The Egyptian Information, Telecommunications, Electronics, and Software Alliance (EITESAL) launched Sunday an initiative to support tech companies to enter the era of internet of things (IoT). The launch was in cooperation with the IoT Egypt Forum and Egyptian telecoms regulator, NTRA. The event, dubbed EITESAL IOT Day, aims at adopting a new strategy to make good use of the IoT technology which is expected to account for $164 billion by 2018. The event was organised under the auspices of Raya Corporation,Mentor Graphics, and Advanced Computer Technology (ACT) and attended by more than 200 tech experts. Hossam Osman, Deputy Chairman of Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), highlighted the important role IoT plays in everyday life for individuals and companies for being an effective tool which reduces costs as well as time wastage. Ayman El-Gohary, General Manager of Cisco in Egypt, said that technology solutions can help solve most of today's challenges. By 2020, there would be more than 500 billion connected devices to the internet worldwide. He added that Egyptian SMEs can depend on IoT technology to innovate new creations and export them globally. In the same context, Mohamed Said, Board Member and SW Division Chair at EITISAL, said that this initiative is considered a kick-off event to a series of workshops that aims to qualify and integrate SMEs into the world of IoT.
