The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat has honored the students who won in the first edition of DECI-Geeks competition, which was launched by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) last October, as part of Digital Egypt Cubs Initiative (DECI).
The initiative aims to develop school students’ skills in IT fields and applications to keep up with the advancements in technology and future requirements.
Participants of DECI Level 2, who joined the competition, developed innovative ideas and technological solutions to real-world problems in education, health, environment, and transportation, by applying what they learnt during DECI first semester. As for DECI Level 3 competition, the students coded on a global platform to solve a number of problems as quickly and accurately as possible.
Winners of the competition included seven teams represented by 27 students. About 211 teams (a total of 844 students) applied for the Level 2 competition, with four teams (a total of 16 students) winning. For the Level 3 competition, 13 teams (a total of 42 students) applied, and three teams (a total of 11 students) won.
The ICT Minister stated that DECI aims to qualify young people to build Digital Egypt. Participants have their skills honed and they gain technical, soft, and language skills, and practical experience. They are qualified for the ICT job marketplace, landing decent job opportunities, working as freelancers, or starting their own business.
Talaat revealed that DECI receives a huge number of applications, and for that the number of accepted students increased from 3,000 to 8,000. The initiative now includes a beginner-level program for students joining for the first time.
DECI participants who are secondary school students have the opportunity to complete the five-year initiative program after starting their university education, Talaat highlighted. He added that Digital Egypt Kids Initiative will soon be launched, targeting younger school students, starting from Primary 4.
The ICT Minister thanked the students’ parents for putting their trust in DECI since its inception. He also thanked the partner companies in the initiative for their efforts in developing the students’ skills, supporting MCIT capacity building initiatives, and employing modern technology to achieve competitive development.
Talaat had an open discussion with DECI participants about the advancements in the global ICT industry, the future of technology jobs, and MCIT digital upskilling initiatives. He listened to the students’ opinions about the initiative and their career aspirations. Talaat encouraged the students to exert more effort and work hard to achieve self-improvement and personal growth.
Moreover, the ICT Minister commended the innovative projects and promising technological solutions that the winners created after acquiring skills and knowledge through DECI.
For her part, Advisor to the ICT Minister for Technological Talents Hoda Baraka said that DECI first batch has been receiving training since October 24 and until May 2023, in addition to a one-month summer training. DECI now has 7,090 students enrolled in the essential program, and 3,641 in the beginner-level, divided into three levels and distributed all over the country.
It is worth noting that DECI is implemented in collaboration with several success partners, including Dell Technologies, Huawei, Microsoft, and YAT Learning Centers. The partners co-organized the competition by holding preparatory workshops, preparing global platforms, assessing projects, and presenting in-kind prizes and certificates.
DECI is a fully-funded scholarship offered by MCIT to top-performing students aged 12-17, from different Egyptian schools. The training lasts from one to five years based on the age group and education level of participants. Applicants to DECI must meet the requirements and admission criteria for each academic year.
For information on DECI, kindly visit the initiative website, call 15388, or check DECI Facebook page.
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