CAIRO: "Great innovations are happening in the dorm rooms not in the board rooms, Joe Wilson, director of Academic Initiatives for Developer and Platform Evangelism at Microsoft Corporation, told Daily News Egypt. Technology evangelism is an attempt to build a critical mass of support for a given technology in order to establish it as a technical standard. The past 10 years have witnessed the establishment of billion dollar projects, such as Facebook, Yahoo, Google, Virgin Airlines and Napster, all of which were started by students. In financial times like these, when money is tight and businesses are hesitant to spend on new ventures, the best bet is to invest in enhancing education and providing young minds with tools for the future. For Egypt to combat the ripple effects of the economic crisis, it must focus on creating an "entrepreneur cultural amongst students, he said. In terms of technical components, Egypt ranks high compared to other countries, but still lacks the innovative culture amongst the majority of students even though there are some success stories of entrepreneurial accomplishments. "Egypt should [strive to become] an exporter of technology not talent, he said. "Universities should think forward about where technology is going. We are moving towards what is called the cloud - what is happening with technology on the internet and the web - not just websites; it's how people will change their businesses using these connected systems over the world. University curriculums should begin to address that, he explained. Students graduate with the knowledge of what's happening in today's technology, which means they are four years behind when they graduate. "I need to teach you what you need then, not what you need now, he said. Egypt's IT sector has shown a lot of muscle this past year, proving that its fundamentals are strong. In cooperation with the government's stimulation package for the sector, Microsoft Egypt is involved with local associations to identify places where they can stimulate the economy in preparation for the expected stagnation. "There is an effect and it will come, said Wilson. "Although the ripples of the economic crisis are inevitable for most corporations and institutions, the risk levels may vary. If you look at other sectors, IT is certainly doing better than the financial sector, which leads us to have an optimistic outlook, he said. "We also believe that when things are difficult, IT helps you through these times. Think about how you scale for example, IT allows you to conduct meetings and brings people together right in your office, rather than travel, [hence cutting costs.] he said. While the IT sector will continue to thrive, the global challenge will be operating in the changing market conditions and to recognize that there is a shift in the exporters of IT talent. In 20 years, countries like Egypt, China and India will take center stage. "These are countries that don't have to build land lines and go straight to cellular, he said. Wilson is certain that "business won't stop, it may have a different flavor, but there will always be open positions and opportunities for people especially for these really good people. Historically, in times of global recession, university enrollment increases because people start to think about their skills and how they can use them to battle the crisis. "Education becomes a fundamental catalyst for weathering any storm like this. So education systems should step up and prepare for greater enrollment and take on the responsibilities of the curriculum technologies that are being used in the market, he said. That is where Microsoft comes into play. "We are a large percentage of any of the IT infrastructures of the world and our responsibility is to help the education systems prepare students for those types of jobs, he said. In Egypt, Microsoft has several projects that provide students with free access to software and works to equip students with technical and software skills needed in the job market. "Microsoft has a responsibility to push the industry, Bill Gates was 17 years old when he and his team started thinking about Microsoft so it's in our DNA to work with students and to open up the door to let people innovate and pursue their dreams, he said. This coming July, Cairo will play host to one of Microsoft's most notable initiatives: the Imagine Cup, a worldwide student technology competition, which will be attended by the "top creative, technical minds in the world and the next generation of CEOs, CIOs. The challenge for 2009 is to imagine "a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems facing us today. Each student has to use one of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals as a theme for their project. "Imagine Cup is not a recruiting function, we actually encourage the winners to go and become entrepreneurs and start their own companies or expose them to other companies and remind them that these people are super smart, he said. Nearly 8,000 Egyptian students have registered for the competition. The number of registrants proves that it's always the people who make up the educational systems, he argues. "There is a wonderful energy and a desire to achieve amongst the students. Educational institutions care about Egypt being seen on the world stage as a real player, and they have something to offer to the world. Imagine Cup is an illustration of the show of talent you have, Wilson said.
