Eight Egyptian start-ups to showcase innovative solutions and smart applications
‘Egypt’s IT sector has seen remarkable development in the quality of services, with the country even being named as Outsourcing destination of the year,’ says ITIDA CEO
October 13, 2016 – The Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) will sponsor for the 11th consecutive time the upcoming participation of 29 Egyptian companies at the 36th GITEX Technology Week, the latest edition of one of the world’s biggest information and communications technology (ICT) events. GITEX will take place from October 16 to 20, 2016 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
ITIDA said the Egyptian firms will occupy two pavilions, one of which will measure over 408 square meters and will be located at Sheikh Saeed Hall (S1- A1) where pavilions of key GCC governments will be located. The other one will be situated in a section for start-ups at Zabeel Hall, which is expected to host companies from more than 60 countries. The latter will feature activities and competitions in areas of innovation and entrepreneurship – a first for the event – and will include government pavilions from various countries such as India.
Asmaa Hosni, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), ITIDA, confirmed that Egypt’s IT sector witnessed a remarkable development and significant shift in the outsourcing landscape moving from low-value to high-value services. This is particularly in the packages offered and the proven capabilities of the Egyptian service providers—placing stronger focus on multilingual call centers services to highly specialized services and added value offerings such as mobile applications, cloud services, product development, and research & development in order to achieve higher rates of growth and maintain a competitive level.
She also referred to Egypt’s prominent position in the global IT map especially in the areas of outsourcing services, which has been recently reflected in many influencers’ reports. She further cited Egypt’s recent global award for Best Outsourcing Destination of the Year 2016 from the Global Outsourcing Association (GSA) European Awards, an award annually organized by the association to choose the most prominent sites in this area.
The participating Egyptian firms will be divided into three categories, namely platinum, gold and silver. All of them are assured of a dedicated platform to showcase their respective products and services; special opportunities to meet and greet potential clients; and strategic technical, promotional and logistical support.
The newly established company Silicon Waha is one of the strategic partners for the Egyptian pavilion at the exhibition this year. The company is working with all its stakeholders including the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, ITIDA and the Egyptian New Urban Communities Authority, to implement the national project of spreading Science and Technology Parks across 2nd tier cities aiming at providing a competitive and attractive environment for innovators, entrepreneurs, local businesses, regional and international investors.
Sico Electronics, which is a leader in the field of electronic devices specializing in manufacturing smartphones, tablets and accessories across its global offices in 26 countries, is also exhibiting as the second strategic partner to Egypt On pavilion.
Cequens, a primary provider of messaging services via mobile phones and specializes in developing systems of sending and receiving text messages via cloud-based messaging platform, is the Platinum Partner of the Egyptian participation, while Microtech, which specializes in enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions through cloud computing, is the Gold Partner.
One of GITEX’s focused areas this year is start-ups, and as such relevant global initiatives are expected to be launched during the event. More than 400 companies and entrepreneurs from over 60 countries, in addition to 200 investors and experts in the fields of creativity and entrepreneurship, are projected to attend the exhibition. Eight Egyptian start-ups will take part in the event to present their innovative solutions and technological applications.
They comprise Business Sense, a developer of software solutions for finance, project management, and customer relationship management; Fifth Dimension, which operates in the field of virtual reality and simulated reality; SpimeSenseLabs, a leading provider of Internet of Things applications for global telecoms and banking institutions; IntCore, a provider of graphics designs, digital marketing, web solutions, mobile applications and hosting domains and servers; Nuzul, specializes in IT for real estate; and Webfeel, a developer of content applications through research engine. The latter uses artificial intelligence techniques developed to analyze data on the internet and measure their impact on social media.
Rounding up the list of participating Egyptian start-up are Three Point, specializes in website design; and Abu Erdan, specializes in data analysis, cloud computing solutions, and dedicated services for the agricultural sector and poultry farm management. Abu Erdan is one of three winners of the ‘World Innovation Summit Awards’ held at the Silicon Valley in the United States. Further, it is also one of the top 10 companies listed on Google engine for creativity, as well as one of the top companies in the World Bank’s water competition thanks to its cloud computing application designed for a wide range of poultry production process, from hatchery to marketing and distribution to end-consumer sale.
ITIDA helps to expand IT businesses by offering a unique access to numerous markets through sponsoring and participating in the local, regional and international tradeshows. ITIDA’s ambition is to build and champion a world-class IT industry that will play an increasingly important role in Egypt’s economic growth. ITIDA’s work is characterized by long-term commitment and substantial ongoing investment to ensure fundamental sustainable improvements. During GITEX 2015, Egyptian ICT companies sealed key deals worth 30 million Egyptian pounds.