Minister of Communication and Information Technology Atef Helmy agreed to support the Engineers Syndicate in its transformation to an electronic one, the ministry announced Monday. Helmy said in a ministerial statement that his ministry would provide technological services to the syndicate and its premises under its Technology Homes Programme. It will improve the work mechanism and assist engineers in performing their jobs electronically. The move came following a meeting between Helmy and the president of the Engineers Syndicate Tarek Al-Nabarawy. During the meeting, they discussed means of cooperation to help the syndicate offer technological services to members and make it the first electronically-operated syndicate. In June, Helmy promised to adopt measures enabling government agencies to access and interact cost-effectively with information at high speed. He added that Egypt is working on increasing internet penetration, especially in rural and marginalised areas, and among persons with disabilities. With regard to the communication and information technology sector, the ministry said in a recent report that the sector is on track to nearly double its growth rate in the next six years. It is boosting expansion from 10% in fiscal year (FY) 2013/2014 to 17% in FY 2019/2020. During this time period, the broadband penetration in Egyptian households is expected to rise from 13% to 50%, the ministry noted. It added that information and communication technology service exports are expected to surge from EGP 11bn. The ministry predicted GDP from the information technology sector to grow from the current EGP 60bn to EGP 150bn.
