Ramsco's Women Empowerment Initiative Recognized Among Top BRICS Businesswomen Practices for 2025    Egypt, Elsewedy review progress on Ain Sokhna phosphate complex    Gold prices end July with modest gains    Pakistan says successfully concluded 'landmark trade deal' with US    Egypt's FM, US envoy discuss Gaza ceasefire, Iran nuclear talks    Modon Holding posts AED 2.1bn net profit in H1 2025    Egypt's Electricity Ministry says new power cable for Giza area operational    Egypt's Al-Sisi, Italian defence minister discuss Gaza, security cooperation    Egypt's FM discusses Gaza, Nile dam with US senators    Aid airdrops intensify as famine deepens in Gaza amid mounting international criticism    Health minister showcases AI's impact on healthcare at Huawei Cloud Summit    On anti-trafficking day, Egypt's PM calls fight a 'moral and humanitarian duty'    Federal Reserve maintains interest rates    Egypt strengthens healthcare partnerships to enhance maternity, multiple sclerosis, and stroke care    Egypt keeps Gaza aid flowing, total tops 533,000 tons: minister    Indian Embassy to launch cultural festival in Assiut, film fest in Cairo    Egyptian aid convoy heads toward Gaza as humanitarian crisis deepens    Culture minister launches national plan to revive film industry, modernise cinematic assets    Rafah Crossing 'never been closed for one day' from Egypt: PM    I won't trade my identity to please market: Douzi    Two militants killed in foiled plot to revive 'Hasm' operations: Interior ministry    Egypt's EHA, Huawei discuss enhanced digital health    Egypt, Oman discuss environmental cooperation    Egypt's EDA explores pharma cooperation with Belarus    Foreign, housing ministers discuss Egypt's role in African development push    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Revolution inspires Egyptian digital professionals
Published in Almasry Alyoum on 28 - 10 - 2011

“It's the revolution,” answers Heba Honsi, a young activist who has been working for ten years in charity, when asked what motivated her to launch a website to enable people to donate to those in need.
After the revolution, Honsi noticed that people were donating bigger amounts of money to charity.
“I also discovered that some people don't know where they should give their donations. After the revolution Egyptian expats have been active in giving donations. So I thought about launching a website to be a liaison between those who donate and those who deserve the money,” says the young philanthropist.
Hosni is among the dozens of Egyptians and Arabs who brought their electronic projects to the “ArabNet Cairo 2011” conference last week, which gathered together young entrepreneurs and digital professionals.
These professionals believe that the rising number of internet users in Egypt is an important factor in their projects' success. The total number of internet users in Egypt has increased from 14.9 million at the end of the second quarter of 2009 to 19.7 million at the same juncture in 2010, according to the Egyptian Communications and Information Technology Ministry. That's a growth rate of an astounding 32.3 percent.
Abbas Adel, a young engineer, is another example of how the revolution has inspired young professionals to launch projects to help communities.
Adel has already achieved success with his online initiative, “Zabatak” (I Caught You). The website is a citizen journalism service dealing with crime in Egypt. It has an interactive map on which seven categories of crimes and offenses are listed, including looting, violence, theft, corruption and illegal construction.
After the revolution and the security vacuum created by the absence of police, Adel says he and his friends figured they could help their community by focusing on this gap. “We've reached the conclusion that what worries people most is the deteriorating security situation. So we launched a website to gather all the information about crime in Egypt.”
The website, according to Adel, has two aims; the first is to inform people about areas with high crime and the second is to give government entities, such as the police, more information about crime in the country.
Zabatak helped in finding six stolen cars recently, says Adel. This has urged government authorities, such as the Local Development Ministry, to engage with Adel and thank him for the service. The authorities claim to have obtained “valuable information from people who reported on the website that they paid bribes to government employees,” said Adel.
Hanan Suleiman has thought of a better way to inform the people about what's going on in Egypt outside core areas of coverage such as Cairo. She tells Al-Masry Al-Youm that she has been inspired by the American experience in localized media and launched an electronic news portal called Mandara Online, which covers events in Upper Egypt. During the 18-day uprising, “People saw how marginalized places could act and support the revolution. Look at Suez and the continuing activism there. I thought that we need to highlight what's going on in these communities,” says Suleiman.
“The idea is not to cover conventional news. It's to train and prepare reporters from the area and give them the chance to cover the issues that really affect them,” Suleiman continues.
Among the issues that Mandara is interested in covering are vendetta killings and violence against women.
Abdel Rahman Wahba, a young engineer, has also started a news project, in which he provides audio transcriptions of newspaper content. “Iqraali” (Read for Me) is a platform whereby a program is used to “transform the written text into an audio text, read out by a person and not a machine,” explains Wahba. The targets for this platform are car drivers, people with difficulty reading and illiterate people who can access articles through their relatives or friends with access to the internet.
These pioneers and others have found in web technology countless ways to engage with communities in need.


Clic here to read the story from its source.