Egypt’s Sisi reviews Digilians Initiative ahead of Sept. launch
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met Wednesday with ICT Minister Amr Talaat and Military Academy Director Ashraf Salem Zahir to review progress on the Digilians Initiative, set to launch next September.
The meeting covered progress on creating a dedicated registration platform and ongoing efforts to complete the technological and engineering preparations required to launch the initiative on schedule.
Digilians Initiative
Minister Talaat stated that the programme is open to young men and women from all academic and professional backgrounds and all Egyptian governorates. Participants will be selected based on objective criteria. The initiative will offer a range of educational tracks — including intensive diplomas, specialised diplomas, professional master’s and academic master’s degrees — free of charge. This includes accommodation, subsistence and training.
Curricula will cover a comprehensive set of technical, personal, language, life, and leadership skills, as well as freelance work competencies.
President Sisi was briefed on the initiative’s pathways, beginning with developing students’ technical skills. Arrangements are underway with numerous international and local companies operating in Egypt to host participants for hands-on training following theoretical studies. The training will emphasise developing tech-based project ideas, contributing to Egypt’s digital transformation projects, and supporting all trainees in launching freelance careers and securing applied projects online.
Sisi stressed the importance of completing all executive measures in time and exploring ways to expand the number of beneficiaries. He said this would help create a qualitative leap in the number and quality of skilled professionals in communications and IT.
He also directed coordination with both domestic and international institutions specialised in various technological sciences to strengthen Egyptian youth’s linguistic, life, and leadership skills, aligning with the state’s strategy for digital capacity building. The President further instructed that digital transformation plans continue and that the country’s technological infrastructure be developed further.
Attribution: Amwal Al Ghad English
Subediting: M. S. Salama
Subediting: Y.Yasser
AfDB 2023