Sisi reviews plan to digitise Egypt’s state media archive
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi reviewed progress on a project to digitise Egypt’s state radio and television archives on Monday, as the government seeks to preserve nearly one million archival audio and video recordings and make them accessible digitally.
During a meeting with Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly, Minister of State for Media Diaa Rashwan and ICT Minister Raafat Hindi, the president reviewed the project’s implementation. The initiative aims to preserve what the presidency described as one of Egypt’s most important cultural and media assets while expanding public access for educational, cultural and media purposes.
The project will digitise the National Media Authority’s radio, television, and artistic archives in cooperation with state institutions and international technology companies, according to a presidency statement.
The officials said the archive, which they described as the largest media archive in the Arab world, contains nearly one million audio and video tapes comprising about 800,000 hours of recorded content documenting Egypt’s modern history over several decades.
The project includes creating indexed digital databases, using advanced technologies to convert legacy recordings into high-quality digital formats, and deploying artificial intelligence tools to improve cataloguing, retrieval and data security.
The meeting also reviewed plans to modernise the Maspero broadcasting complex through upgrades to studios, production equipment, and technological infrastructure, alongside efforts to expand the distribution of state media content across digital streaming platforms. Maspero, inaugurated in 1960, serves as the headquarters of Egypt’s state radio and television services.
Sisi also reviewed plans for the proposed Maspero Platform, alongside projects to preserve recordings of renowned Quran reciters and chanters and archive programmes broadcast by Holy Quran Radio since its launch in 1964.
The president directed the officials to keep the public informed of the project’s progress and efforts to preserve Egypt’s media heritage. He also called for closer coordination among state institutions and continued reliance on specialist expertise to support the modernisation of the state media sector, the presidency said.
Attribution: Amwal Al Ghad English