CAIRO: The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) and Hewlett-Packard (HP) signed an agreement that would see HP train 100,000 members of the work force in the sectors of health, trade and education. The trainees would obtain International Computer Driving License (ICDL). The ICDL certificate is an internationally recognized certificate that is used in more than 144 countries to ensure the necessary high IT standards of workers in their business place. The ICDL has become a key requirement worldwide in many countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas for the completion of various levels of education, job promotion, eligibility for scholarships and even job recruitment. The agreement was signed by Dr Ekram Fathy, senior advisor to the minister of communication and information technology for human resources and training, and Ahmed Samy, managing director of Hewlett-Packard Egypt. Minister of Communication and Information Technology Tarek Kamel said that "through its comprehensive program of training students, graduates and government employees, alike, the MCIT is committed to carrying out its strategy of developing the level of computer competency in Egypt to global standards, by creating a foundation of highly skilled IT savvy workers that can compete in an international market, both at home and abroad. "Working in cooperation with other ministries, agencies and bodies, the MCIT is striving to facilitate the needs and demands of the rapid growth in this sector, now considered one of the sources of increased national income in Egypt. Through developing national basic IT skills, we will be able to position Egypt as a key player in global competitiveness in this area. Ken Willett, vice president of Hewlett-Packard for the Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa, said that "this agreement comes as a part of the ongoing efforts of Hewlett-Packard (HP), the global leading company in technology solutions. We aim to expand the scope of this cooperation to include more government ministries in Egypt. HP, which offers wide ranging services for the government and private sectors, is considered to be at the forefront of the market in all aspects of technology solutions and capacity building. Elaborating on this, Managing Director of HP Egypt Mr. Ahmed Samy added that "the ICDL Program aims to raise the productivity of all employees required to use computers in their work place, in order to achieve a better return on investment in all economy sectors, across the board. Minister of Health Hatem El Gabaly and Education Minister Yousry Al Gamal also attended the event.
