The information technology industry is poised to grow by leaps and bounds, reports Nader Habib A new strategy for developing of the information technology industry was recently launched by the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA). The targets which it has set are ambitious. ITIDA hopes to create more than 50,000 jobs, and realise annual exports of $1.5 billion by the year 2010. The strategy which has been in the making for six months, is the outcome of a feasibility study undertaken by A T Kearney, the management consulting firm. It evaluated competition opportunities for Egypt in the field of offering services abroad. A T Kearney publishes annual indicators on the outsourcing industry in different fields which comprise IT Services, call centres services, engineering and technical support services, business process outsourcing and knowledge process. Egypt ranked 12th globally in the field of information technology, according to the first part of the study which was carried out at the end of 2005. The study in its second part reviews the opportunities and challenges which are faced by Egypt, in comparison to India, Brazil, South Africa and other countries which are regarded as competent. The study's findings indicate Egypt offers a promising market. However, the growth of its ICT industry should not depend only on the local market, nor even the regional Middle East and Arab markets which, when all is said and done, are still relatively small. The study recommended exporting beyond the region in order to realize the breakthrough that Egypt's ICT industry needs. Egypt's communication and information technology exports currently stand at $250 million. In order to attain the targets of the strategy, the industry must grow by six to eight per cent. It is only exports that can realise this growth, asserts Tarek Kamel the Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology. "This will not be realised overnight however," said Kamel said. He added that what is needed is a long-term plan which will involve at its core the participation of universities and schools. IT training centres must also be created, in addition to research and development companies, coupled with an IT awareness program which will boost local usage of information technology. The creation of financial support mechanisms for IT companies is another recommended cornerstone for the success of the strategy, according to the minister. As a first step, ITIDA will allocate some LE100 million in order to support companies which need funding. Mohamed Omran, executive head of ITIDA asserts that the agency will support small projects in order to enable them to be able to compete in the global market. Some 35,000 of the new jobs which will purportedly be created by the strategy are directly related to the ICT field. The remaining 15,000 jobs will be indirectly related to information technology. The strategy is also expected to be dynamic enough to be able to ultimately incorporate any new technologies which are introduced to it. ITIDA which was established in 2004 aims to develop and support the information technology industry, as well as Egypt's nascent electronic business sector.
