the Covid-19 pandemic in distance education or the use of technological technologies in remote medical detection through 143 university hospitals, in addition to relying on information technology in the field of scientific research.
Ayman Ashour stressed that participation in the exhibition focuses on several objectives, including presenting the applied outputs of the scientific community on the field of information technology, in addition to organizing matchmaking sessions between companies and universities to train students and job opportunities, and creating competitive mobility through various competitions and prizes to support innovation and creativity.
At the conclusion of his speech, the Minister expressed his wishes for those in charge of the exhibition to achieve the desired goals, and for the holding of the exhibition to be an effective contribution to the national efforts aimed at achieving the national goals of digital transformation and innovation.
In turn, Mohamed Farid, Chairperson of the Financial Regulatory Authority, confirmed that the holding of the exhibition and conference confirms the added value it represents to its participants over the years.
He added that digital transformation is one of the most important axes to achieving real economic growth, stressing the importance of technological applications, and stressing the importance of coupling applications and technological capabilities with cybersecurity.
He explained the importance of responding – with technological applications – to the aspirations of users wishing to obtain insurance and non-bank financial services, warning of the occurrence of a problem in reaching the goals and controls set by the Central Bank and the Authority – which are the pivots of financial inclusion and financial culture – if they do not keep pace with the future speed.
Farid said that the recent amendment of laws came to enable small investors to open accounts to include specific cybersecurity standards, as economic growth comes through providing easy and secure administrative services.
He indicated that the uses of technology are linked to the ease of opening accounts, in addition to the uses of artificial intelligence, and data analysis in analyzing the credit history of customers that can be relied upon.
He pointed out that electronic monitoring also contributes to the development of the market, collecting data to achieve instantaneous monitoring, and linking it quickly to enable the censor to achieve rapid and secure control, stressing the importance of human development and investment in capacity building so that there is no problem in financial and insurance coverage when applying these technologies before service providers.
Insurance premiums do not exceed 1% of the national product, according to Farid, noting that achieving economic growth is linked to the economy’s ability to achieve acceptable saving rates, which is achieved by insurance services, and from here comes the role of insurance companies and companies providing insurance technology services.
In his speech, Hatem Dowidar, CEO of the e& group, confirmed that the Cairo International Technology Exhibition and Conference had witnessed since the nineties of the last century the development of the industry, which is witnessing its most developed times in recent years, noting that the technical development during the Coronavirus pandemic contributed to the continuation of life.
Dowidar stressed that the current information revolution provides many opportunities, noting that four of the five largest companies in the world are technology companies, and the largest 100 companies, half of them are technology companies, and the rest of the other half are petrochemical companies, whose shape is expected to change in the coming years, and therefore Dowidar believes that companies in the region should work to create more technology companies that are able to compete globally.
On the secret of changing the name of the telecommunications company to e&, he explained that it is a sign of change and emphasizing that the company is a comprehensive technology company and not only telecommunications, noting that the main telecommunications company in the United Arab Emirates, in addition to providing applications related to corporate technology, including the cloud and the Internet of things and cybersecurity, as well as focusing on content and applications of financial technology, and finally I and Capital, a company that invests in the entire technology sector, from start-ups to large companies.
Dowidar explained that the success of technology companies depends on the incubating environment for these companies, with the concerted efforts of all companies, so that all companies grow in one market to create a market and an attractive environment at the global level.
In order to launch this system, he adds, it must be supported by emerging companies as well as with the presence of large companies at the same time, denying the existence of a problem in the market witnessing the failure of some startup companies and the success of others, as long as the environment, climate, human resources and scientific innovation are available to support readiness and development as well as providing funding.
In his speech, Maxim Parchin, the Deputy Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Media of the Russian Federation, said that he felt at first glance that the exhibition is an important platform for communication between specialists.
Parchin added that technology is the main field to provide alternative opportunities, after the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on commercial supply chains during the recent period, expressing his pride in the presence of Russian companies among the participants in the exhibition and conference.
The Russian official explained that Russia is among the top 10 countries that provide technological services in the world, according to the World Bank, and also provides leading technologies.
