THE National Telecommunications Institute of Egypt (NTI), a governmental agency, and Avaya have recently signed a partnership agreement, whereby Avaya and NTI will work together to provide training programmes to enhance the skill sets of young Egyptian graduates, engineers in the private sectors, and government employees, with the knowledge and use of Avaya's technology in Egypt, empowered by NTI training capabilities. The National Telecommunications Institute of Egypt, an affiliate of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), is a centre of excellence in training and capacity-building, R&D and consultancy in telecommunications and networks. The training facility will be powered by Avaya's communications systems and solutions. Ahmed el-Sherbini, the Director of NTI and Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technology for International Co-operation, said: “This relation is in accordance with and in support of the MCIT's plan of continued expansion and modernisation of the national telecommunication infrastructure, by training of graduates, engineers and government employees on state-of-the-art telecommunications technology through NTI. In furtherance of this plan NTI plans to create an Avaya authorised training centre.” Meanwhile, Hossam Amer, the Territory Manager, Egypt and North Africa, Avaya, commented: “This association strengthens our relationship with the NTI and is significant for Avaya in Egypt and the region." “It reiterates our commitment and investment in the country and boosts our efforts to provide enhanced training programmes for its professional human resources.” According to Amer, this partnership along with NTI's co-operation will ensure a greater number of Avayatrained engineers in the market, increasing Avaya's outreach to organisations across Egypt and the region. “In the near future, we plan to utilise this centre to provide training for more engineers and graduates from other countries in the region,” added Amer. Trainers from NTI will be trained by Avaya's experts on its systems and will in turn impart training to fresh graduates and engineers. The NTI aims to churn out a large number of Avaya-trained engineers by the end of 2010. The centre will be ready to take in admissions by the end of April 2010.
