Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat toured 'Knowledge City' — which is being established with the latest technological systems — on Tuesday in the New Administrative Capital (NAC). During the tour, the minister reviewed the executive status of the project. The project aims to build an information society through which support is provided to research and innovation in advanced technologies as well as to attract investments by global technology companies and provide technical training to build promising generations capable of implementing projects and building a digital Egypt. The first phase of Knowledge City is scheduled to be inaugurated this year. Its construction cost amounted to EGP 3.2bn. It comprises four buildings, which include a building for innovation and applied research, another for technical training, a building for research and development in assistive technology, and Egypt University of Informatics — which specialises in communication sciences, information technology, and other related fields. During his tour, Talaat thanked the Engineering Authority of the Armed Forces for its efforts to complete the construction of the city at the highest level. The minister also inspected the new headquarters of his ministry in the government district of the NAC to determine the readiness of the new headquarters to receive the ministry's employees in light of the government's preparations to move to the city. Consequently, Talaat toured the building, where he listened to a detailed explanation on the progress of the construction of the building, which consists of seven floors and will accommodate about 1,800 employees. Nearly 1,350 employees are scheduled to move to the building in the near future. Talaat was also briefed on the facilities and services in the new headquarters, in which the application of international standards and keeping pace with technological developments were taken into account. Additionally, he inspected samples of workers' offices and meeting rooms that had been fully equipped and supplied with the necessary equipment. The minister praised the efforts made to equip the building with advanced technologies in a manner that befits the civilised development witnessed by Egypt and its vision of the new republic. He also stressed that work is underway to establish a strong information infrastructure that is in step with the latest communication sciences and information technologies to enable the government to move to the NAC as a participatory digital government where data exchange among all its parties and citizens is easy and electronic — an essential pillar for a digital Egypt. The minister explained that cooperation is taking place with state agencies and institutions to build a digital work system for the government in order to achieve the transition to a participatory paperless government through several axes that target digitising government work cycles, developing citizen services, achieving interconnection between government agencies, and a rational management of government resources and projects. Indicators to measure the performance of government agencies are also being created, along with a system to manage citizens' complaints. Talaat was accompanied by Raafat Hendy, the Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technology for Infrastructure; Sherine Al-Gendy, the Assistant Minister of Communications and Information Technology for Strategy and Implementation; Ayman Hassan, the Head of the Central Department of Human Resources at the ministry; and several other ministry officials.
