“Our Innovations bring technology closer to the masses in the region”

By Dr. Tarek Elabbady, Director of Cairo Microsoft Innovation Center

This CMIC newsletter edition targets expats from Egypt and neighboring countries who currently live in Europe and North America. As an expat myself who recently moved back to Egypt after 20 years of living in the USA, I will gladly share my recent experience and the evolution of my perceptions throughout the past year with you.

Like many expats, I left Egypt for what I thought would be a temporary educational experience in the US, after which I would head back to work and enjoy the family and social life that I grew up with.

Suddenly, 20 years later, and I was still living in the US. It was also not just” I” anymore, it was “we”; a family with kids who were constantly growing and had become substantial factors in our life decisions! Add to that a long, successful and competitive career which drove me faster and faster each day with little or no work- life balance. Although, deep inside, it still felt like I had left Egypt yesterday and that my intention to return had always been strong, I eventually realized that my romanticized decision to return was now further away due to my family‘s deepening roots in the US. At that point in time, I knew that the odds of my return to the region were closer to none.

Additional assurance to my realization came as I explored career opportunities back in the region. I faced what many technical expats face; namely the lack of technical career opportunities and the general decline in the quality and depth of research and innovation in the region. This left me with typical sales, marketing and services opportunities; which were all major career compromises. In short, living the rest of my life in the US was now my destiny!

To my surprise, maybe ten years later, a sign of hope and a glimpse of light were presented to me during the visit of Dr. Tarek Kamel, the Egyptian Minister of Communication and Information Technology, to Microsoft headquarters in the summer of 2005. I saw a different image of the Egyptian government. I saw a group of realistic, highly educated optimists presenting Egypt’s vision for IT and its pivotal role in Egypt’s economic and social growth. Among the visitors were Stanford and MIT graduates, who were promoting well articulated goals and who communicated clear asks to the Microsoft Execs. Wow, that was a significantly different image from the older impression I had of Egyptian governments; old governments that were typically run by ex- military and police officers, who usually misrepresented the issues and delivered slogans that were far from reality. That time was different; it left me with a hint of optimism. It was, for me, a turning point that revived the idea of return in my mind. I sensed the positive momentum, and general desire for change. An informal invitation for change that I wanted to accept…!

At that point, I started working on a proposal that led to establishing the Cairo Microsoft Innovation Center (CMIC); the Microsoft's only R&D center in the Middle East and Africa (MEA), reporting directly to the Microsoft research and incubations organization. After a few rounds of evaluating the proposal, during which I received lots of help from the Microsoft MEA headquarters and the Microsoft subsidiary in Egypt, we reached the conclusion that applied research and incubation are the kind of R&D activities that local software ecosystems really miss. As part of creating and refining the proposal, a study of the local environment was undertaken which revealed some significant facts:

• Local expertise and local companies were anxious to innovate, to pursue their own ideas, and were consistently asking for entrepreneurship training.
• People were skeptical of the future of IT if the current technology-dominated ministry was to change.
• Despite the significant investment in IT infrastructure in the region, the masses have not yet realized the value of these investments.

Collectively, we realized that the true service CMIC could deliver to local software communities is in developing a model for attracting and grooming specialized core competencies. The model intelligently mixes expats with local independent talents to produce innovative concepts supported by deep technical knowledge. Generally, the CMIC model balances between research activities generating Intellectual property for Microsoft and incubation practices to demonstrate and verify the economic measures of the new concepts. Today, one year later, the CMIC model has delivered enough success stories to impress Microsoft’s management; a fact that quickly resulted in an approved plan to increase both CMIC’s budget and team size.

Career wise, I don't regret my decision to return. It has given me a chance to be closer to problem spaces (an inspiration for innovations), Microsoft customers and Microsoft field organizations. I visited many countries in the region (e.g. Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, and Turkey), and we established the first regional research collaboration in Saudi Arabia. I generally sensed how important IT is to the countries' economic and social growth and the sincere desire to invest soundly in the future of IT.

CMIC’s charter also put me in touch with the local talent pool which welcomed us as a focus of optimism for the region’s research community. Key drivers for CMIC’s success are the level of empowerment we receive from Microsoft management and the direct impact of our researchers and projects on the masses in local communities.

Personally, like any major move, it has not been easy. Adapting to the recent changes in social practices and standards in Egypt was challenging and is still hard, but things eventually settled with time and we are now enjoying the weather, tourist attractions and trying to move our attention away from problem areas. Cairo traffic is a sizable challenge worth mentioning on its own. On the positive side, the CMIC’s location in the Egypt Smart Village is impressive and the IT infrastructure is world class. The warmth of family and the small circle of friends serve as effective energy bars. One thing I know for sure is that kids adapt much faster than their parents and enjoy true cultural development that eventually will enrich their personalities. Local CMIC packages and salaries are superior relative to Egyptian standards; cost of living in Egypt is still significantly lower than US and many neighboring countries despite the climbing prices. Hence, our buying power is relatively better than in the US.

Now it is your chance to explore and participate in this real technology research momentum. At CMIC, we have employment opportunities for researchers and we are looking for those who have the desire to lead global research in their fields and the drive to see their ideas developed into real products and services. Come be part of one of the largest corporate research and incubation networks and enjoy top research resources. In addition, CMIC will be hosting (i.e. sponsoring) visiting professors from North America and Western Europe to collaborate with local researchers for varied periods of time. During their stay, the visiting scholars will participate in focused research, contribute to scientific publications and lecture at local universities. Details of the CMIC 2008 grants can be found in a separate section of this newsletter.

As members of CMIC extended network, please do not hesitate to contact me in person for more sharing of experiences and ideas, and I hope to meet you all in the near future!

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