Egyptian telecoms ministry's IT arm, the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) announced Sunday launching the National Competencies Framework (NCF), in cooperation of International Finance Corporation (IFC). The framework aims to prepare Egyptian youth to be a part of ICT industry in the country. In the same vein, ITIDA has signed memoranda of understanding with the Arab Academy for Science Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT), the Future University and seven of Egyptian leading ICT companies. Asmaa Hosny, CEO of ITIDA, has signed the MoUs with Ismael Abdel Ghafar, President of AASTMT, Ebada Sarhan, President of the Future University, and seven executives from Orange, TE Data, ITWORX, and others as part of the framework project. Hosny said that this project aims to bolster Egyptian innovators and maximise job opportunities within Egypt's ICT sector in collaboration with all companies involved in the industry. The framework aspires to develop a sustainable approach to enhance the employability of Egyptian ICT talent pool and upgrade the quality of training, education through establishing industry-led skills and competencies framework for adoption by the ICT companies as well as the training and selected public and private educational institutes. Over the past decade, the ICT sector has become the growth engine for many of the world's developing economies, crossing significant milestones in terms of revenue growth, employment generation and value creation, in addition to becoming the global brand ambassador for many developing nations. Alterations in demographic distribution across the globe are transforming labor markets. These changes have made workforce challenges more complex – mature economies resulting in decreasing workforce availability, swelling number of retirees, low birth rates, etc. Going forward, the world will look to economies for specialized and highly priced talent. In line with the trend of developing nations, since 2007, the ICT Sector in Egypt has been growing at a rate of 15 – 20 percent per year. This was due to an aggressive strategy adopted by the Egyptian government and conducted by ITIDA that focused on attracting foreign direct investments and developing talents. The National Competencies Framework (NCF) is a tool and concept that allows manpower planning specifies the competencies and skills required for performing distinct job roles in a particular industry. NCF is structured approach that flows out in a sequence and defines different stages that connects the individual abilities with the achievement of organisational ultimate goals.
