<h1>Egypt sends emissary on high-tech mission</h1><p class="byline"><a href="http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/29/nile-fishing-for-it-hub/">http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/29/nile-fishing-for-it-hub/</a></p>
<p class="byline">By <a class="bylinelink" href="http://washingtontimes.com/staff/mark-kellner/">Mark A. Kellner</a>
| Monday, June 29, 2009
</p><p>
Tarek Kamel struggles with the tech interests of his two children. Son
Omar, 14, "lives in a virtual world," eschewing newspapers and
traditional TV. Daughter Hebba, 10, is begging him to allow her on
Facebook, but Mr. Kamel says it's too early for her.
</p><p>
Not only that, "Our entire family privacy would be compromised," he said.
</p><p>But unlike most parents, Mr. Kamel must make it his business to
follow tech developments very closely. He's Egypt's minister of
communications and information technology, and last week he was in
Washington and New York to boost the nation's profile as an information
technology, or IT, hub.
</p><p>He met with Internet officials in the Obama administration,
with veteran Internet pioneer Vinton G. Cerf, and last Tuesday signed a
deal with Google, Mr. Cerf's current employer, to expand Arab-language
content.
</p><p>"For the first time, it utilizes Google to promote Egyptian
industries and export in a very structured way," Mr. Kamel said in an
interview with The Washington Times at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in
Washington. "And [Google will] use part of the resources to establish
new online advertising and promotion in Arabic."
</p><p>Via e-mail, Joanne Kuba, Google's Dubai-based public affairs
and communications manager, confirmed the contract signing, "between
Google and the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology in
Egypt for an investment in advertising programs that brand Egypt
online."
</p><p>"The barrier now with computers and PCs is the lack of Arabic
content online on the net, and this is one of the areas we need to
invest in the future, and we are inviting investors to come in and make
our national heritage and cultural heritage online and make it
available not only to the neighboring countries in the Arab world, but
to the 350 million Arabic-speaking population worldwide, whether in the
U.S. or in Europe," Mr. Kemal said.
</p><p>Asked whether the Egyptian government, which has had issues
with the hard-line Muslim Brotherhood, would be concerned about that
group accessing the Internet, Mr. Kamel said that while not
specifically mentioning the group, "our policy line has been always
trying to keep the Internet open, trying to keep it as a platform
really for development, socioeconomic development, open as much as we
can."
</p><p>He viewed recent events in Iran, which has sought to shut down
Twitter and Facebook feeds used by protesters over the disputed June 12
elections, as something he urges other nations to avoid: "We are
witnessing what's happening in Iran, but at the end of the day I don't
know if these are just some occasional actions or actions that would
definitely be long-standing," Mr. Kamel said.
</p><p>"We try, on a regional level within the councils that we are a
member [of], whether it is the African Council of Ministers ICT or the
Arab Council of Ministers or ICT, to deliver the message to keep the
Internet as open as we can, and as much as we can," he added.
</p><p>Mr. Kamel, who has spoken at the World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland, and hosted the CEOs of IBM Corp. and Microsoft Corp. in
Cairo, is also pushing Egypt's high-tech communication infrastructure
as an IT gateway to the region. Of course, other nations in the area,
including Jordan, are doing the same, but Mr. Kamel said there's enough
business for all parties.
</p><p>"The business is so large that it absorbs competition," he
said. "It allows several players to come in. This is the message we
always send to our friends in India or here or there: Let's work
together. We see even Indian companies investing in Egypt in the last
couple of years because the business is growing."
</p><p>As far as Egypt is concerned, one industry analyst sees strong
demand for IT products and services in all sectors. Jyoti Lalchandani,
vice president and regional managing director for International Data
Corp.'s offices, also based in Dubai, said via e-mail that his firm
"has documented strong (domestic) demand for IT products and services
in Egypt; growing more than 15 percent over the past 3-4 years."
</p><p>"Much of this growth has stemmed from strong investments made
by the government administration, banking/financial services, and
[telephone company] sectors, coupled with vibrant growth on the
consumer side (PCs/laptops, peripherals). Total IT spending in 2008
totaled nearly [U.S.] $1.9 billion, up from $1.7 billion in 2007."
</p><p>Mr. Lalchandani also wrote that "the Egyptian government has
developed the offshoring and outsourcing industry; reforms and tax
rebates [have] boosted Egypt's ranking as a favorable global
outsourcing destination. Egypt offers a cost-effective, multilingual
work force with high numbers of engineering graduates. This
characteristic of the Egyptian market has compelled multinational
vendors to consider it as viable option for near-shore and offshore
centers to cater to Middle East and European customers."
</p><p>Mr. Kamel said the Egyptian work force is an attraction because
IT firms "realize that we have Arabic-speaking human resources with a
multilingual background — that has other differential advantages in
terms of geographical location, in terms of growth in the local market
and growing local market demand, [and] in terms of excellent
infrastructure that connects us with the rest of the world."
</p><p>He added: "We have 250,000 university graduates each year. If
we provide 10 percent of them with the right [IT] skills, we will be
doing the right thing for the country." Along with seeking the world's
IT business, Egypt is taking a role in terms of Internet governance,
covering the structure of the World Wide Web.
</p><p>Egypt will host the Internet Governance Forum this November,
Mr. Kemal said, and he hopes to investigate "what role can the
international societies and communities and constituencies play in
Internet governance issues."
</p><p>At the same time, Mr. Kemal said, Egypt is determined to keep
the Internet an open communication system. "I think our approach was
always not regulation, [but it] was always deregulation as much as we
can, and this is what we have proven in the last 10 years in the
evolution of the Internet in Egypt. We have involved the private sector
heavily, and a strong partnership with a civil society."
</p>