5 - General and Targeted Strategic Policies
Table 5.1: Work Programs to Develop ICT Sector Strategies and Policies
Main Program
Executive Programs
Aims
Following up on the latest developments in general and
targeted policies on the regional and international levels
Ensuring Egypt’s effective participation in decision making
forums and work groups concerned with policy, standards
Table 5.1: Work Programs to Develop ICT Sector Strategies and Policies
and recommendations in the ICT field on the regional and
ICT and Postal Sector
international levels
Policy Development
Program
Developing existing ICT and postal sector policies and
practices at the national level through analysis of relevant
international experience
Monitoring developments in the ICT environment to
ensure ICT general policy and national strategy conform
to the needs of the sector. And to deploy these policies
Policy, Research and
and introduce them to all levels locally
Strategic Planning
Determining areas for ICT research and studies, in
Development
cooperation with concerned entities, particularly techno-
Program
social research and comparative studies indicating political
Analytical Studies and
Research Program
and social trends and their relation to ICT. The output will
be of use to decision makers and provide reliable material
on Egypt and its ICT sector for international studies. It will
also facilitate monitoring of the progress of the sector in
the field of sustainable development
Determining and analyzing ICT sector challenges
Determining future strategic goals for the ICT sector in
Strategic Planning
cooperation with concerned departments
Program
Establishing a mechanism to monitor and evaluate the
work program and preparing periodic progress reports
Drafting relevant sub-strategies
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The National ICT Strategy for 2012-2017 was
formulated with special attention to the
following considerations:
Drafting policies with the greatest flexibility
to respond to the increasing demand for
communications services through continuous
development of ICT infrastructure. This can be
facilitated by market studies determining the
priority needs of consumers and the business
sector and at the same time be aware of the
challenges faced by the consuming sectors
for this kind of service
Drafting the most comprehensive policies
possible, enabling Egypt to excel in using ICTs
for development. This can be achieved by
providing ICT infrastructure in marginalized
areas, encouraging inter-company use of
ICTs, increasing ICT access for Arabic speakers,
and providing support for SMEs, which can
play an important role in ICT service exports
and the production of Arabic digital content
Drafting policies that have quantifiable
objectives and whose progress is easy to
monitor
MCIT will review the policies of the strategy
and make modifications as and when required,
in accordance with government policies and
priorities, in response to relevant developments
in the ICT field.
The policies contained in the strategy are
divided into two types, as follows:
General Policies:
These policies apply to all projects and programs
for the ICT sector due to their importance both
to Egypt and the international community. They
relate to issues that have a clear and direct
impact on the success and effectiveness of ICT
sector activities. These policies cover:
Digital identity management
Green ICT
Empowerment of people with disabilities
Access to information
Mobile applications for development
Targeted Policies:
These policies apply to a limited number of
programs in certain fields. They relate to areas
of particular importance at the current time
that will also help boost future development of
the ICT sector. These policies cover:
Arabic digital content
Cloud computing
e-Commerce
Manufacturing of tablet computers
Open-source software