7 - Targeted Strategic Initiatives
Table 7.2: Arabic Digital Content Initiative – Primary Programs
Output
Activities
Analysis of similar strategies
Arabic digital content strategy on
the national and regional levels
Executive plan
Documentation of Arab
Heritage Program
Determination of the efforts to be made by various
ministries in the documentation of Egyptian/Arab
heritage
Determination of the priorities of various authorities
in heritage documentation
Determination of priorities with regard to promoting
access to digital heritage materials
Setting a time plan for implementation of the program
Implementation of projects by concerned parties
Egyptian heritage preservation
manual
Executive plan of the heritage
documentation program
Preparation of materials to be
digitized
Provision of digitized content
Production and Provision of
Government Content Program
Setting the criteria to be used in the selection of data
to be made available by the government
Identification of digitized and accessible government
data that can be published on the internet
Determination of ministries’ priorities in the
digitization and publishing of data
Formulation of plans for each ministry to digitize and
publish data on the internet in the period 2012-2017
Implementation of digitization projects in each
ministry
Guide to digitized government
data, indicating what is availed
Individual ministry plans, indicating
which data is to be digitized and
which will be availed
Publication of digitized content
Capacity Building for National
Companies Program
Implementation of an integrated training program
in interactive content development, in cooperation
with specialized local and international authorities
Establishment of a competence center for innovation
in Arabic digital content to be used by companies
for training on modern technologies
No. of companies to receive
training
Competence center for innovation
in Arabic digital content
Creativity and Innovation
in Arabic Digital Content
Program
Implementation of a group of initiatives to
encourage SMEs to produce Arabic digital content
Establishment of an incubator program for start-ups
in the field of Arabic digital content
Implementation of projects promoting and
supporting the production of advanced digital
content
Cooperation between the Technology Innovation
and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC) and regional and
international centers working in the field of digital
content
No. of projects and initiatives
implemented
No. of digital content incubators
Participation of national companies
in specialized conferences and
exhibitions
Promoting the establishment of specialized portals
dependent on user-generated content by NGOs and
research institutions
Promoting the establishment of social networks that
contribute to the creation of specialized content
Enhancement of the social development portals
established by the Egyptian Program for IT
Development to ensure their sustainability and
expand the sectors they cover
No. of websites
No. of social networks
No. of pages and articles generated
by users
Promotion of scientific research in Arabic in the field
of Arabic digital content technologies to cover areas
including search engines, deep processing, linguistic
and grammatical revision, word processing, machine
translation and indexing systems
No. of research papers
No. of research projects
Table 7.2: Arabic Digital Content Initiative – Primary Programs
Formulation of the Executive
Plan of the Arabic Digital
Content Initiative
Community Enrichment
of Arabic Digital Content
Program
66
67
Programs
Establishment of the National Committee for the
Preservation and Documentation of Heritage by
concerned ministries
Formulation of a detailed strategy for Arabic digital
content
Determination of the responsibilities of government
and the private sector in implementing the strategy
Drafting of the executive plan of the strategy
Research and Development
in Arabic Digital Content
Program
7.3 Educational Reform Initiative based on ICTs, Cloud Computing and the Tablet Computer
Development of Egypt’s education system is
a national priority given the importance of
education to development and progress in all
fields. MCIT in cooperation with the Ministry
of Education, the Ministry of Higher Education,
the Ministry of Scientific Research and other
stakeholders has adopted various strategies
and initiatives over the years supporting
education development. Through publicprivate partnerships, MCIT has succeeded
in integrating ICTs in the education system,
developing the capabilities of teaching staff
and students, and expanding the role of
educational institutions in their communities.
Looking forward, cloud-computing technologies
offer great potential in the field of education.
As teaching materials and resources are stored
on central databases, they are accessible
anywhere, at any time, via the internet. This
reduces costs for educational institutions as
they can access content on a pay-per-use
basis rather than having to purchase various
software packages and licenses and maintain
equipment with sufficient processing power
and memory to store and use them. As this
system can be accessed anywhere with an
internet connection, the space occupied by
static computer labs can be developed for other
uses. Cloud computing also supports the work
of scientists and researchers, and promotes
economic growth by reducing education
expenditure and promoting local production of
digital education materials, cloud computing
software and tablet computers.
The primary objectives of the Initiative are:
Strengthening the national commitment to
building a model of educational reform that
can be replicated in other Arab and African
countries
Promoting research and development and
supporting scientific research in the field of
ICT for education
Establishing a culture of e-learning among
public and private educational institutions
and developing e-courses for use in state
education
Developing regulations and mechanisms
covering the production and use of e-learning
materials by educational institutions, and
determining standards for the evaluation of
such materials
B o o s t i n g t h e i n t e r n e t e c o n o m y and
creating new job opportunities
Providing Egyptian producers of digital content
and applications with new opportunities to
reach large numbers of learners at low cost
Raising the contribution of the electronics
industry in the GDP
Developing the technology skills of university
teaching staff and students
Developing the skills of engineers and
technicians for work in the electronics industry
(Tablet Computer) to support national growth
Establishing a plan for sustainable
environmental protection and management
of natural resources, energy and e-waste.