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Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Dr. Tarek Kamel Heads Egypt's Delegation to the World Summit on the Information Society- Tunis 2005
Cairo, November 13, 2005
Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Dr. Tarek Kamel, leaves for Tunis heading the Egyptian delegation to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) to be held November 16-18, 2005.
"Government, Private Sector and Civil Society Cooperation for the Creation of an Information Society" is the motto raised by the delegation, which includes the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Information, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), the Ministry of State for Administrative Development, the National Council for Women and Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
A number of ministerial affiliates will also be present including the Ministry of Information's National Information Authority; MCIT's National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA), Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), and National Postal Authority (NPA). Additionally, development agencies such as the Technology Development Fund (TDF); organizations such as the Arab Forum on Business Technology and Communications and the Communications Organization are also represented. Furthermore, along with 15 non-governmental and civil society organizations. More than 30 businessmen are participating in the summit, representing the Egyptian information technology (IT) industry.
Dr. Tarek Kamel pronounced Egypt's Information Society (IS) complete, supported by several MCIT initiatives launched in cooperation with its partners in the industry and civil society such as the e-learning, e-content, and TDF projects. As head of the delegation, Dr. Kamel revealed that Egypt will present its success stories to the WSIS showing their contribution to the creation of an Egyptian Information Society, such as NTRA's role in projects pertaining to the comprehensive services fund.
The Smart Schools Network project increases the use of information technology (IT) in education by qualifying and training teachers and students to use the latest technologies, which leads to an increase in knowledge and research, culminating in innovation and invention. Applied to 38 schools in 16 provinces so far, the project's success has led to a second stage which is currently underway, leading towards an Information Society. Furthermore, e-government projects between MCIT, NPA and the Ministry of State for Administrative Development, aiming to improve services demonstrates Egypt's information society projects which will be presented at the WSIS.
Dr. Kamel added that Egypt is among the first nations to participate in the preparatory stages of WSIS and its participation has been unique from the start, focusing on the summit as an ongoing issue rather than a one-time event. Egypt's delegation to the first phase of the summit held in Geneva was headed by President Hosni Mubarak, putting force behind its participation, which is hoped to be carried on to the second phase.
During the summit, Dr. Kamel will hold bilateral meetings with his Tunisian, French, and Ghanaian counterparts, as well as with Malaysia's Minister of Science Technology and Creativity and Minister of Energy, Water and Communications. Other meetings are planned with delegation leaders of the European Union and the ITU, in addition to international communications and IT company managers from Alcatel, Intel, and Microsoft. This is in addition to signing memorandums of understanding with Ghana and Azerbaijan on communication sector development.
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