Eitesal Association, a civil society group in ICT, has finished the last phase of the EU project for embedded systems and electronics with regional and international partners in technology. Key partners were Siemens, Bright Skies, Asita Association in Alexandria, and Delta Association in Mansoura.
This project is to improve technology and innovation in embedded systems and electronics. It wants to make good collaboration between the private sector, government, and international donors. The project started three centres of Electronics and Embedded Centers of Excellence (EEECOE) with investments of over €1m. The centres are in Alexandria, Assiut, and Mansoura.
The project did many activities, like awareness campaigns and training in more than 15 governorates in Egypt. About 1,000 people, like students and new graduates, were trained online and offline. Also, nine ideation camps were done, with three camps in each governorate, with labs for electronics, digital manufacturing, and an artificial intelligence lab.
In the grant time, 15 startups were incubated, each getting a grant of €10,000. Also, a business accelerator was started, helping three companies with a grant of €50,000 each.
Hossam Magahed, Chairperson of Eitesal Association, said: “We are proud of the project and think it is a big step to make and improve innovation in embedded systems, electronics, and artificial intelligence. We hope this is the start of a new chapter in international cooperation in this important sector.”
Magahed said that the grant by the Eitesal Association is part of the EU’s programme “Innovation for Inclusive Growth and Job Creation.” He thinks this grant is a great chance to create an entrepreneurial environment, helping the economic development of Egypt and its private sectors.
He said: “The EEECOE project wants to make small and medium-sized Egyptian companies and entrepreneurs more competitive. It gives access to innovation services, makes research better, and gives technical skills and money for innovation in all Egyptian governorates, with a focus on remote areas.”
Hisham Arefa, CEO of Bright Skies Egypt, wanted to keep working well and sharing knowledge with all stakeholders by the Eitesal Association. He stressed their promise to help technology and make good relations between companies and groups in this vital sector. Arefa showed their project work, like making a special artificial intelligence training lab to close the gap between Egyptian universities and jobs. The people were pushed to make new solutions and technologies in embedded systems, making one project get second place in an international contest in the medical field using artificial intelligence.
The project also did some workshops and technical training to make the skills of people better in embedded systems and advanced electronics.
