IT to Play a Central Role in Egypt's Future

IT to Play a Central Role in Egypt's Future

ITIDA's Role to be Expanded to Include Regulation of e-Voting by Egyptian Expatriates

CAIRO, March 14, 2011/PRNewswire/ --     The central role information technology will play in Egypt's
economic and political future was confirmed today by Dr Magued Osman, the
newly appointed Minister for Communications and Information Technology. Dr
Osman confirmed continued strong government support for the country's broad
IT strategy for investment and job creation led by the Information Technology
Industry Development Agency (ITIDA). The Minister also announced that he has
commissioned ITIDA to fully research the feasibility of allowing Egyptians
inside Egypt and expatriates around the world to vote electronically in the
historic forthcoming presidential election in the country.

    Commenting on his announcement, Dr Osman said: "As recent
events have shown, the people of Egypt are very sophisticated when it comes
to using and developing different forms of technology. We will continue on
our path of using these capabilities to grow our economy, building on our
successes to date. Politically, our aim is to empower all Egyptians -
wherever they are - to participate in a fully transparent and fair voting
process for the country at this crucial point in our history. ITIDA has been
asked to start a dialogue with all the parties concerned, to extend the
needed technical support and to use the e-signature process to allow
Egyptians to vote electronically for the first time using state of the art
systems."

    Egypt is one of the fastest growing outsourcing destinations
worldwide and is well known for its very significant talent base in areas
such as software development and R&D. Many major multinationals such as IBM,
Oracle and Teleperformance have established a significant presence in Egypt
over the last few years and have pledged to continue to support the country
as it plans for a new political future.

    CEO of ITIDA, Yasser El Kady said: "The IT industry remains a
central pillar of the Egyptian economy. It is excellent news to have the
continued strong support of the Minister and the wider Egyptian government.
We remain firmly committed to supporting all of our investors and the
excellent base of local IT companies, as we have been doing throughout the
last few years. It is also an honor for us at ITIDA to extend all the
technical help needed in setting up and managing such an important part of
the democratic process. We are looking forward to leading such a significant
project."

    About ITIDA:

    The Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA)
is a governmental entity affiliated to Egypt's Ministry of Communications and
Information Technology. It is responsible for growing and developing Egypt's
position as a leading global outsourcing location by attracting foreign
direct investment to the industry and maximizing the exports of IT services
and applications.

    Located in the heart of the modern business environment at
Smart Village, the six hundred acre business park on the outskirts of Cairo,
ITIDA is a self-sustainable entity that drives the IT industry in Egypt and
raises awareness among the Egyptian people of the benefits and use of ICT to
advance socio-economic welfare of the whole community.

   
    Contact details:

    Ahmed Reda
    Media & Communication Manager
    Information Technology Industry Development Agency
    T: +202-534-51-85
    E: areda@itida.gov.eg

Source: ITIDA

Contact details: Ahmed Reda, Media & Communication Manager, Information Technology Industry Development Agency, T: +202-534-51-85, E: areda@itida.gov.eg