The planet is transforming information and communications technology (ICT) that reaches well beyond the domain of the industry itself. Without a strong ICT sector in place to push the required transition, no country achieving genuine, economic growth and advancement will expect to achieve these objectives.
Egypt has a remarkable role to play in the ICT sector. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) market in Egypt is very stable, with a growth rate higher than Egypt’s GDP growth rate. Its contribution to GDP jumped to 4 percent in 2019 compared to 3.5 percent in 2018. Total business spending increased by 24.3 percent in 2019 and hit $107 million in the first quarter of 2020 (142 investment transactions vs. 113 in 2018 and 40 in Q1 2020).
Under its ICT 2030 plan, the Egyptian government is conducting a range of spending, capacity development and training projects, digital government technology reforms, and technology improvements. The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) has a project called “Our Future is Digital” and aims to train 100,000 young Egyptians and improve their ICT expertise in areas of high market demand, including web design, data processing, and digital marketing.
The Ministry also has the policy to include small and medium-sized businesses in the digital transition process. The Ministry’s Wireless Egypt Initiative seeks to provide all government agencies with optic fiber connectivity. This process has been completed in 5,300 government buildings across Egypt and will connect some 32,000 buildings at a total cost of 6 billion Egyptian Pounds (approximately $375 million) until completed.
In June 2020, the Egyptian government unveiled a proposal to boost the infrastructure for Internet services by increasing the overall Internet speed to 20 Mbps in 2020 and 40 Mbps in 2021, compared to 15.5 Mbps in 2019. As a result of the Covid-19 incident, Egypt experienced an expansion of its digital transformation program. The number of prime hours for Internet use has grown from 7 hours a day to 15 hours per day and the load has risen by 99 percent.
As you understand that Egypt is doing a great job to make a country a digital hub.
There is an increase in the usage of the internet in Egypt and, the ICT sector of Egypt is a major part of the economy of Egypt. Recently, Egypt planned to build Egypt’s first international data center.
Telecom Egypt (TE) has announced the extension of its sector by the development of the first international data center in Egypt. It will be the first data center in Egypt to receive Tier III Certificates for the Uptime Institute in the architecture, facility construction, and organizational sustainability categories. International submarine cable networks with landing points in Egypt will be attached to the data center. The center is scheduled to be commissioned by early 2021.
The new data center will have the capacity to host up to 2,000 racks over four flexible campus facilities and will be connected to all 10 subsea landing stations in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, providing access to more than 60 countries. Telecom Egypt (TE) already operates six data centers in several locations in Cairo and Alexandria, with the firm continuing to select new locations to construct more data centers.
The new International Data Center is situated in the heart of the Smart Village, home to several global and local corporations, as well as government departments, financial and educational institutions, and numerous research and development centers. The project is in line with the Egyptian Government’s efforts to accelerate the growth of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and digital services available in the region. It also leads to the digital development of the country. It also represents the interest and determination of Telecom Egypt (TE) to turn Egypt into a global digital center.
Future is Digital
Surely, this project will target more vendors, cloud computing providers, and many multinational companies to invest in Egypt. Due to COVID-19 many governments know the power of digitalization and start making plans to make their countries a digital hub. In the future, the information and communication industry is the main industry for every region, everyone is now changing their perspective.
