The Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT) has announced the conclusion of the sixth session of the Egypt Challenge for the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence, where the Academy supported and funded 323 projects in various tracks of the challenge. The initiative comes as part of the Academy's plan to support and develop an environment for creativity and entrepreneurship, and to create a network to support digital transformation, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence. Mahmoud Saqr, President of the ASRT, said that this challenge represents a distinct model for constructive cooperation and partnership between local, international and regional institutions, starting with the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, in partnership with the Egyptian Information, Telecommunications, Electronics, and Software Alliance (EITESAL), and in cooperation with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the National Telecom Regulatory Authority. He added that the competition considers activating the role of the Academy in supporting national projects and adapting scientific research in finding quick and effective solutions, as the Academy is a key partner in this challenge, technically and financially for 6 full years, during which the number of participants in the challenge during those years reached more than 5,000 participants and more than 1,650 projects. Saqr indicated that the first winners will be qualified to participate and represent Egypt in the "Arab Challenge for the Internet of Things", which will be held on the sidelines of the GITEX exhibition in Dubai in the middle of this month, with the participation of 12 Arab countries. He explained a number of various initiatives and programs of the Academy of Scientific Research that support the full cycle of innovation, support the knowledge economy, and create an environment conducive to innovation, starting from creating an enhanced climate for research and innovation activities and ending with marketing a product that meets one of the needs of society, through the steps of research and development and production of prototypes transforming it into an image ready for production on an industrial level and effective linking between scientific research and industry, as part of the Academy's operational plan during the period 2014-2022 and its declared vision of networking, integration, and avoiding isolated islands. At the conclusion of his speech, the President of the Academy of Scientific Research affirmed the Academy's permanent readiness to adopt any initiative from all state institutions that would help the Academy's support reach the various segments of innovators in Egypt, explaining that during the week only 5 exhibitions were attended, most notably Egypt's first exhibition of intellectual property inaugurated by the Prime Minister on the sidelines of Egypt's launch of the national strategy for intellectual property in the presence of Darren Tang, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization, and added that most of the projects, innovations and products presented in these five exhibitions are the products of the Academy's projects and initiatives, and at one stage they obtained the development of their ideas with the support and incubation of the Academy. According to Saqr, before 2014, there was not a single multidisciplinary technology incubator, except for one information technology incubator affiliated with the Ministry of Communications, and there was not a single club for entrepreneurship, and there were only 4 offices for technology transfer, and now there are 43 incubators in all disciplines in all parts of the Republic graduating from it 200 tech startups that have created more than 1,700 tech jobs, 52 technology transfer offices, and 56 entrepreneurship clubs In all Egyptian public and private universities and research centers, we annually support more than 400 graduation projects, and this confirms the great success achieved by the "My Project is My Beginning" program to support graduation projects, the "Intilaq" program, and technology transfer and marketing offices in Egyptian universities during the previous years. He indicated the academy's keenness to adopt a number of distinctive programs and events for young people to encourage them to a culture of entrepreneurship, and to bring their ideas and innovations to emerging technology companies.
