CAIRO - The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) recently launched a programme to spread IT houses nationwide. Bringing the MCIT priorities into life, set as a work cycle during the coming period, and in accordance with the directives of the minister of ICT, Mohamed Salem stresses on the importance of providing IT services to be extended to all Egypt's governorates especially in Sinai and Nuba in order to raise awareness and technological development all over Egypt. In this context, the MCIT launched its programme to spread IT houses with focus on the distant and neglected areas especially the Bedouin and desert areas to establish different types of community services centres for the benefit of all segments of the society. All segments of society include woman and child, persons with visual impairment, people with special needs, seniors or elderly people as well as businessmen and young people to be prepared for the labour market. Moreover, IT houses provide e-government services like issuing national ID cards and driving license. A high-profile expert team of human development department and IT houses programme at the MCIT headed by the Director of Training and Human Resources Sector, Ahmed Adel Darwish and the Executive Director of IT Houses Project Osama Abdel Aziz began a tour in North Sinai Governorate. They visited the cities and residential areas in the governorate for three days to find the best spots to establish new IT houses and hence become real centre for local community services for all segments of society. Such a thing represents a leg up in developing the services provided in what was previously known as IT clubs and now restructured to be known as IT houses. This comes within the Government's framework to develop Sinai in order to be under the national projects umbrella in all governorates through implementing comprehensive development programmes in various fields and in human development for the Sinai citisen in particular. The visit to North of Sinai will be followed by a similar field visit very soon to South Sinai Governorate and it will be headed by another high-level MCIT delegation for the same purpose. The committee established for that purpose by the MCIT will hold a meeting with the Governor of North Sinai, governorates' leaders, district and cities presidents in order to inform them about the MCIT strategy in order to co-ordinate with the governorate leaders to inspect the areas that will be selected to establish the IT houses. In view of the Government keenness to develop the human and social aspects of Sinai, Mohamed Salem, Minister of ICT, decided to establish about 30 IT houses to cover North and South Sinai taking into account the Bedouin communities in the central area between the two governorates, when there are suitable areas. The project aims to spread IT houses with main focus on distant, marginalised and dense areas all over Egypt's governorates. The priority of this project covers the region of Sinai and Nuba in Upper Egypt, Marsa Matrouh, the New Valley, as well as the Suez Governorate, Sohag and Qena Governorates. Moreover, a group of people working at the IT houses spreading programme at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology is currently visiting all Egyptian governorates to verify carefully the suitable places for establishing IT houses. It is worth mentioning that there is a group of programmes was launched to spread the IT houses of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in all Egypt's governorates to examine carefully the suitable places for establishing IT houses.
