An “Our Digital Opportunity” initiative has been launched to help small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) overcome the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Amr Talaat, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, has announced.
Talaat said work on the initiative had already begun before the global pandemic took hold. He added that his ministry has been interacting with civil society organisations and major international companies to ensure their cooperation in the initiative’s implementation.
Talaat said the initiative will assign at least 10% of Egypt’s digital projects to SMEs, creating a practical framework for achieving partnerships with small and emerging companies.
Talaat also emphasised that the ministry’s initiative will also have a package of projects directly contracted with emerging companies.
This comes in addition to a training programme in data science and artificial intelligence, with a group of SMEs able to compete for a training opportunity at the ministry’s expense. The winner will then join the projects implemented by the ministry.
Talaat added that implementation will occur through a digital opportunity platform launched by the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA).
It will include all proposed projects, the scope of implementation and the required mandates, provided that the company submits their financial and technical offers to the main operators. The results of the competition will be announced via the platform.
The initiative’s first phase will include 33 projects with a budget of EGP 900m.