Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat has on Tuesday issued a decree appointing Ahmed Hassan Elzaher as acting chief executive officer of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) as of December 1, 2022. Elzaher has been Assistant Minister for Ecosystem Development at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. He has over 27 years of experience in the Information Technology industry across different countries including Egypt, UAE, Kenya, and Algeria covering different domains such as IT Services, go-to-market strategies, leadership, and business development. He also has a strong track record in building and expanding organisations, spearheading growth, and developing talents, at local and regional levels. Spending most of his professional career at IBM, Elzaher served several executive positions and leadership roles, most recently being Vice President of IBM Cybersecurity Business for Middle East and Africa, located in Dubai, UAE. He led a large team to establish and structure the organisation, and deliver strategic cybersecurity solutions for the clients across the region. Prior to this, Elzaher was Director of Sales for Central, East and West Africa, located in Nairobi, Kenya, where he was responsible for the overall go-to-market strategy for the region. Elzaher's previous responsibilities include different management roles at IBM Egypt, such as the Head of the Global Technology Services where he oversaw the delivery of all IT infrastructure projects for the clients. He was also Head of the overall Sales organisation for IBM Egypt. Prior joining the ministry, Elzaher held the position of Chief Commercial Officer at Abu Dhabi-Based Digital14, the official Cybersecurity Provider for Expo 2020 Dubai. He holds a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, Communications and Electronics, from Ain Shams University.
