The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat has participated in G20 Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting (DEMM), hosted by India.
Ministers of the digital economy from the G20 countries, nine invited countries, and several international organizations attended the DEMM. The meeting included three sessions, during which visions were presented and experiences were exchanged on digital infrastructure, cybersecurity, and digital skills.
In his speech at the “Digital Skills” session, the ICT Minister highlighted that Egypt is developing competencies and building digital skills, within the framework of its integrated Digital Egypt strategy. He commended the efforts made within the framework of the G20 Toolkit for measuring digital skills and digital literacy to provide a qualified talent pool keeping pace with future requirements worldwide.
Talaat indicated that the capacity-building strategy implemented by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) has adopted a set of tools and plans, including initiatives for youth and future generations and initiatives for providing content services and establishing specialized laboratories nationwide.
Talaat explained that the Egyptian experience in digital capacity-building is compatible with the G20 Toolkit for measuring digital skills, including providing initiatives to build university students’ digital skills, digital skills initiatives for postgraduates, online skills development, initiatives to meet strategic plans such as the electronics industry and cybersecurity, and initiatives to develop freelancing skills.
Talaat pointed out that digital capacity-building initiatives are being implemented in cooperation with the academia and the private sector. He added that a comprehensive model is being adopted to ensure that opportunities for acquiring digital skills are available to everyone, thus enabling them to build the digital economy. Talaat also looked forward to enhancing cooperation and exchanging experiences to achieve the common interest.
In a related context, the ICT Minister explained, during his participation in the “Digital Infrastructure” session, that developing the digital and information infrastructure supporting digital transformation is one of the pillars of Digital Egypt strategy. He reviewed the national efforts to provide a secure and reliable digital infrastructure to achieve digital transformation in the public sector as Egypt joined the GovStack initiative. Furthermore, the government innovation lab initiative has been launched to create an enabling environment for qualifying startups and enabling them to provide innovative technological solutions in government services.
The ICT Minister emphasized that government participatory platforms have been developed, such as the digital protection platform and identity verification platform. He hailded the G20 document which emphasized the importance of promoting open standards, open-source software, and open application programming interfaces (APIs) to enable different digital public infrastructures to communicate, with its offshoring interoperability. This is in addition to the importance of enabling data free flow with trust, while respecting applicable legal frameworks.
Talaat welcomed the opportunity to share Egyptian experiences concerning the Global Digital Public Infrastructure Repository (GDPIR) and to enhance cooperation between India’s G20 presidency and Arab and African countries to transfer relevant knowledge and share experiences and practices.
In his speech at the “Cybersecurity in the Digital Economy” session, the ICT Minister underscored that the National Cybersecurity Strategy 2022-2026 is in line with the G20 principles for a secure, reliable, and resilient digital economy. He noted that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between Egypt and India in the field of cybersecurity. He added that the MoU covers many areas of cooperation, including capacity-building, cybersecurity standards and systems, research and development (R&D), public-private partnerships (PPPs), and cybersecurity awareness.
The ICT Minister declared that the MoU came as part of the cooperation in various areas, including e-government, e-public services, e-learning, IT development, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), innovation and entrepreneurship, capacity building, electronics designing and manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), big data, and High-Performance Computing (HPC).
On the sidelines of the G20 DEMM, Talaat met with the Saudi Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah bin Amer Alswaha to discuss fostering cooperation between Egypt and Saudi Arabia in the communications infrastructure and submarine cables.
In a similar vein, Talaat held a meeting with the Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications of the UAE and the Managing Director of the World Government Summit Organization Omar Sultan Al Olama. They discussed fostering cooperation between the two countries in data governance, and the implementation of applied research projects to adapt AI in developing applications that provide innovative solutions to address challenges in vital areas, as well as AI uses in training and capacity building.
It is worth noting that the Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG) aims to provide a guiding vision for policymakers to achieve digital transformation and boost economic growth.
The G20 is the premier forum for international economic cooperation. It plays an important role in shaping and strengthening global architecture and governance on all major international economic issues. India holds the Presidency of the G20 from December 1, 2022, to November 30, 2023.
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