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Published: May 2004
As part of its national campaign to adopt IT (information technology) in all government agencies and education, the Egyptian government partnered with Microsoft to provide the latest technology and technical support to its citizens.
Bill Gates, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft Corp., pledged to support to all Egyptian national projects in order to bridge the digital divide.
“We don’t consider Microsoft as a vendor, but as a partner in the future development of the Egyptian economy and community,” said Dr. Ahmed Nazif, Egyptian Minister of Communication and IT.
In 1999, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced a national campaign to adopt information technology for the development of Egypt’s economy and society. Embracing IT will improve the quality of life of Egyptian citizens, help build a strong economy and bridge the digital divide, he said.
The national campaign was initiated because government employees were unable to cope with the avalanche of requests they received each day from citizens, who bitterly complained of long, tiring waits and time wasted away from work. A faster, more efficient service system was needed to support both civil servants and citizens, and to put an end to the long lines and delays that encumbered requests for documents and services.
Education is a cornerstone in any national campaign. As such, President Mubarak has provided unwavering support for the campaign’s use of IT to develop and improve the education process.
The Ministry of Higher Education focused on specialized education in the field of information technology to provide the country with the skilled labor it needed to fulfill the national plan. In addition, the ministry provided the latest technology to students and teachers at affordable prices to expand IT use and fight computer illiteracy.
The Ministry of Education, which was quick to adopt IT, had a more challenging target. The ministry manages 36,332 schools with over 15 million students, representing 21% of the Egyptian population. The ministry’s staff encompasses 799,000 teachers and 300,000 officials and administrative personnel. To fulfill the national plan, the ministry took assertive steps to adopt technology in training students, teachers and administrators. It sought to modernize education and capitalize on young talent to create a new generation of developers.
The Ministry of Communication and IT played a pivotal role in implementing the national plan and also in achieving its own goal of creating a robust IT industry in Egypt. To accomplish this, the ministry provided skills training, quality control and job opportunities for companies and individuals.
Microsoft, considering itself as a partner of the Egyptian Government, pledged its support and know-how to help implement the national plan. The Government signed several agreements with Microsoft to provide the latest technologies to the government and education sectors. In accordance with these agreements, Microsoft provided support in the implementation of Egypt’s e-government project and in overhauling its education system.
Microsoft has also engaged several governmental and non-governmental institutes to provide training and support for companies and individuals. The goal is to create a strong IT industry in Egypt and to support local independent software vendors and developers.
Solution
The e-government project was conceived out of the desire to provide most or all government documents and services to Egyptian citizens without requiring them to leave their homes or villages and travel long distances. In addition, Egyptian expatriates, foreign investors and potential visitors seeking information or services can easily receive them abroad. The e-government solution is able to adapt legacy systems, utilize existing solutions and embrace future technologies and devices such as mobile phones, PDAs, IVR, kiosks and TVs. At the same time, it presents Egyptian citizens everywhere with an easy-to-use interface to a broad range of government services.
The project’s Gateway Model connects all systems in a unified manner, reducing effort and complexity. The gateway acts as a central conduit through which all requests are sent regardless of their intended recipient. It performs the necessary authentication and routing functions, and guarantees that requests reach their destination. All web sites and service providers are interconnected through their single connection to the gateway.
Many government services are already available, such as telephone service, traffic, taxation and more.
The ministries of Education and Higher Education signed agreements with Microsoft to acquire the latest desktop technologies for all Egyptian schools and universities. The Ministry of Education and Microsoft also signed a memorandum of understanding for the Partner in Learning (PIL) program to provide and support various innovative projects such as the Smart and Productive Schools Project that develop and enhance the education process in Egypt. As part of this agreement, the ministry and Microsoft launched several new initiatives and projects to improve the speed and quality of education services. The new initiatives include the establishment of the Middle East Schools Technology Innovation Center, IT Academies and the Junior Developer Project.
The Middle East Schools Technology Innovation Center trains a group of teachers each year to use and adapt the latest in information technology. The center also identifies new technology solutions that address school needs and maximize the return on technology investments. It is creating a Middle East community of educators and policy makers where best practice is developed, shared and replicated.
Microsoft has launched various training programs in cooperation with Ministry of Communication and IT and various governmental and non-governmental agencies. The Microsoft Partner Academy, which was established to provide sales, marketing and technical training for all IT companies in Egypt, is just one example. The training offered is the same as that which all Microsoft employees receive. Furthermore, Microsoft provides opportunities through its own projects and its partners for Egyptian companies to gain experience in the global market.
Microsoft also established the Microsoft Developer Middle East and the Africa Support Center to offer technical support to developers and software vendors alike.
Finally, Microsoft partnered with the Ministry of Communication and IT and the Ministry of Education to provide the latest desktop technologies to students at nominal prices.
By utilizing the state-of-the-art technologies of Microsoft, Egyptian youth are gaining the skills and experience they need to compete and excel in the global market.
Benefits
Cut through red tape:
A study by Suez Canal University shows that, on average, people have to visit a
government agency 3.5 times to obtain a service. Furthermore, the majority of
services-- for example, establishing a company-- involve visits to several
different agencies, burdening citizens with extra costs, efforts and
bureaucracy.
The new e-government solution created a focal point for citizens to obtain
services quickly and effortlessly. Whether in urban Cairo or a remote village,
the citizen can access governmental information and services. It spares them
the tedious routine of taking time off work, traveling to Cairo, visiting
dozens of different offices and standing in line after line just to acquire a
single document. Citizens are able to live confident that whatever service or
document they need is easily obtained through the Web at any time, even on
their day off.
Increase productivity:
There is no doubt that automating government departments reduces crowds and
paperwork at government offices, thereby increasing productivity. But that’s
not all. Imagine how many hours or even days people take off work each year to
pay phone bills or monthly electricity bills, or to renew a driving license or
passport. Multiply all those hours by the total workforce and it becomes clear
that at least three million working hours are saved annually, resulting in a
substantial increase in overall productivity.
Cost savings:
The e-government project is expected to reduce the average number of visits
required for citizens to obtain a government service to 1.5, from 3.5. This
will result in annual direct cost savings of LE24 million, reduce annual
purchase costs by 3% (LE60 million) and slash 900,000 in wasted work hours,
saving an additional LE9 million each year. It will also expand Egypt’s telecom
and IT infrastructure and enhance environment protection by improving traffic
flow.
Empower employees:
The e-government project is about improving the productivity of government
employees by automating internal processes and deploying productivity tools as
widely as possible in government agencies and in all universities and schools.
Accessibility to the latest technologies:
Microsoft provides Egyptian government agencies, universities, schools and
youth with access to the latest technologies to bridge the digital divide. By
employing new technology tools, Egyptians are becoming better equipped to face
future challenges and to unlock their potential.
Reducing unemployment:
Various Microsoft-sponsored training programs are helping young Egyptians
secure highly paid jobs or launch their own projects.
For example, Microsoft and the Future Generation Foundation, a non-governmental
organization, launched a grant program that offers Microsoft certification to
talented university graduates. To date, over 500 students have been certified.
Given that each job in the software industry creates nine jobs in related
sectors, the project will significantly help in reducing unemployment and in
enriching the lives of its participants.
Improve school efficiencies:
Through the use of innovative technology solutions, Microsoft has helped
improve the internal efficiencies of Egyptian schools, thus reducing costs and
improving the quality of the education process.
Building an Egyptian software industry:
Microsoft partnered with the Egyptian government in several programs to support
the creation of a strong Information Technology industry.
The most important goal of Microsoft’s Junior Developer Project is to plant the
seed for a future community of Egyptian developers of the highest caliber. The
project provides young students with comprehensive education during the
academic year and summer vacation to produce developers with internationally
recognized skills.
The Microsoft .NET University Program, in partnership with the Supreme Council
of Universities and the Ministry of Higher Education, aims to provide
specialized training, development tools and technical support for university
students and their graduation projects. The program has been running for three
years with over 1,000 trained graduates.
Online education:
The new technology tools from Microsoft will give students and citizens in
remote areas of Egypt access to higher and more specialized education.
Additionally, they will allow them to interact with colleges in various parts
of Egypt and the world by utilizing the power of the Internet. Teachers can
enhance their personal skills by using Microsoft technology, which allows them
to stay in contact with their peers around the world and attend educational
seminars via video conferencing.
Reducing piracy rate to 52 percent:
Agreements between the Egyptian government and Microsoft to provide government
agencies, universities and schools with original Microsoft desktop products
resulted in the reduction of Egypt’s piracy rate to 52 percent, from 75
percent.
The agreements emphasize the Egyptian government’s commitment to protecting
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and to acting as a great example for the
Egyptian private sector and to the rest of the Middle East.
Related case studies
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| Fast Facts
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 Customer Profile
The Ministry of Communication and IT is the government entity who is in charge of the development of IT in Egypt and of modernizing all government services.
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 Business Situation
The Egyptian government was seeking to provide all its citizens with government documents and services remotely to cut down the time and effort they had to endure. The solution had to be able to adapt legacy systems, utilize existing solutions and embrace future technologies and devices At the same time, it must present Egyptian citizens everywhere an easy-to-use interface to a broad range of government services.
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Solution
A single gateway that connects all systems in a unified manner, reducing effort and complexity. The gateway acts as a central conduit through which all requests are sent regardless of their intended recipient. It performs the necessary authentication and routing functions, and guarantees that requests reach their destination. All web sites and service providers are interconnected through their single connection to the gateway.
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Benefits
- Cut through Red tape
- Increase productivity,
- Empower employees
- Cost Savings
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Software and Services
BIZ talk, Windows 2000 Server, SQL Server, ISA
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Scenario
BIZ talk, Windows 2000 Server, SQL Serve
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Partner
- Link.NET
- OMS
- Raya Software
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“Government Now delivers is a slogan we are striving to make it happen to paint a different image about government services”
Dr. Ahmed M. Darwish
e-Government Program Director
Ministry of Communications and Information Technology
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