A high-level delegation of executives from the US computer company Cisco Systems visited Egypt to cement a number of new business agreements Eman Youssef reports A delegation led by Cisco President for Europe, the Middle East and Africa Robert Lloyd last week met with Prime Minister Atef Ebeid and Ahmed Nazif, minister of communications and information technology. The Egyptian government signed a cooperation agreement with Cisco for the transfer of technical expertise in information and communication technology (ICT), according to Nazif. Yasser El-Kady, director of Cisco's operation for North Africa and Levant told Al-Ahram Weekly that Cisco will also assist in youth training programmes in Egypt. "We have established a powerful platform of experienced consultants and partners to help us support Middle Eastern businesses, governments and service providers," said Lloyd, adding that this helps to forge ahead with new innovations that endow industry with greater productivity and efficiency. He emphasised that Cisco will expand its presence to help drive adoption of advanced technologies such as IP telephony, wireless and security systems. "We will work together with the government and the Egyptian ICT companies to help them specialise in the latest solutions and focus on vertical markets to provide the best fit solution for the customer's industry," Lloyd told Al-Ahram Weekly. "We were immensely impressed by the new innovations and progress achieved in Egypt's ICT industry," Lloyd said. "The capability and skills are present so we have to work more on developing the industry." The delegation also visited the Smart Village and met with its chairman of the board, Ali El- Hefnawi. "The world is changing very fast, but we are lucky to have an ICT ministry that can face challenges," said Shafik Gabr, chairman of Egypt's International Economic Forum during the press conference. The press conference was attended by a host of prominent figures, among whom were Taher Helmi, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt and Akil Beshir, chairman of Telecom Egypt. The Middle East's arid lands are proving a fertile breeding ground for a wide range of e-government initiatives, some of which are already at the forefront of public service delivery in the world, according to Gabr. Egypt should seek to overtake current e-government leaders such as Canada, the US or the UK in terms of the penetration and ease of use of automated public service systems, he added. "E-government has really taken off in the region in the last two or three years," said Gabr "When the worldwide buzz regarding e-government started up, Egypt saw it as a way to bring the benefits of technology both to its own organisations and to the population it served," Gabr said. Egypt has been inspired by the experience of others in the region but must be quick to follow early successful examples. "There is very little existing technology infrastructure in the region's administrations," said Gabr, pointing out that the up-side of this is that it is relatively easy for governments to leapfrog technologies and move straight to the latest IP networks. He also emphasised that traditional government bureaucracies in the various countries can be made more efficient through e-government systems. These bureaucracies in the past have been a barrier both for foreign investment and local trade. Cisco is not just supplying technology to support moves to e-government, however; a number of initiatives are also encouraging knowledge transfer to bolster the pool of skills needed to manage burgeoning government networks, according to El- Kady. "Cisco will work closely with the Egyptian government, the MCIT and educational authorities," Lloyd told the Weekly. He also said that this will happen through Cisco Networking Academy Program which is helping to increase the talent pool available within the country. Cisco will participate at Telecom Africa fair, which will be held from 4-8 May in Cairo. "Hotel developments are growing rapidly in Egypt," said Lloyd adding that Cairo's $750 million Citystars Heliopolis complex development is using Cisco's Architecture for Voice, Video and Integrated Data (AVVID) as the basis for their IP Communications network infrastructure. The infrastructure will provide the complex's customers with the latest information and communications technology services, including one of the largest deployments of "IP telephony" technology in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, according to Lloyd. The Citystars Heliopolis complex in Egypt, which covers 115,000 square metres, is the second largest shopping and entertainment centre outside of North America, according to Abdel-Rahman Sharbatly, chairman of Citystars. Citystars includes three hotels, 226 residential apartments and the largest shopping and entertainment centre in the Middle East, according to Thomas Hilberath, general manager of InterContinental and Holiday Inn Heliopolis hotels. "One of our visions for Citystars was to create an integrated residential, office, and shopping complex whereby all our guests, customers, and tenants would be able to communicate using the latest state-of-the-art IT networks," said Sharbatly. Inter-Continental Heliopolis Hotel in Cairo will offer guests new services empowered by Cisco Systems' industry-tailored solutions when the hotel opens next month, according to Hilberath.
