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UNDP/MCIT Project EGY 00045558

Government of Egypt

Ministry of Communications and Information Technology

United Nations Development Programme Project EGY 00045558

Plan of Action (2007-2012)

Empowering and Connecting the Community through ICT:

Egypt - Emergence of the Regional Digital Hub

Brief Description The government of Egypt supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) considers the continuous development of the information and communication technology sector (ICT) leading to the institutionalization of the information society as one of the highest priorities being a major building block in the overall socioeconomic development process and an enabler for the realization of the millennium development goals. The objective of this project is to strengthen the efforts of the government of Egypt in cooperation with various stakeholders in the process of building the nation’s information society. The project complements the ongoing projects between the government of Egypt and UNDP in the ICT sector aiming at: a) facilitating the development process related to various organizational, legislative and regulatory framework issues; b) fostering the promotion of the information society through engaging the civil society and non-governmental organizations and; c) helping better integrate Egypt into the global information society. The project would help produce the following outputs: a) universal access policies and strategies developed and upgraded, b) ICT applications supported; c) innovation enhanced, d) legal and regulatory enabling environment enhanced, e) human resources training and development supported, and, f) knowledge sharing and internal management support systems established. It is important to note that strategic alliances and partnership models are key implementation mechanisms for this project such as public-private partnership (PPP) and engaging the community at large. The proposed projects and activities related to the above mentioned outputs aim to help reduce human poverty, improve quality of life and contribute in socioeconomic development of the society.

November 2006

Ministry of Communications and

Information Technology EGYPT


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Table of Contents

I. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 3 II. Situation Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 443 III. Strategy ............................................................................................................................................ 773

A. Project Background ........................................................................................................................... 883 B. Purpose and Scope Statement ............................................................................................................ 883 D. Project Description ........................................................................................................................ 11113

D.1 Development Thrust ....................................................................................................... 11113 D.2 Promotion Thrust ........................................................................................................... 11113 D.3 Policy and Government Ecosystem ............................................................................... 11113

IV. Descriptions of Outputs ................................................................................................................ 11113 Output A: Universal Access Policies and Strategies Developed and Upgraded................................. 11113

Activity A1 – Upgrade and Develop eAccess Policies ................................................................ 12123 Activity A2 – Strengthen Telecommunications Policy Unit (TPU) ............................................. 12123 Activity A3 – Establish Postal Policy Unit (PPU)........................................................................ 12123

Output B: ICT Applications Supported .............................................................................................. 12123 Activity B1 – Increase Arabic eContent ....................................................................................... 13133 Activity B2 – Entice the Development of Cultural eContent ....................................................... 13133 Activity B3 – Support ICT for eHealth and eEducation ............................................................... 13133

Output C: Innovation Enhanced ......................................................................................................... 14143 Activity C1: Support the Development of Nile University .......................................................... 14143 Activity C2: Increase Research and Development (R&D) Centers of Excellence (CoE) in Different

Fields ....................................................................................................................... 15153 Activity C3: Support Incubation of Innovative Entrepreneurial Projects ..................................... 15153

Output D: Legal and Regulatory Enabling Environment Created ...................................................... 15153 Activity D1: Build Confidence, Trust and Security in eBusiness ................................................ 16163 Activity D2: Set Policies and Provide Technical Expertise for Media Convergence .................. 16163

Output E: Human Resources Training and Development Supported ................................................. 17173 Activity E1: Conduct ICT Basic Training Using the ICDL Testing Engine ................................ 17173 Activity E2: Support to ICT Professional IT training .................................................................. 18183 Activity E3: Raise ICT Awareness and Outreach ........................................................................ 18183

Output F: Knowledge Sharing and Internal Management Support Systems Established ................... 18183 Activity F1: Increase Access to Information and Knowledge ...................................................... 18183 Activity F2: Conduct Regional Training ...................................................................................... 19193 Activity F3: Enhance Effective Representation and Participation in Regional and International

Events ..................................................................................................................... 19193 Activity F4: Utilize International expertise .................................................................................. 19193 Activity F5: Formulate Communication Strategy ........................................................................ 19193 Activity F6 – Project Management Unit (PMU) .......................................................................... 19193

V. Management Arrangements ......................................................................................................... 19193 A. Steering Committee ....................................................................................................................... 20203 B. Work Plan ...................................................................................................................................... 20203 C. Personnel and Organization ........................................................................................................... 21213 D. Management Structure of the Project ............................................................................................ 21213

VI. Monitoring and Evaluation ........................................................................................................... 21213 A. Monitoring Plans: .......................................................................................................................... 22223 B. Annual Coordination Meetings ...................................................................................................... 22223

VII. Legal Context ............................................................................................................................... 22223 Section B – Project Results and Resources Framework .......................................................................... 24243 Section C – Total Work Plan and Budget ............................................................................................... 25253 VIII. Appendix ...................................................................................................................................... 26263

Appendix A: List of Abreviations and Acronyms .............................................................................. 26263 Appendix B: List of Table and Figures .............................................................................................. 27273 Appendix C: Policies and Strategies .................................................................................................. 28283 Appendix D: ICT Infrastructure Development ................................................................................... 30303


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Section A - Elaboration on the Narrative

I. Introduction The role information and communication technology (ICT)1 plays in shaping the global economy is invaluable. During the last two decades, the importance of the ICT sector has remarkably increased as a driver and catalyst for socioeconomic development. It is becoming increasingly evident that development in the 21st century is based on the establishment of the information society. This can be achieved through a clear strategy for the development of the ICT sector, which represents a strategic direction and a goal of the global development plans for developing nations. ICT is one of the key elements for developing nations in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set by the United Nations to tackle development goals at national, regional and international levels for 190 developing nations (www.un.org/mdg). MDGs and associated objectives and targets represent an unprecedented agreed platform for developed and developing nations as well as international organizations to embark on a global effort to transform the world where sustainable development and eliminating poverty would have the highest priority (www.developmentgoals.org). It is vital to emphasize that ICT are means to an end – a platform for development and growth – and not an end by itself. There is a multiplicity of evidences that ICT represent powerful and effective tools when used appropriately as part of an overall development strategy provided that transfer, adaptation and localization of ICT applications is realized to cater for the local market needs. ICT should be used in the sense that the ability to access, adapt and create knowledge should support socioeconomic development purposes reflecting the concept of ICT for development (ICT4D). According to Kofi Anan, Secretary General of the United Nations (1997-2006): “ICT are driving forces with great potential to help people improve their lives”2. Transforming the challenges into opportunities and creating new venues for development and growth while capitalizing on emerging ICT would invaluably require innovative and strategic partnerships and collaboration between the different stakeholders including the government, the private sector and the civil society. Through such collaborative agreements, ICT can play an important role by providing different innovative and efficient methods of production to reach underprivileged markets; disseminating knowledge; facilitating management and technology transfer; as well as improving key societal services that comprehensively help realize the MDGs. However, despite the potentials of ICT, other factors need to be realized including the creation of an institutional framework, incentives and effective and efficient platforms for implementation because success will not be measured only in terms of ICT diffusion but rather on the socioeconomic implications on the society and the overall progress towards the realization of the MDGs. Since 2000, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have had a successful partnership in the formulation and implementation of a number of national ICT projects. Some of these projects did spin-off successfully and are currently effectively contributing to the overall development of the society and that of the ICT sector in specific. These projects include – but are not limited to – the transformation and automation of the National Post Organization (NPO), the capacity development of the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA), the establishment of the Smart Village and a series of projects under the umbrella of the ICT Trust Fund. In these projects, UNDP helped finance and draw on its various expertise and best practices from around the world to develop strategies that expand access to ICT and harness it for development purposes. There is no doubt that ICT can serve as an enabler to

1 Appendix A includes a list of all Abreviations and Acronyms used in the document 2 WSIS - Connecting the World, ITU 2003


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achieve many of the development goals agreed to by world leaders at the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000. From Egypt’s perspective, ICT has the potential to create jobs and business opportunities, improve delivery and access to health and education amongst other services, and facilitate information sharing and knowledge creation, and increase the transparency, accountability and effectiveness of government, business and non-profit organizations, which collectively contribute to an enabling environment for socioeconomic development and growth3. These issues represent key priorities that can help the society share the benefits of globalization, reduce the negative implications of poverty and develop the information society, which was the focus of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) held in two phases in Geneva (Switzerland) in 2003 and Tunis (Tunisia) in 2005. During both WSIS summits, Egypt had a strong presence where in 2003 President Hosni Mubarak announced the Egyptian Information Society Initiative (EISI) and Egypt’s presence was equally significant in Tunis in 2005 demonstrating its successful implementation experience model represented by the public-private partnership (PPP) and the debt-swap to support ICT for development. The summit witnessed the formulation of the “Plan of Action” of ICT development goals where Egypt had an active role in the process of shaping such plan. Egypt perceives that the WSIS Plan of Action represents a framework for change, particularly in the areas of economic and political reform, social policies, and gender sensitive development. Therefore, the government of Egypt (GoE) affirms that the implementation of the Plan of Action goals is instrumental in developing the ICT sector and in providing a real opportunity for the development of the information society4. Respectively, MCIT has been implementing Egypt’s obligations to the WSIS Plan of Action by addressing market and industry aspects; inter and intra digital divide; investing in people education and training with an emphasis on underprivileged and remote communities; and, creating an enabling environment for development and growth through the amendments and/or formulation of new policies, projects and activities5.

II. Situation Analysis ICT has a vital role to play in the global developmental efforts. Respectively, the MDGs drawn from the United Nations Millennium Declaration and adopted in September 2000 have several specific targets involving ICT as a tool for reducing poverty6. There is no doubt that in the past few decades since the early 1980s, ICT has transformed many aspects of life across different sectors, industries and societies. It is important to note that the ICT potential for reducing poverty and fostering growth in developing countries has increased rapidly. For example, mobile telephony provide market links for farmers and entrepreneurs, the Internet delivers vital knowledge to schools and hospitals, computers improve public and private services, and increase productivity and participation. Based upon such elements, by connecting people and places, ICT has played and will continue to play a vital role in national, regional, and global development. Reference these developments, among the lessons learnt was the fact that a dynamic, flexible, vibrant and competitive ICT sector is an invaluable prerequisite for supporting the formulation process of information societies. These lessons among others are important while formulating new policies, projects and programs of action to leverage the ICT contribution to socioeconomic development. In terms of global trends, experiences from the 1960s and 1970s showed how telecommunications strengthens economic production and distribution, public service delivery,

3 Egypt’s Information Society, MCIT 2005 4 MCIT 2005 Yearbook 5 Policies and Plans on the Information Society: Status and Impact, ECA 2003 6 Information and Communication Technology for Development – Global Trends and Policies, World Bank 2006


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and government administration. In the 1980s, information was recognized as a crucial factor of production, along with capital and labor. During the 1990s, globalization and the increasing information intensity of economic activity, coupled with rapid technological change and demand growth, made ICT critical to competitiveness and growth. In recent years, the world’s policy makers have recognized that ICT provides key inputs for economic development, contributes to global integration, and enhances public sector effectiveness, efficiency, and transparency. There is growing consensus that countries seeking to strengthen their investment climates should make it a priority to improve ICT access and quality. Moreover, country conditions that bolster ICT investment including sound economic policies, strong property rights, and liberalized markets, limited restrictions on entry and ownership, and predictable regulation contribute to a healthy overall business environment and so to growth throughout the economy. Table 1 demonstrates the effect of the use of ICT on enterprise performance in developing countries7.

Indicator Enterprises that do not use ICT

Enterprises that use ICT

Difference

Sales Growth (%) 0.4 3.8 3.4 Employment Growth (%) 4.5 5.6 1.2 Profitability (%) 4.2 9.3 5.1 Labor Productivity (value added per worker, dollars)

5,288 8,712 3,423

Total Factor Productivity

78.2 79.2 1.0

Table 1 – Effect of ICT Use on Enterprise Performance in Developing Countries8

ICT is crucial to sustainable poverty reduction, because it makes a country’s economy more efficient and globally competitive, improves health and education services, and creates new sources of income and employment for poor people. In addition, ICT enhances social inclusion and promotes more effective, accountable, democratic government, especially when combined with effective freedom of information and expression. Historically, over the past 25 years, developing countries have considerably increased ICT diffusion and access especially with respect to telephone services. Statistically, developing countries accounted for more than 60% of the world’s telephone lines both fixed and mobile in 2005 up from less than 20% in 1980. During this period, population increased by half and real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) more than doubled in the developing world while the number of telephone subscribers rose 28-fold.

Indicator 1980 1990 2000 2005 Population (billions) 3.6 4.4 5.1 5.4 GDP (US$ trillions) 3.1 4.2 5.9 7.5 Total Telephones (per 1000 people)

14 27 129 393

Fixed Lines (per 1000 people)

14 27 83 135

Mobile Lines (per 1000 people)

Not Applicable

0.09 46 258

Internet Users (per 1000 people)

Not Applicable

Not Applicable

15 67

Table 2 – Population, GDP, Telephone and Internet Access in the Developing World 1980-2005 Although the proportion of subscribers to total population in developing countries did not even double between 1980 and 1990, over the next decade it nearly quintupled, from 27 to 129 per

7 Information and Communication Technology for Development – Global Trends and Policies, World Bank 2006 8 Appendix B includes a list of all tables and figures


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1,000 people; and between 2000 and the end of 2005, it is estimated to have tripled, reaching almost 400 subscribers. Table 2 demonstrates the demographics of telephone and Internet use in the developing world during the period 1980-20059.

In telephony, most of the recent growth has involved mobile phones, which now outnumber fixed ones. Mobile phones have a dramatic impact in developing countries, substituting for scarce fixed connections, increasing mobility, reducing transaction costs, broadening trade networks, and facilitating searches for employment. With prepaid services and calling cards, even poor households have been able to benefit from increased telephone access. Examples are many in developing countries to demonstrate how mobile technology have transformed small businesses and affected the socioeconomic structure of the local community. Telephone services now reach many small cities and towns and in December 2005, half of the world’s households had telephones. With regard to the Internet, the number of users more than quadrupled between 2000 and 2005 and the same period witnessed the fastest growth of over 370% for the number of Internet users in the Middle East and North Africa. According to the World Bank Group10, the debate in the 1990s over choosing between ICT and other development imperatives has now shifted from one of tradeoffs to one of complementarity. Moreover, reference to Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (2000-2006), “the basic needs of humankind have long been food, clothing and shelter but the time has come to add information to that list”11. Finally, based on the UN Research Institute for Social Development, the digital divide is an integral part of a broader and more intractable development divide. Moreover, the likelihood that people in low-income societies can improve their life chances will always be associated by their access to modern means of communication and sources of information amongst other elements related to attempting to resolve the problems relating to poverty and economic system12. To conclude, global experiences show that broad usage of ICT serves the overall development process. Therefore, the WSIS (www.wsis.org) emphasized that access to ICT was a cornerstone of the information society and emphasized the vital role of governments as lead actors and catalysts in promoting the use of ICT by individuals, communities and local authorities. Additionally, WSIS stressed on the importance of developing national strategies that can help create an enabling policy and regulatory environment that stimulate local entrepreneurship and private investment as well as the invaluable strong political leadership and support that can help the whole process to progress and the community to transform. Realizing the role and opportunities that ICT could create and contribute within the development process, MCIT is determined to proceed with its efforts that started in 1999 in the formulation of policies and strategies and the implementation of projects and activities that empowers the continuous development of the ICT sector and supports the overall national development process (www.mcit.gov.eg). MCIT, in the coming phase, will continue the deployment of its successful and established result-oriented model namely the PPP model with projects implemented through the financial and technical support of international organizations such as the UNDP and in close coordination with relevant government agencies and depending and employing the private sector resources and capacities13. During the coming phase, with the support of UNDP, MCIT will build on the steps taken, during the period 1999-2006, under the umbrella of EISI for the establishment of the information society. MCIT will focus on continuously spreading ICT tools nationwide and setting the foundation of an export-oriented ICT industry. MCIT realizes that ICT is an 9 Information and Communication Technology for Development – Global Trends and Policies, World Bank 2006 10 ICT and MDGs – A World Bank Group Perspective, World Bank Group, 2003 11 WSIS - Connecting the World, ITU 2003 12 The development Divide in a Digital Age – An Issues Paper, Technology, Business and Society Paper No. 4, 2001 13 Egypt’s Information Society, MCIT 2005


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important driver for societal transformation, a vehicle for empowering citizens in different aspects related to their lives and for rendering potential industries more competitive at local and global levels. This parallels The United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) twin-track strategy for United Nations (UN) assistance to Egypt that supports projects that can help citizens improve their quality of life and governments and other related stakeholders realize the MDGs (www.undp.org). According to UNDAF14, there is a need for Egypt to continue strengthening its human resource capacities to ensure that they can all realize the full potentials from the expansion of choices in their lives. This will require a concrete and valuable role to be played in the human development paradigm by all the stakeholders including the government, civil society, media and the private sector which will in turn help remove the deterrents hindering the realization of the MDGs such as the inter and intra digital divides. Additionally, according to Egypt Human Development Report (HDR)15, a similar and pertinent image is demonstrated which has received government endorsement and inspired the UNDAF process and which provides a tangible poverty reduction plan for Egypt to 2015 in tandem with the MDG framework16. Egypt HDR offers a vision of a social contract in which the less privileged citizens that represent almost half the society constitute dynamic new entrants to the national, economic and political landscape as producers, consumers and active stakeholders in shaping the future. These objectives could be realized and such communities could be better served through the proper design and delivery of a variety of ICT applications in different fields. The commitment to optimal social inclusion of the population in the digital economy requires considerable pro-active support through MCIT both technical and financial to ensure that the population is provided with access to various ICT tools and techniques together with the expected role to be played by civil society institutions and the private sector17. Despite the efforts exerted and the achievements realized since 1999 in the ICT sector, there are a number of challenges that need to be met that could benefit the community. Therefore, issues such as improving the overall electronic readiness of the community, minimizing the unequal access (digital divide) ratios, leveraging the infrastructure, and increasing quantitatively and qualitatively the awareness, training and education elements for human resource capacities are all essential elements to harness ICT potentials that need to be addressed. Respectively, this project during the coming period (2007-2012) will help transform through MCIT these challenges into opportunities by bringing together different stakeholders to ensure the mobilization of all human, technical and financial resources either those who are already in place and/or those that need to be established.

III. Strategy The strategy of MCIT for the period 2007-2012 is based on the vision aimed by the government for the year 2012 that is for Egypt “to be a regional leader at using ICT to realize social, economic and cultural goals”. The vision aims to realize the objective that all Egyptians will benefit from the power of ICT to harness socioeconomic gain with implications on individuals, businesses, communities and the society at large. The motto of MCIT during the period 2007-2012 will be mainly focusing on “Empowering and Connecting the Community through ICT”. The GoE over the last two decades has made a strong commitment to advance the cause of human capacity development in the context of an open economy and it intends to continue to do so in the coming years with a more accelerated pace given the available resources. Respectively, the role of MCIT will continue to be the catalyst guiding Egypt, with the support

14 United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2007-2011 for Egypt 15 Egypt Human Development Report (HDR), 2005 16 UN Common Country Assessment (UNCCA), 2005 17 EGY018 Project Document “Strengthening Capacity of MCIT, UNDP 2000


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of all other stakeholders, into the digital age and the inclusion in the growing global and dynamic economy. The focus will be on a number of issues including – but not limited to – promoting local demand; supporting an export industry focusing on software development and outsourcing; developing human resource capacities as the backbone for an agile community through a vigilant learning environment; enticing partnerships agreements and alliances, as well as modernizing regularly the infrastructure and enabling the legislative reform. Since 1999, there has been a massive set of achievements in these domains however, with the emerging and changing nature of the ICT industry, there is a continuous need to cope with these changes and transformations. Therefore, this project is formulated to cater for the new developments and needs of the society as well as to continue to support the existing projects that have started in the past few years and that serve the overall development objectives.

A. Project Background Project EGY018 between UNDP and MCIT was originally concluded for the period July 2000 to July 2004 for the budget of 6,260,000 US dollars18 which was increased in July 2003 by 3,900,000 US dollars to reach 9,943,080 US dollars19. The project got a substantive review during the first half of 2005, and got a supplement of 1,923,077 US dollars to reach 11,943,080 US dollars20. Year 2005 marked a shift in project activities which were unfolded and they revealed new related needs where UNDP played a key role in supporting the technical expertise that was needed to establish the ICT infrastructure. A revisit to the project plan and expected outcomes will result in the reformulation of a new project to cover the period 2007-2012 with a total budget of 18 million US dollars. It is important to note that the project will continue enabling the successful implementation of the GoE strategic national plan for ICT while catering for changes that are taking place both locally and globally that can help realize the targeted outcomes and objectives of the project. The purpose of this project is mainly to provide institutional support to the ICT sector, support the development of the information base to create an enabling environment for ICT business development, provide support to education and human resource capacity development in the ICT sector, encouraging innovation, enticing ICT applications in different socioeconomic aspects with an emphasis on education and health, as well as regional and international knowledge sharing of best practices and the deployment of management support systems. Moreover, the project aims to identify, recruit and train staff to implement the national plan for ICT as well as provide policy advice to MCIT and supervise and monitor the projects which are implemented under the national plan for ICT.

B. Purpose and Scope Statement Based on its declared vision, the GoE is determined that its citizens enjoy the benefits that ICT can bring to their lives. Therefore, since the early 1980s and more specifically with the establishment of MCIT in 1999, the government has implemented its eVision for Egypt known as EISI with a belief that investing in technology is investing in Egypt's future, which has been translated into a range of ICT-related initiatives and projects as demonstrated in table 3.

18 EGY018 Project Document “Strengthening Capacity of MCIT, UNDP 2000 19 EGY018 Project Document “Strengthening Capacity of MCIT, UNDP 2003 20 EGY018 Project Document “Institutional Support and Strengthening Capacity of MCIT, UNDP 2005


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Building Blocks

Theme Sample Projects and Initiatives

eReadiness Equal access for all - Internet for all - PC for every home - Community ICT clubs

eLearning

Nurturing human capital - Egypt education initiative (EEI) - Distance learning programs - Smart schools network

eHealth

Increasing health services availability

- Improving access and equal opportunity to healthcare

- Providing value-added health services eCulture Promoting Egyptian

culture - Documenting Egypt’s rich cultural

heritage - Reinforcing and cultivating Arabic

content on the web eBusiness

New way of doing business

- Legislative reform - Infrastructure for online transactions

(ePayments and eSignatures) ICT Export

Industry development - Increase local demand in ICT applications.

- Attract foreign direct investment (FDI)

- Maximize the local value-added component

- Embrace new inventions - ICT innovation

Table 3 – Egypt Information Society Initiative The scope of this project focuses on providing an integrated framework for existing and future initiatives to take place during the period 2007-2012. The project focuses on the elements that can help encourage the uptake and effective use of ICT for economic, social and cultural gain. The strategy contains bold new actions for the coming period that provide a direction for government policy for the next five years, and will ensure that ICT-related strategies and actions are coordinated with other stakeholders and focused on the key opportunities and challenges. Appendix C reflects on the policies and strategies and their implications during the period 1999-2006. The main mandate of this project is to contribute to meeting the objectives set out in the plan of action of ICT development goals and to help realize the targeted objective of EISI. This could be realized through the six following main outputs that include: 1) universal access policies and strategies developed and upgraded; 2) ICT applications supported; 3) innovation enhanced; 4) legal and regulatory enabling environment created; 5) human resources training and development supported; and, 6) knowledge sharing and internal management support systems established. It is important to note that strategic alliances and partnership models are key implementation mechanisms for this project such as PPP and engaging the community at large. The proposed related projects and activities to the above-mentioned outputs aim to help reduce human poverty, improve quality of life and contribute in socioeconomic development of the society. Figure 1 demonstrates the major project outputs and the related proposed activities.


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C. Project Strategic Outputs and Activities Framework

Figure 1 – Projects Strategic Outputs and Activities Framework

Making ICT4D Work for the Poor

National eStrategies to facilitate increased access and foster use of ICT to achieve development goals formulated and/or implemented

Achieving the MDGs and Reducing Human Poverty

C1 - Support the development of Nile University C2 - Increase Research and Development Centers of Excellence in different fields C3 - Support incubation of innovative entrepreneurial projects

D1 - Build confidence, trust and security in eBusiness D2 - Set policies and provide technical expertise for media convergence

E1 - Conduct ICT basic training using the ICDL testing engine E2 - Develop professional training E3 - Raise ICT awareness and outreach

A1 - Upgrade and develop eAccess policies A2 - Strengthen telecom policy unit A3 – Establish postal policy unit

Output D Legal and regulatory enabling

environment created

Output E Human resources

training and development

supported

Output A Universal

access policies and strategies developed and

upgraded

MYFF Goal 1

Service Line 1.8

MYFF Core Result

Project Outputs

Main Activities

Output C Innovation enhanced

Output F Knowledge sharing

and internal management support systems established

F1 - Increase access to information and knowledge F2 - Conduct regional training F3 - Enhance effective representation and participation in regional and international events F4 - Utilize international expertise F5 - Formulate communication strategy F6 - Support project management unit

Output B ICT

applications supported

B1 - Increase Arabic eContent B2 - Entice the development of cultural eContent B3 - Support ICT for eHealth and eEducation


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D. Project Description In order to achieve Egypt’s vision and the targets set by the suggested project, there needs to be a holistic approach for the development of the ICT value chain. Consequently, Egypt needs to differentiate itself by creating unique values with commercial potential; increasing reach of regional and global markets; and, leveraging the level of use, diffusion and sophistication of ICT usage. These elements could be translated into three main strategic thrusts including: D.1 Development Thrust

The development thrust is aimed at building the ICT industry through nurturing creativity, facilitating innovation, experimentation and deployment of ICT Solutions. D.2 Promotion Thrust

The promotion thrust is aimed at a growing demand in the market through commercializing ICT solutions and developing a strong outsourcing vehicle to outreach other global markets. D.3 Policy and Government Ecosystem

The policy and government ecosystem thrust is aimed at providing a robust and conducive environment to reduce barriers to entry and encourage research and development as well as ICT industry growth.

IV. Descriptions of Outputs

Output A: Universal Access Policies and Strategies Developed and Upgraded The development of an information society requires the digital readiness of the community that entails that its citizens have easy and affordable access to ICT, are aware of the potentials of ICT and possess the required ICT skills needed to help them improve the quality of their life. This is reflected in EISI as “Access for All: Egypt eReadiness”. It is important to note that as society gains broader access to the digital environment and as citizens become electronically ready concrete socioeconomic transformations and growth could be achieved. Egypt is regularly increasing and improving both the nationwide infrastructure connectivity as well as the betterment of human resource skills and capacities, and policy makers at the highest-level are focusing more on the full-fledged broader socioeconomic implications of emerging ICT and how to ensure growing and sustainable development within the digital economy. Through the “Access for All: Egypt eReadiness”, MCIT has developed, installed and upgraded many aspects of the infrastructure needed to underpin universal access and is constantly evaluating new technologies as they arise to ensure that the best and most affordable options are available nationwide. Appendix D “ICT infrastructure development” demonstrates some of the achievements in this domain during the period (1999-2006). The ICT infrastructure is central in achieving the goal of digital inclusion and enabling sustainable and affordable access to ICT by all citizens. In that respect, any developments in ICT infrastructure must not be quantitatively isolated from other, equally important developments, such as those related to legislative reform, strengthening the sector and capacity building of human resources. Therefore, the government should take action, in the framework of national development policies, in order to support an enabling and competitive environment for the necessary investment in ICT infrastructure and for the development of new ICT-based services such as wireless technologies and high-speed connectivity platforms. Moreover, access policies and strategies should be formulated as well as their means of implementation together with indicative targets and ICT connectivity indicators. Additionally, encourage the design and production of ICT equipment and services so that everyone, has easy and affordable access to


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them including disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, and promote the development of technologies, applications, and content suited to their needs. Activity A1 – Upgrade and Develop eAccess Policies Institutional support provides the high-level consultancy needed to ensure clear articulation of universal access principles at the national level for all ICT-related policies and agreements. The national policy is developed by MCIT in consultation with the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NTRA) and ITIDA as well as other related stakeholders whose policies are formulated within the national framework. Policies should be mainly focusing on setting the criteria and regulations to provide non-economic services to deprived areas and guarantee the commitment of operators and providers for such services and developments in the ICT sector. This activity should ensure that universal access policies are continuously developed and updated to cater for the changing market needs. Activity A2 – Strengthen Telecommunications Policy Unit (TPU) The Telecommunications Policy Unit (TPU) is established and operating however with the continuous development and transformation it constantly needs strengthening with support in terms of expertise and staff in the areas of policy formulation, simulation modeling, and ICT-sector management. National level policy making in a competitive environment is a complex matter and needs an agile and flexible mode of operation. The environment requires a sound understanding of the market and skilled policy personnel to be able to meet the demands of the market. MCIT is the national-level policy maker with responsibility for ensuring that the liberalized environment develops in a balanced way, taking into account the national interest and ensuring the rights of all citizens. The specific focus of the TPU research studies and policy papers depends upon evolving circumstances in the market as well as on monitoring the policy initiatives. Activity A3 – Establish Postal Policy Unit (PPU) The postal service provides a basic means of linking the entire population and serves as an important medium of ICT for business and society. It is important to note that a viable and efficient postal service is essential to socioeconomic development. The Postal Policy Unit (PPU) will be focusing on formulating a process of reform where the postal sector can benefit from the emerging developments in ICT. MCIT, therefore, is committed to facilitating the healthy development of the postal sector, addressing the regulatory environment, rendering the postal service market more efficient and ensuring the provision of access to a universal postal service by all citizens irrespective of their geographic location. This will require addressing issues such as inequalities in accessing and distribution of postal services and providing customers with an efficient postal service that is cost effective and affordable amongst other issues. These elements provide the salient issues and framework around which the new postal policy unit is proposed.

Output B: ICT Applications Supported ICT applications can support sustainable development across different sectors and industries including public administration, business, education and training, health, employment, environment, agriculture, and science amongst other domains within the framework of national eStrategies. It is important to note that progress towards an information society must be reflected in providing benefits across all levels in the society. ICT applications, therefore, could have an instrumental and effective role in minimizing the digital divide within the society and providing a platform for development in all sectors. Introduction of ICT applications requires building societal confidence within the community that entails massive awareness and promotional campaigns. The GoE is fully aware that it needs to have the society’s support in the success of any schemes that are implemented as well as encouraging additional local demand to allow all applications developed and implemented to


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fulfill their potentials. This project output focuses on the importance of developing ICT thematic applications for building the information society in a variety of fields. The ICT applications could address issues such as education in the form of electronic learning (eLearning) and supporting the development of the education sector at large as well as supporting the health sector in addition to issues such as using ICT in government applications, language preservation and the development and preservation of cultural electronic content (eContent). The diversification and expansion in the support to government-sourced digital information such as creating a substantial Arabic-language information base is a key issue. The digital content industry is growing 30% per annum demonstrating a source of employment for IT-trained youth, as well as being an export earner and, not least, the source of information and convenience for the Egyptian population at large. Activity B1 – Increase Arabic eContent Supporting the development of eContent is an issue of high priority for two main reasons: a) from a social perspective to help reduce the local digital divide and b) from a business perspective to provide a venue for a strong export industry. In that respect, there is a need to work on reducing the digital divide within the nation in terms of physical infrastructure aiming for universal accessibility to infrastructure and infostructure to provide meaningful and added-value content for the local community. It is important to note that in the case of Egypt, from a cultural perspective, the content issue has two dimensions a) the language itself where translation is an issue because professionals have English as a priority while the community prefers everything in Arabic and b) the language priority in terms of which way to go Arabic or English and translate. Activity B2 – Entice the Development of Cultural eContent The digitization of Egypt's cultural and natural heritage has been proceeding for many years. In the previous phase MCIT gave technical assistance to cultural and natural heritage documentation to CULTNAT www.cultnat.org which became later an independent centre affiliated with Bibliotheca Alexandrina; now operating from its own premises, and working with relevant ministries and authorities to develop and implement projects to preserve manuscripts, archive and index materials, offer worldwide access to cultural and historical materials, and generate and promote interest in Egyptian cultural life and heritage, both as a source of knowledge and pride for citizens and for the edification of the rest of the world. UNESCO supports all paper documentation and the UNDP/MCIT project supports non-paper documentation, primarily web presence and CDs productions. This activity supports eAccess for all citizens in having interesting, high quality; material that is of interest to all Egyptians on the World Wide Web which will encourage new users to keep using the new and emerging ICT. Activity B3 – Support ICT for eEducation and eHealth Egypt Education Initiative (EEI) was launched during the World Economic Forum held in Egypt in May 2006. EEI is built on the model of PPP using ICT and amalgamating the collective efforts and capacities of a number of ministries including MCIT, MoE and MoHE, the World Economic Forum’s IT member community, multinational companies and different donors. The strategic objective of EEI is to improve education while capitalizing on the effective use of ICT. EEI focuses mainly on four tracks including: pre-university education, higher education, lifelong learning and eLearning industry development. MCIT intends to support ICT for eEducation through a) improving the development and delivery of education for citizens through PPP, b) facilitating education reform by devising efficient PPP models that can enhance the creativity of teachers and students through the effective use of ICT, c) developing the capacity of the local ICT industry to adopt innovative learning solutions in partnership with world-class firms, d) upgrading the channels of lifelong learning that foster socioeconomic development through eLearning and delivery centers, e) establishing a virtual learning community that can enhance educational performance, remove limitations and create opportunities for 21st century students to realize their full potential, f) preparing all students in schools and universities to join the digital workforce and g) leveraging the national government commitment and corporate citizenship in


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building a model of educational reform that can be exported. Most recently in November 2006, MCIT signed two protocols of collaboration with MoE and MoHE. The GoE promotes collaborative efforts of health professionals along with the participation of international organizations for creating reliable, timely, high quality and affordable healthcare and health information systems as well as promotes continuous medical training, education, and research using ICT. It is important to facilitate access to the global medical knowledge and locally-relevant content resources for strengthening public health research and prevention programs as well as promote the development of international standards for the exchange of health data. It is important to encourage the adoption of ICT to improve and extend healthcare and health information systems to remote and underserved areas. The Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), aware of ICT potential benefit to healthcare, has established the electronic health (eHealth) program to provide health services to remote areas. Respectively, MCIT is responsible for integrating ICT within key public services such as health, where new technologies can provide critical value-added services. The objective is to improve the delivery of medical services, integrate diagnostic services and link Egypt medical centers with similar centers around the world amongst other issues. Moreover, the MoHP has established a national database for healthcare where information management is handled through insurance information centers; information resources units and MoHP’s website. Additionally, the MoHP has established in cooperation with MCIT the Egyptian Remote Treatment Network using teleconferencing linking seven different sites as well as mobile ambulance vehicles with medical centers via VSAT connections. Finally, the General Organization for Teaching Hospitals and Institutes (GOTHI) has developed a network for connecting all affiliated hospitals and medical institutions allowing all units, centers, hospitals and institutes access to medical, drug and Medline databases through Internet access amongst other services including accessing GOTHI Medical Electronic Library and providing Internet services.

Output C: Innovation Enhanced One of the main directions for MCIT in the coming period is enhancing innovation. The objective is to stimulate the local ICT industry to innovate from one end and to stop the brain drain of Egypt’s smart young ICT professionals from the other end. This will be realized through Research and Development Centers of Excellence (CoE) in the ICT field and the continuous progress of the Technology Development Fund (TDF). The purpose of the CoE is to provide Egyptian researchers with the collaborative environment and support to make breakthrough innovations in the application of ICT in traditional and new industries. Each of the CoE will bring together professionals, private sector initiatives, and educational bodies for the development of ICT. The Technology Development Fund is a PPP established to invest venture capital in Egyptian start-up companies. MCIT chairs the board, leading companies subscribed EGP 50 million to the fund in the first round of invitations to support ambitious ICT start-up projects with a high potential for success. During 2005, the fund capital increased to EGP 150 million. MCIT will continue supporting the establishment of technology development funds. Activity C1: Support the Development of Nile University With the approval of the establishment of the Nile University, detailed plans of work for the formulation of the programs and plans of action will take place in the coming period. Nile University is an initiative presented by a group of private and government leaders who have proposed the establishment of a new hi-tech, not-for-profit and privately managed university offering a distinguished world-class education in science, technology and management. Nile University’s top priority is to speed-up the development, transfer, and adaptation of technology to the public and private sectors, thereby enhancing R&D capabilities of the local industry, and improving their international competitiveness. To realize its targeted objectives, Nile University has set up three centers to support its activities, namely the Center for Research and Development, the Center for Intellectual Property, and the Center for Entrepreneurship and


15

Incubation. These centers are the link between the university and local and regional industries for nurturing intellectual property, filing patents, promoting entrepreneurship, and linking startup companies with venture capital funds. Nile University plans to collaborate with foreign outstanding universities. Activity C2: Increase Research and Development (R&D) Centers of Excellence (CoE) in Different Fields

The establishment of the Research and Development (R&D) Centers of Excellence (CoE), initiated by MCIT is an important step in building an environment where ICT innovation and excellence thrive. It will provide leadership and guidance for transforming the creation and commercialization of ICT to a new level. It will facilitate the introduction of world-class and world-scale ICT research that will raise the standard of ICT R&D in Egypt. CoE will become a magnet to attract leading researchers worldwide to Egypt including many of Egypt's best and brightest researchers who are currently working overseas.

The purpose of CoE is to provide a platform for performing R&D conducted by Egyptian experts in their respective fields of specialization. Such R&D can be performed in favor of local as well as multinational institutions. This activity will also help create start-up companies, specialized in the domains of these centers. Thus, these CoE shall also play the role of a "pre-incubator". The purpose is to materialize MCIT R&D initiative, which is intended to provide a platform for performing world-class research and development in the ICT sector that would leverage the caliber of R&D in Egypt, in accordance with the national strategic goals. These efforts can help Egypt sustain its leadership in the region by recognizing that creativity and innovation are the keys to prosperity and positioning Egypt on the advanced world map early in the information revolution age. R&D CoE will focus on a number of domains including the development of data mining and computer modelling, wireless communication, electronic design, mobile and eServices Activity C3: Support Incubation of Innovative Entrepreneurial Projects Incubators can work as a platform for collaboration with potential clients to improve the level of innovation. Tools are needed to assess how innovatively entrepreneurs are operating so that they can get the support they need to operate as innovatively as possible, also incubation helps create a platform to discuss innovation and share innovative practices. MCIT will support incubation of innovative entrepreneurial projects and ideas for starting up new companies by linking the potential entrepreneurs to venture capital funds, as well as helping them in marketing their new start-up companies. Support could also include counselling, seminars and workshops, provision of resources required to launch a new business including a highly-skilled labour pool, pre-built space and support services for new ventures.

Output D: Legal and Regulatory Enabling Environment Created One of the challenges of the development of the information society is the legal and regulatory framework and enabling environments which had been relatively underdeveloped but which have witnessed over the last few years serious positive steps taking the sector forward. The provision of an enabling environment is crucial in order to mobilize resources and create a climate conducive to the acquisition and dissemination of ICT. Moreover, legislative and regulatory frameworks constitute essential bases for cooperation between the public and private sectors and provide a vehicle for PPP. For example, laws and regulations relating to intellectual property rights (IPR) and the ICT sector have been developed including critical issues such as privacy and security. In that respect, it is important to mention that the GoE is gradually formulating and implementing legislations on IPR and ICT that represents favorable developments in the legal and regulatory frameworks. Such legislations relate to a) national legal and regulatory status on IPR; b) telecommunications


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regulatory framework; c) Internet governance; and d) laws and regulations on consumer privacy and security. It is important to note that the provision of an enabling environment is crucial in order to mobilize resources and create a climate conducive to the acquisition and dissemination of ICT. Moreover, legislative and regulatory frameworks constitute essential bases for cooperation between both the public and the private sector. With respect to the enabling environment, GoE should foster a supportive, transparent, pro-competitive policy, legal and regulatory framework that helps provide the appropriate incentives to investment and community development in the information society. An integral part of this environment relates to the policy issues related to Internet governance and the role of the government and other stakeholders including the private sector and civil society organizations. Other efforts need to be exerted with regard to consumer protection laws as well as laws that relate to documentations and other electronic records of information. Additionally, more attention needs to cater for the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and assist them in leveraging their competitiveness and streamlining their administrative process to help them participate in ICT projects. Finally, the government and other stakeholders should actively promote user education and awareness about online privacy and the means of protecting privacy as well as promote the development and use of open, interoperable, non-discriminatory and demand-driven standards. Activity D1: Build Confidence, Trust and Security in eBusiness The importance, sensitivity and value of digital information in the local and global communities and the need to protect it are increasing with a continuous move towards the information society. Issues related to trust, confidence, security and privacy are becoming crucial in a growing environment characterized with information sharing and acquisition as well as knowledge dissemination both at the individual and organizational levels especially in the digital economy. In that respect, MCIT will continuously work on promoting cooperation among different stakeholders to enhance user confidence, build trust, and protect both data and network integrity; and address information and network security issues that cater for the online environment. MCIT will collaborate with other stakeholders to prevent, detect and respond to cyber-crime and misuse of ICT through the development of guidelines taking into account ongoing efforts in these domains including legislation allowing for effective investigation and prosecution of misuse; strengthening the institutional support at the local level; encouraging education and raising awareness about means of protecting privacy. Moreover, MCIT through its different partners including ITIDA will work on overcoming any obstacles to the effective use of electronic documents and transactions including electronic means of authentication. Additionally, MCIT will work on further strengthening the trust and security framework by mutually reinforcing initiatives in the fields of security in the use of ICT as well as initiatives that relate to rights to privacy, data and consumer protection as well as share best practices in the field of information and network security. It is important to note that confidence and security are among the main pillars of the information society. Activity D2: Set Policies and Provide Technical Expertise for Media Convergence The media plays an important role in promoting the information society and contributing to freedom of expression and plurality of information as it reaches wide audiences and disseminates information. The massive penetration of ICT tools and techniques in different sectors over the last two decades has transformed the platforms for information dissemination and knowledge acquisition around the globe. Hybrid models have emerged to change the traditional methods of delivering knowledge with improved efficiencies and effectiveness as well as concrete implication on the formulation and development of the information society. New and emerging methods are flexible, self-paced, global and highly interactive. With the growing convergence trends and directions in the telecommunications and media sectors, more is expected to evolve in


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ICT deployment that would have direct implications on various channels for information acquisition and knowledge delivery. It will also encourage the traditional media platforms to bridge the knowledge divide and to facilitate the flow of cultural content, particularly in rural and underprivileged areas. It is imperative that there needs to be continuous enticing for the media including print, broadcast and emerging media platforms to continue to play an important role in the information society as well as reduce imbalances affecting the media, particularly with regard to infrastructure, technical resources and the development of human skills, taking full advantage of ICT tools. MCIT, in that respect, will be focusing on setting policies and providing technical expertise for media convergence with issues to focus on including services, access, networks and content.

Output E: Human Resources Training and Development Supported Capacity building is an invaluable building block and represents a key prerequisite in creating the information society. There is no doubt that effective use of ICT is an enabler to create a new environment for learning. Human capital is the most important building block in the ICT infrastructure. It is considered Egypt’s most valuable asset. Regardless of population size, the continuous training and development is a key factor for the sustainable growth of the economy and that of the society. Regular, updated market and industry oriented ICT capacity building represents a critical success factor for the socioeconomic developmental process. Training and capacity development should be an integral element of the ICT infrastructure overall development plan. In that respect, it is important to note that, ICT capacity building is the collective responsibility of the government, international organizations, industries, the private sector and the civil society among other institutions that represent the main stakeholders. It is important to exert all the efforts so that everyone has the necessary skills to benefit fully from the information society. Therefore capacity building and ICT literacy are essential where ICT can contribute to achieving better levels of training penetration through improved conditions for lifelong learning and professional skills. This could be realized through the development of local policies to ensure that ICT are fully integrated in training at all levels, including in curriculum development, teacher training, and institutional administration and management. Electronic readiness and computing literacy is another important factor that needs to be addressed through taking advantage of existing facilities such as libraries, multipurpose community centers and local ICT training centers with the cooperation of all stakeholders and using such facilities to empower the local communities to be able to promote the production of useful and socially meaningful content to benefit the community at large. This output is about building adequate social capacity for the community to understand and communicate in the digital age. The long-term aim of GoE is to achieve computer literacy for all citizens and enable sufficiently high ICT skill levels for Egypt to participate fully and profitably in the global economy. Recognizing that investment in human capital in both education and training can achieve remarkable results, MCIT has major programs to upgrade both professional and community use of IT. Moreover, MCIT is building Egypt's technical skills base by increasing the number of professionals and raising the ICT skills levels to keep up with new and emerging developments in the ICT sector. Additionally, MCIT is laying the groundwork for universal computer literacy, increasing access channels, upgrading content, and facilitating entry-level skills. Activity E1: Conduct ICT Basic Training Using the ICDL Testing Engine A few years ago graduate and undergraduate students contained limited numbers who were computer literates so MCIT introduced fast-track training for fresh graduates. Today, a significant percentage of university entrants have computer skills and in 2 or 3 years it can be expected that all university entrants will have received some exposure to ICT during their school years. More is expected to be done in this domain with an exit strategy so that local training


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institutions could get the ownership and delivery mechanisms for these types of training. The platform for the training is the International Computer Diving License (ICDL) certification. MCIT bought the ICDL license and is planning to certify around 1 million users within a period of five years through the collaboration of MSAD, MoE and MoHE. Activity E2: Support to ICT Professional IT training For professional training, MCIT has established several public-private partnerships to provide a wide range of high quality ICT education and training. The programs are evaluated periodically and adjusted to keep pace with changing developments in the ICT sector. More is expected to be realized in this direction with specific programs that cater for the market needs. Activity E3: Raise ICT Awareness and Outreach Nation-wide capacity building to leverage the human resource capacities will help place Egypt among electronically ready communities in the years to come. However, this requires continuous efforts to reach all citizens. Several MCIT projects address this issue and will continue to be supported during the project period, namely IT clubs and making high quality Arabic content available to all citizens through the web.

Output F: Knowledge Sharing and Internal Management Support Systems Established The successful implementation of the information society requires cooperation among all stakeholders at both an international and regional level. This area strengthens the establishment of multi-stakeholder dialogue and promotes private and public partnership as well as multi-sector partnership. There is no doubt that information and communication technology could have substantial impact on regional cooperation and integration if the right policies, programs and mechanisms are put in place. Therefore regional cooperation and integration efforts should mainstream the information society issues in their programs. Information and communication technology could improve intra-institutional communication among regional cooperation institutions, and promote trade, share best practices, financial cooperation and efficiency in key socioeconomic sectors. Moreover, regional cooperation could foster economies of scale that can result in improving compatible standards and attracting investment. Regional and international cooperation is invaluable for the successful realization of the objectives of the information and communication technology policies and strategies. Within a global environment and with the continuous changes and transformations taking place, there is a growing need that all information and communication strategies are adapted to provide continuity of global integration and at the same time cater for local priorities of national concerns. Activity F1: Increase Access to Information and Knowledge The ICT infrastructure represent tools that enable and facilitate information acquisition and knowledge dissemination as well as empower individuals, organizations and communities aiming to promote public domain information and increase access to information and knowledge by all citizens including disadvantaged, marginalized and underprivileged groups. Therefore, the GoE is encouraged to provide adequate access through various ICT resources such as the Internet to public official information. Moreover, establishing legislation on access to information and the preservation of public data with respect to new and emerging technologies is also encouraged. Examples could include increasing the penetration rate in the establishment of sustainable multi-purpose community public access points that provide affordable or free-of-charge access for their citizens to the various ICT resources. The GoE should actively promote the use of ICT as a fundamental working tool by their citizens and local authorities, which requires supporting the capacity building efforts for local authorities in the widespread use of ICT as a means of improving local governance. In that respect, there needs to be mechanisms within MCIT that can help provide a platform for increased access to information and knowledge and provides consistent channels of information acquisition and knowledge dissemination.


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Activity F2: Conduct Regional Training As part of the mandate of MCIT to share best practices with its counterparts and to provide a platform for the exchange of experiences and the discussion of various issues that affect the ICT industry at both regional and global levels, MCIT will be organizing regional training activities on priority areas that relate to the development of the information society. Activity F3: Enhance Effective Representation and Participation in Regional and International Events One of the mandates of MCIT is to engage regional and international activities to present Egypt's vision of the information society as well as to attract partnerships and expertise to support the implementation of the national ICT plan. MCIT promotes Egypt's best practices in the field of ICT both regionally and internationally to open business channels for Egyptian companies and experts in the global markets. It is expected that more visibility for the role of MCIT in driving the ICT evolution in Egypt in different regional and international meetings will take place in the coming period. Activity F4: Utilize International expertise MCIT will draw on the experience of international experts and consultants in addressing different issues related to its mandate. The short-term assignments of such expertise will represent guidelines and support for local project managers and coordinators to help them carry out their targeted objectives and activities.

Activity F5: Formulate Communication Strategy MCIT will work on formulating a communication strategy to increase the knowledge and understanding of MCIT vision across the community. The strategy will emphasize the framework of cooperation between different stakeholders to delivery to the community of various services. The strategy will aim to render the role and mission of MCIT more visible within the community. The strategy will include the methodology for interfacing between different projects and activities within MCIT as well as between MCIT and other organizations and entities both locally and internationally. The strategy will also outline the communication material and support the publications of MCIT including the annual report and industry promotional materials available both offline and online. Activity F6 – Project Management Unit (PMU) The UNDP project requires a project management unit (PMU). Therefore, full time staff is needed for the following functions; coordinating output activities with project managers; monitoring and evaluation (to advise activity managers on project reporting requirements and follow up on their work and collate into quarterly and annual reports for UNDP). Moreover, the staff is needed for procurement and finance (to carry out these functions in accordance with UNDP regulations); personnel (to prepare terms of reference for short term assistance contracts and job descriptions for monthly contracts, and act as liaison between persons hired by the project and the finance department). Finally, staff is needed to act as communications officer (to update UNDP website and published materials about the project and its activities; to liaise between MCIT staff and UNDP on matters that fall outside the purview of the other PMU staff).

V. Management Arrangements This proposal comprises a series of projects, with many of the main activities having the status of a project within MCIT. This is consistent with UNDP decentralized budgeting approach. Projects and activities are grouped according to outputs and will follow a reporting mechanism that goes according to the outputs sent. The project managers are responsible for the projects and activities of each output and will be reporting to the output coordinators who in turn will be coordinating with the national project coordinator.


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The project will be structured in accordance with the respective rules and regulations of the UNDP funded projects provided in the respective circulars of UNDP. The request for assistance from UNDP stems from recognition of its capacity for institutional capacity building and experience in the ICT field as well as the organization capacity to easily facilitate experience and technology transfer. The project will be nationally executed by MCIT which will be responsible for the timely and proper implementation of the project. MCIT will designate a National Project Coordinator (NPC) from its own staff. The overall supervision and management of day-to-day operations of the project will be ensured by the NPC as representative of MCIT. The NPC will be fully responsible for the coordinated work of MCIT and ensure the intended outputs are fully achieved within their timeframes as well as responsible for updating the project yearly work plan. The NPC will advise and consult UNDP Programme Coordinator/Designated Personnel for the full compliance of the achievements with the expectations of UNDP. The NPC is designated as the focal point and will thus be responsible for the management of the overall project, including all substantive, technical, administrative and financial functions, as well as for experts whose services are utilized for the purposes of the project. The NPC together with the output leaders will coordinate project activities with government agencies, donor organizations, NGOs and other relevant parties. The NPC will be assisted by a project support team including ICT specialists who will provide overall planning, management coordination, administration, logistics, monitoring, and supervision of the project. Moreover, to ensure the prompt implementation of the project, based on the need, staff members will be hired and reporting directly to the NPC. The NPC will coordinate all project-related activities with other government and non-governmental bodies working in the area of ICT for good governance, particularly with those partners involved in MCIT Egypt Information Society Initiative. The overall supervision of the project will be by a steering committee while the day-to-day operations will be the responsibility of the national project coordinator, output coordinators and project managers.

A. Steering Committee A project Steering Committee will be established to take executive management decisions and to provide guidance to the National Project Coordinator, including approval of project revisions and of the project’s annual work plan. The steering committee will provide overall guidance and policy direction to review progress, discuss and amend work plans according to the evolving needs. Project assurance reviews by this group are made at designated decision points during the running of a project, or as necessary when raised by the National Project Coordinator. The group will meet periodically and will be composed of MCIT, UNDP, and MOFA. Meetings will be documented and the minutes of the meeting will be circulated prior to the next meeting where they will be approved during the next meeting or corrected and the agreed minutes will be included in the records of the project activities.

B. Work Plan During the first two months of the project, an overall work plan will be developed for the six year period (referred as Project Operation Plan) as well as a detailed work plan for the first year (referred to as Annual Work plan). Moreover, the detailed terms of references (TORs) including the responsibilities of staff will be developed. To ensure efficient monitoring of the results produced, the project will design and introduce indicators/baseline information system within the first two months.


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C. Personnel and Organization The overall supervision and management of day-to-day operations of the entire project will be the full responsibility of the National Project Coordinator (NPC). Individual outputs in the project will be implemented by Output Coordinators, who will manage a number of project managers under each output. Consultants on short-term assistance contracts and various teams and committees will be recruited according to n eed. The modalities and mechanisms of work between these individuals and teams will be elaborated more by MCIT within the work plan.

D. Management Structure of the Project

Figure 2 – Management Structure of the Project E. Project Assurance: The Project Assurance role will support the project by carrying out objective and independent project oversight and monitoring functions. The role of the Project Assurance ensures appropriate project management milestones are managed and completed. UNDP is responsible for designating a Programme Officer to provide this oversight. F. Implementation Support Service (ISS): ISS costs will be recovered and charged the same budget line as the project input itself, based on the universal price list. The budget includes 5% facilities and Administration to UNDP. G. Execution Arrangements: The UNDP will spend against accounts codes 71600, 71400, and 75500 up to the amount of US$ 10,000

VI. Monitoring and Evaluation The project will be subject to regular monitoring and evaluation in accordance with the policies and procedures established for this purpose by UNDP. It will be audited according to the relevant UNDP Rules and Procedures for auditing. The monitoring and evaluation of the project shall also be subject to the provisions stipulated in the UNDP procedures for national execution. Priority will be given to developing systematic implementation frameworks, which include monitoring, evaluation and reporting. The management of the project will work in close collaboration with

National Project Coordinator

Output C Coordinator

Output D Coordinator

Output E Coordinator

Output B Coordinator

Output A Coordinator

PRO1

PRO2

PRO1

PRO2

PRO1

PRO2

PRO1

PRO2

PRO1

PRO2

PRO1

PRO 2

Output F Coordinator

Steering Committee

Management Project Team (M&E and Unit Manager, Program Officer, and Asst.

Program Officer)

Support Project Team (Senior Accountant, Financial Officer,

Personnel Officer, Procurement Officer, and Secretary)


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UNDP to ensure the timely and successful project delivery of the proposed outcomes and impact. The mechanisms will include - but not limited to - the following aspects:

A. Monitoring Plans: Results-Based project monitoring by the National Project Coordinator and UNDP will be conducted through the preparation of a Communication and Monitoring (C & M) plan during the project’s initiation process. The Communication Plan should articulate the types of communication and associated scheduling required during the project, as well as methods of communication with stakeholders. More information on the content of this plan is to be provided by UNDP. The monitoring plan will describe how the project’s outcome, outputs and activities will be monitored, how and by whom. Monitoring tools will include a Project Operation Plan (POP), a detailed Annual Work plan (AWP) for each year of the project’s duration, Quarterly Progress Reports, and an Annual Progress Report (APRs) assessing the performance of the project in contributing to the intended outcome through identified outputs and partnership agreements. The Project Manager is responsible for the timely submission of the mentioned documents to UNDP and the Steering Committee. The format for these documents will be provided by UNDP. Monitoring will be assisted by a UNDP Programme Officer and the Results-Based Management (RBM) Unit.

B. Annual Coordination Meetings MCIT in cooperation with UNDP will organize coordination meetings once every year which will allow for presentation of project progress achieved and review the following steps. These meetings will bring together the MCIT, UNDP and any other relevant partners, stakeholders and associating organizations, as appropriate. Other sources of information for monitoring are minutes of the Steering Committee meetings as well as any project reviews and presentations. The project will be subject to joint review by the representatives of MCIT and UNDP as well as to external independent evaluation to be conducted periodically during the project lifetime. The NPC shall prepare and submit to the review meeting an annual project report to be prepared two weeks prior to the date of the review. The project final report will be prepared for consideration at the joint review meeting. UNDP may conduct external Project or Outcome reviews/evaluations during or following the lifetime of the project by external consultants. A final project review will be conducted during the fourth quarter of the last year of the project as basis for assessing performance, contribution to related outcomes, and determining lessons for broader application. This review will involve all key project stakeholders and the Implementing Partner, and focus on the extent to which progress is being made towards outputs, and that these remain aligned to appropriate outcomes. Project lessons learned should be actively captured to ensure ongoing learning and adaptation within the organization. A Project Final Report in the form of a case study should be prepared at the end of the project to foster the learning process. The strategy for monitoring and evaluation should serve as a tool to facilitate the regular self-assessment of performance and outcomes by all concerned partners and related stakeholders as well as serve as a mechanism to make visible the implications of the project on the society at large.

VII. Legal Context The project document shall be the instrument referred to as such in Article 1 of the Standards Basic Agreement between the Government of Egypt and the United Nations Development Programme signed by both parties on 19 January 1987. The host country implementing agency shall for the purpose of the Standard Basic Assistance Agreement refer to the government


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cooperating agency described in that agreement. The following types of revisions may be made to this project document with the signature of the UNDP Resident Representative only provided he is assured that the other signatories of the project document have no obligations to the proposed changes:

a) Revisions in or additions of any of the annexes of the project documents and b) Revisions which do not involve significant changes to the immediate objectives, outputs or

activities of the project, but are caused by re-arrangement of inputs already agreed to or by cost increases due to inflation; and

c) Should there be a mandatory annual revision required which would re-phase the delivery of agreed project inputs, or reflect increased expert or other costs due to inflation, or take into account agency expenditure flexibility.


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Section B – Project Results and Resources Framework Intended Outputs Output Targets Indicative Activities Responsible Parties

Output A Universal access

policies and strategies

developed and upgraded

• National bandwidth is increased with a view to improve and upgrade the broadband access

• The penetration rates for ICT to underprivileged communities with no or limited access is improved

• Telecommunication policies are gradually enhanced to better serve the community

• Local postal market is operating efficiently

• Upgrade and develop eAccess policies

• Strengthen telecom policy unit

• Establish postal policy unit

NTRA ITIDA MCIT

MCIT/NPO

Output B ICT applications

supported

• The infrastructure needed for the digital Arab content (DAC) industry is established and the learning standards and quality norms are formulated

• The digital Arab content related to local historical and cultural heritage is increased

• ICT applications and services serving the education sector such as eLearning are disseminated across the community

• The development of eLearning policies are promoted • ICT applications serving the health sector are

developed and made available to the underprivileged communities

• Health awareness is enhanced using emerging ICT applications and services

• ICT infrastructure to support the electronic government applications is deployed

• Electronic government applications are increased and diversified

• Increase Arabic eContent • Entice the development of

cultural eContent • Support ICT for eHealth and

eEducation

CULTNAT MCIT MoE

MoHE MoHP

UNESCO

Output C Innovation enhanced

• Research and development and promoting indigenous ICT innovations are revitalized in Egypt and the region

• The software industry is developed and transformed and Egypt is promoted as a center of excellence in the region in ICT

• The incubation of innovative entrepreneurial projects is supported

• Formulating and leveraging the capacities of a productive workforce for the industry is realized

• Support the development of Nile University

• Increase R&D CoE in different fields

• Support Incubation of Innovative Entrepreneurial projects

MCIT Nile University

Research Centers Universities

Private Sector

Output D Legal and regulatory enabling

environment created

• A conducive environment for building the information society is developed

• Laws and policies to help promote and build the ICT sector are established and adequate security procedures are built

• Investment in the ICT sector is promoted • eBusiness and eCommerce services are enabled and

intellectual property rights are promoted • The media is harnessed to support and promote the

development of the information society

• Build confidence, trust and security in eBusiness

• Set policies and provide technical expertise for media convergence

ITIDA MCIT NTRA

Output E Human resources

training and development

supported

• Students are provided with adequate skills required to actively participate in the information society

• Partnership between the private sector and universities is fostered

• ICT vocational training is developed and marked-required programs are aligned

• ICT awareness is raised and services are extended to the community both in urban and rural areas

• Conduct ICT basic training using the ICDL testing engine

• Develop professional training

• Raise ICT awareness and outreach

ITI IT Companies

IT Training Providers MCIT

Output F Knowledge sharing and

internal management

support systems established

• A multi-stakeholder dialogue with regional and international organizations is established

• Collaboration with other countries is promoted • Private and public partnership (PPP) or multi-sector

partnership (MSP) is promoted • The importance of accessing information and building

knowledge is emphasized • Access to information and knowledge is increased • International expertise is used • Communication strategy is formulated

• Increase access to information and knowledge

• Conduct Regional Training • Enhance effective

representation and participation in regional and international conferences

• Utilize International Expertise

• Formulate communication strategy

MCIT/PMU MoFA MoIC

Table 4 – Project Results and Resources Framework


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Section C – Total Work Plan and Budget The total budget of the Project EGY 00045558 for the period 2007-2012 has been calculated to be 18 million US dollars. This has been allocated as demonstrated in table 5.

Output Activities Total US$

Output A: Universal access policies and

strategies developed and upgraded

Activity A1: Upgrade and develop eAccess policies 858,600

Activity A2: Strengthen telecom policy unit 413,400

Activity A3: Establish postal policy unit 333,900

Subtotal A 1,605,900

Output B: ICT applications supported

Activity B1: Increase Arabic eContent 1,180,840

Activity B2: Entice the development of cultural eContent 341,320

Activity B3: Support ICT for eHealth and eEducation 1,462,800

Subtotal B 2,984,960

Output C: Innovation enhanced

Activity C1: Support the development of Nile University 318,000

Activity C2: Increase R&D CoE in different fields 2,067,000

Activity C3: Support Incubation of Innovative Entrepreneurial projects 1,208,400

Subtotal C 3,593,400

Output D: Legal and regulatory enabling environment created

Activity D1: Build confidence, trust and security in eBusiness 487,600

Activity D2: Set policies and provide technical expertise for media convergence 769,560

Subtotal D 1,257,160

Output E: Human resources training and

development supported

Activity E1: Conduct ICT basic training using the ICDL testing engine 1,019,720

Activity E2: Develop professional training 922,200

Activity E3: Raise ICT awareness and outreach 254,400

Subtotal E 2,196,320

Output F: Knowledge sharing and

management support systems established

Activity F1: Increase access to information and knowledge 2,285,360

Activity F2: Conducting Regional Training 169,600

Activity F3: Enhance effective representation and participation in regional and international conferences 1,261,400

Activity F4: Utilize International Expertise 519,400

Activity F5: Formulate communication strategy 159,000

Activity F6: Support project management unit 2,167,500

Subtotal F 6,562,260

Total 18,200,000

Table 5 - Project EGY 00045558 Budget


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VIII. Appendix

Appendix A: List of Abbreviations and Acronyms Acronym Title

APR Annual Project Report ASP Application Service Providers CoE Center of Excellence CULTNAT Center for Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage ECA Economic Commission for Africa EEI Egypt Education Initiative EISI Egypt Information Society Initiative ESCWA United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia FDI Foreign Direct Investment GoE Government of Egypt GOTHI General Organization for Teaching Hospitals and Institutes GDP Gross Domestic Product HDR Human Development Report ICT Information and Communication Technology ICDL International Computer Driving License ICT4D Information and Communication Technology for Development IDSC Information and Decision Support Center IPR Intellectual Property Rights ISP Internet Service Providers ITIDA Information Technology Industry Development Agency ITU International Telecommunication Union MCIT Ministry of Communications and Information Technology MDG Millennium Development Goals MoE Ministry of Education MOFA Ministry of Foreign Affairs MoHE Ministry of Higher Education MoHP Ministry of Health and Population MoIC Ministry of International Cooperation MSP Multi-Sector Partnership NGO Non-Governmental Organization NPC National Project Coordinator NTI National Telecommunication Institute NTRA National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority PMU Project Management Unit PPP Public Private Partnership PPU Postal Policy Unit RBM Results-based Management SME Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise TBI Technology Business Indicators TDF Technology Development Fund TE Telecom Egypt TOR Terms of Reference TPU Telecommunications Policy Unit TRIPS Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights UN United Nations UNCCA United Nations Common Country Assessment UNDAF United Nations Development Assistance Framework UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNECA United Nations Economic Commission for Africa UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNRISD United Nations Research Institute for Social Development VSAT Very Small Aperture Terminal WIPO World Intellectual Property Organization WSIS World Summit on the Information Society WWW World Wide Web


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Appendix B: List of Table and Figures

Table Number Table Title 1 Effect of ICT Use on Enterprise Performance in Developing Countries 2 Population, GDP, Telephone and Internet Access in the Developing World 1980-2005 3 Egypt Information Society Initiative 4 Project Results and Resources Framework 5 Project Budget 6 Egypt’s Vision of the Information Society 7 World Summit of the Information Society Objectives

Figure Number Figure Title 1 Projects Strategic Output and Activities Framework 2 Management Structure of the Project


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Appendix C: Policies and Strategies Egypt is the leading country in North Africa in the use of ICT. The Cabinet of Egypt Information Decision Support Center (IDSC) established in 1985 was instrumental in establishing the basic infrastructure for government electronic services as far back as 1990. Egypt was one of the countries that recognized the need for highly skilled human resources development as early as 1992 and launched its National Information Highway program to support and energize its socioeconomic development in 1994. More importantly, the establishment of MCIT in 1999 provided further thrust towards the development of broad-based information society plans and programs. Among the vital programs that were launched by MCIT was the national plan for ICT development based on studies conducted by international consulting houses and business consortiums affiliated with the ICT sector. The plan set out a series of policies and strategies that drove the development process of the ICT sector since and that can help realize the information society. Policies and strategies are key elements for the promotion of ICT for development. The process of adopting proper policies and formulating strategies is essential for mobilizing all stakeholders from a cross-section of both public and private sectors and disseminating the opportunities created by the information society. The development of policies and strategies have as a focal point and a targeted objective the realization of benefits and the identification of opportunities that stem from the proper introduction and deployment of ICT. The responsibility for formulating strategies and policies aimed at establishing information and knowledge society’s lies primarily with the government however, this can only be done through close collaboration with the private sector and civil society organizations reflecting a variety of models of PPP and aiming to realize a sustainable formula through engaging the private sector in concrete projects. Example of the strategic actions that could be taken with respect to policies and strategies include conducting awareness campaigns and organizing workshops to present policy targets, recommendations and descriptive communication material, ensuring that best practices are exchanged both locally and internationally among the ICT community and conducting national electronic assessments The formulation of policies and strategies should be addressing a variety of issues with an emphasis on reducing poverty and unemployment, eradicating illiteracy, supporting social development and education and improving health care services. Finally, it is important to note that the criteria for measuring ICT policies and strategies includes a number of elements such as a) formulation of national information society policies and strategies; b) sectoral plans for building the information society; and c) realization of the WSIS objectives. A. Formulation of National Information Society Policies and Strategies With regards to the formulation of national information society policies and strategies, Egypt has developed since the inception of MCIT in 1999 detailed ICT strategies with specific, detailed, scheduled and phased implementation plans that are gradually gaining pace and momentum and it is the plan of MCIT to continue in that direction21. These policies and strategies resulted in the implementation of a number of projects including; establishing free zones and ICT parks; providing private sector incentives in software development and export; creating an enabling policy environment for the ICT industry; formulating community and human resource development programs; increasing the number of public access centers and reducing the cost of ICT services. Policies and strategies are crucial in the role ICT can play in the society which include: a) developing the society; (b) hastening progress in terms of raising productivity, creativity and the quality of products and services; (c) acquiring information and disseminating knowledge; and (d) supporting transparency and limiting bureaucracy and red tape.

21 National Profile for the Information Society in Egypt, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for

Western Asia (ESCWA), 2005


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In that respect, the GoE is showing its commitment in building an information society in Egypt that is capable of offering individual, businesses and communities the opportunity to harness the benefits of the new information era within the confines of national priorities and issues and to establish a citizen-driven info-centric structure through designing an array of complementary electronic services (eServices). As indicated earlier, the national plan for ICT incorporated EISI to develop Egypt information society until the year 2020. EISI was formulated in 2001 and was revised in 2003, which reflects its continuous adaptation to market changes and local needs. The strategy and vision of the information society was detailed in phase II of WSIS in the MCIT document labeled “Building Digital Bridges: Egypt's vision of the information society”. Table 4 includes the seven basic elements of the vision22. B. Sectoral Plans for Building the Information Society Sectoral strategies and implementation plans include development projects and programs as well as the associated measures taken by the private and public sectors towards establishing ICT research facilities, industrial clusters and incubators. Egypt has an ICT infrastructure with existing and planned new outlets for research facilities, industrial clusters and incubators.

1. Digitization of telecommunication networks for fixed and mobile telephony 2. eGovernment services to citizens and investors in their locations through the Internet 3. eBusiness services to transform the community in Egypt into an information society in line with

international developments; 4. eLearning applications aimed at spreading knowledge and information using the Internet 5. Developing health services using information technology to raise the efficiency of presenting

therapeutic services and telemedicine especially in remote areas 6. eDocumentation of civilization and nature through building integrated information systems to

make local and international presentation of Egyptian civilization 7. Developing technology related industries through raising the quality level of Egyptian companies

and raising their international ability for competitionTable 5 – Egypt’s Vision of the Information Society

C. Realization of the WSIS Objectives WSIS objectives could be described as to include building an inclusive information society, putting the potential of knowledge and ICT at the service of development, promoting the use of information and knowledge for the achievement of internationally agreed development goals, including MDGs, and addressing new challenges of the information society at national, regional and international levels. Table 5 demonstrates a number of WSIS indicative targets that serves as references for improving connectivity and access to ICT and that work as guidelines for MCIT in formulating its policies, strategies as well as outputs and related objectives.

1. Connecting villages with ICT and establish community access points 2. Connecting universities, colleges, secondary schools and primary schools with ICT 3. Connecting scientific and research centers with ICT 4. Connecting public libraries, cultural centers, museums, and post offices with ICT 5. Connecting health centers and hospitals with ICT 6. Connecting local and central government departments and establish relevant websites and email

addresses 7. Adapting primary and secondary school curricula to meet the challenges of the information society,

taking into account national circumstances 8. Ensuring that people across the community have access to media channels such as television and

radio services 9. Encouraging the development and posting of local on the Internet 10. Ensuring the gradual increase in penetration rates with respect to access to ICT

Table 6 – World Summit of the Information Society Objectives

22 Building Digital Bridges – Egypt’s Vision of the Information Society, MCIT 2005


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Appendix D: ICT Infrastructure Development The ICT infrastructure is vital to reduce the digital divide by providing sustainable and affordable connectivity and access to all, in particular remote and marginalized areas. In addition to providing and improving ICT connectivity for all schools, universities, health institutions, libraries, post offices, community centers, museums amongst other institutions accessible to the community. Examples of building blocks in the ICT infrastructure include; a) telephone services; b) Internet connectivity; c) Internet service providers (ISPs) and application service providers (ASPs); and d) personal computer penetration. A. Telephone Services The government aims to modernize regularly the ICT infrastructure by gradually liberalizing the sector, deploying PPP and empowering all stakeholders. Currently, apart from GSM operators owned by the private sector and international companies, the bulk of the telecommunication infrastructure in Egypt is owned and operated by the state monopoly, Telecom Egypt (TE). A.1 Fixed Line Services Although the GoE is liberalizing the telecommunication services sector, fixed line services are still operated and monopolized by TE. However, this monopoly has not proved a major hindering factor for the spread of the service as indicated by TE the sole fixed lines provider www.telecomegypt.com.eg. This is clearly realized through the increase in the number of lines from 7 million in 1999 to 13.1 million fixed lines in August 200623. A.2 Mobile services Since the inception of mobile telephony in Egypt in 1996, there has been a growing boom in the sector with regard to the various services offered. Two main operators have been active in the sector mainly Mobinil since 1997 and Vodafone Egypt since 1998. A third mobile operator license was granted in the third quarter of 2006 to a consortium led by Etisalat of the United Arab Emirates coupled with a number of other Egyptian organizations including the NPO and should start operation in 2007. The current number of mobile phone users is around 15.3 million24. B. Internet Connectivity There is a steady increase in the Internet bandwidth, which witnessed an increase from 850 Mbps in 2003 to reach 5,063 Mbps in August 2006. With regard to Internet users, in August 2006 the number reached 5.4 million25 and the number is expected to reach 6 million by the end of 2006. A further example of this trend can be seen in the growth of registered domains under the national country. C. ISPs and ASPs Internet services have enabled the growth of the information society. The number of ISPs has been changing over the last decade due to the transformation in the marketplace and based on the changes in the dynamics of the environment reaching more than 250 companies in August 200626. D. PC Penetration PC penetration rate is difficult to determine owing to technical and statistical factors, including, the components upgrade factor coupled with irregularities in local computer assembly. Assemblers usually recycle such hardware components as drivers, monitors and cases. Moreover, the grey market, which refers to the sale of original products through non-licensed channels, hinders the assessment with regard to the number of processors, motherboards and other basic

23 www.mcit.gov.eg (October, 2006) 24 www.mcit.gov.eg (October, 2006) 25 www.citegypt.com (October, 2006) 26 www.citegypt.com (October, 2006)


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components used in each country. It is important to note that with a growing personal computer penetration at a projected average rate of 77% per year enticed by the free Internet initiative and the PC for every home initiative, the number of personal computers reached 1.5 million in August 2006 representing 2.7 PC per 100 inhabitants.

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