HELD under the slogan "Destination Egypt", Cairo ICT 2010 Trade Fair and Forum wraps up Wednesday capping an eventful agenda. The leading event started earlier this week under the auspices of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) in cooperation with the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA). The inauguration was attended by Minister of ICT Tareq Kamel; Minister of State for Administrative Development Ahmed Darwish; Minister of Social Solidarity Ali Messelhi; Minister of State for Environmental Affairs Maged George and Minister of Transport Alaa Fahmy.
The forum this year focuses on promoting Egypt as an ICT destination, attracting international companies to invest in the Egyptian ICT sector. As a matter of fact, the growth indicators of ICT in Egypt amount to 14 per cent, despite the world financial crisis experienced by most countries of the world. Cairo ICT's 14th edition promises plenty of action, say observers. It focuses this year on several topics, notably green technology. A memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on green ICT strategy was signed between Kamel and George at the MCIT pavilion. The agreement will carry out a number of programmes that aim to raise social awareness on green technology and spread the culture of environmentally friendly ICT. The agreement entails programmes supporting the participation of companies and institutions in pilot projects for electronic waste recycling. It suggests legislations and laws required to support the management of electronic wastes. A pilot project, using smart green technology systems inside a building annexed to MCIT, will be carried out as part of the programme. A study will be conducted to assess how the Smart Village compiles to the criteria and specifications of environmentally friendly architecture. Egypt's Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs (MSEA) will offer support in establishing a database for collecting data and statistically analysing data related to climate changes. Separately, the forum has tackled a number of key issues on ICT industry in Egypt and the region such as broadband Internet, how to widely spread such networks through a specialised forum as well as the use of GPS technologies in all development fields. Participation this year has increased significantly compared to last year. More than 30 countries and over 400 Egyptian and international companies have contributed to Cairo ICT 2010, showcasing state-of-the-art solutions and products across 19,000 square meters. A number of prominent figures, ministers and businessmen in addition to trade missions from the UK, Saudi Arabia, China, France, Holland, Ukraine, India, Taiwan, UAE, Jordan, the US as the guest of honour, and others participate in the international event this year. Ministers Kamel and Fahmy contributed to the forum's opening session entitled “Destination Egypt.” The session tackled the international investments that Egypt has been working on raising, as well as means of facilitating incentives to boost them. On the second day of the forum, a session entitled Green ICT was held. The meeting presented the current trends adopted in this domain as well as means of utilising ICT tools to be more effective as environment friendly and how to utilise them in other sectors to preserve energy. A number of “Green ICT” solutions were discussed during the session including those related to saving energy, developing work cycles and establishing environment friendly buildings. Managing electronic waste within the efforts exerted at the international and local levels were part of the discussion. The session participants shed light on the best practices in this domain, emphasising the current situation and future challenges. Today, a panel discussion on “Public Safety Networks” will be held, followed by a closing session on “Broadband Internet.” The session on “Broadband Internet” is expected to highlight the measures taken by the Egyptian Government to spread the service nationwide and in turn help improve educational, health and other services offered to citizens.
