Dr. Ayman Ashour, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, opened today, Sunday, the activities of the 26th session of the International Technology Forum and Exhibition for the Middle East and Africa for the year 2022 (Cairo ICT 2022), which is organized under the title (Leading Change), during the period from November 27 to November 30, 2022, in the presence of Dr. Ali Al-Moselhy, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade.
At the beginning of his speech, Dr. Ayman Ashour welcomed the experts and specialists, and representatives of major national, regional and international companies active in various fields of technology in the activities of this forum and exhibition, praising the participation of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research for the first time as a guest of honor in the current session of this specialized annual event in information and communication technology, explaining that the ministry deals with a segment consisting of about 3 and a half million Egyptian and foreign students, who represent the main component of the national higher education and scientific research system, in addition to tens of millions of citizens who receive the ministry’s services, whether knowledge, cultural, educational and training or health and social, as well as the advisory services it provides to its societal surroundings.
The minister added that interest in technology in general, and information and communication technology in particular, is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Higher Education since the implementation of the national strategy for the development of higher education in 2000, noting that this axis is one of 25 projects implemented during the last period.
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Dr. Ayman Ashour, explained with the launch of the national strategy for the development of higher education in 2015, began directing the ministry`s efforts to support and develop information systems and technology in parallel with the country`s march in the field of digital transformation, pointing out that the ministry is working in the field of digital transformation through 3 tracks: (the first) The path of educational institutions: which consists of 27 public universities, in addition to Al-Azhar University and the Sadat Academy for Administrative Sciences, 27 private universities, 20 community universities, 10 technological universities, 8 technological colleges, and 6 branches of foreign universities, and (the second) university hospitals: which reach 143 hospitals serving more than 20 million citizens, and (third) scientific research: through 11 research centers, institutes and bodies, affiliated to the Supreme Council of Research Centers.
The minister stressed that these figures reflect the enormity of the national system of higher education and scientific research, and give many indications regarding the development of the field of information and communication technology, noting that they also reveal the importance of the ministry`s participation in the current session of the (Cairo ICT) forum and exhibition; To achieve a number of goals, namely: presenting the applied and industrial outputs and achievements of institutions of higher education and scientific research to the community of workers in the field of information and communication technology and investors, and holding consensual sessions between companies and factories on the one hand and public, private and community universities, institutes and research centers on the other hand; To provide job opportunities for graduates, in addition to creating a competitive movement between developers and students from universities through various competitions and awards, in addition to holding a number of specialized seminars, and implementing a number of events for university students and developers among them.
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Dr. Ashour added that the Ministry participates in many axes in the activities of the forum and exhibition, namely: (the first) presenting the policies, vision and achievements of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and (the second) the participation of universities in the Youth Hall, and (the third) dialogue sessions on specialized topics, And (fourth) competitions, through a number of competitions up to (7 competitions) in the field of innovation, startups, electronic games for programmers and students, cybersecurity, as well as faculty members and holders of master’s and doctoral dissertations for applied outputs in the field of information and communication technology, pointing out that (the fifth axis) is innovation and entrepreneurship, and includes two tracks: organizing a number of bilateral meetings between investors and owners of applied outputs, as well as participation Business incubators that wish to participate in dialogue with young entrepreneurs and startups.
Dr. Hisham Farouk, Assistant Minister for Digital Transformation explained that the Ministry`s participation in the conference and exhibition comes within the framework of supporting the digital transformation plan in the entities affiliated with the Ministry, and coordinating and unifying efforts to implement digital transformation in public and technological universities and technical institutes, under the supervision of the Digital Transformation Units and Higher Education Development Projects, adding that the Ministry is keen to participate in these events to contribute to providing Distinguished digital government services in the field of higher education, and support for comprehensive digital transformation, in implementation of Egypt`s Vision 2030.
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On the sidelines of the forum activities, Dr. Ayman Ashour visited the exhibition, which includes the pavilion of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the pavilion of the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, the pavilion of the Innovators and Talents Fund, and the pavilion of the Egyptian universities participating in the exhibition.
The minister also inspected the youth area and the pavilion of the companies participating in the exhibition, praising the size of the achievements and innovations participating in the exhibition, as well as the exhibiting companies, accompanied by the presidents of Helwan, Assiut, Beni Suef Technological Universities, and October Technological Universities, Assistant Minister for Digital Transformation, and Executive Director of the Innovators and Geniuses Fund.