By ; Nahla Makled – Shaima Hassan

The Information Technology Industry Development Agency - ITIDA has participated in the recent regular meeting of Global Technology and Business Services Council (GT&BSC) conducted to follow up on the progress made by its member organizations.

The meeting’s agenda included reviewing the efforts exerted to support and ensure business continuity and to deliver a global response to the challenges and changes brought about by COVID-19, and forming a clear vision for the future of the sector.

GT&BSC; which ITIDA joined last July as a founding member, is an alliance of twelve international associations representing the technology and business services sector across Bulgaria, the Balkans, Czech Republic, Egypt, Germany, Hungary, India, Malaysia, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, United States and Ukraine.

ITIDA’s Acting CEO, Amr Mahfouz said that the sector played a very positive role in lessening the pandemic impact, helping in avoiding service interruption as it enjoys the flexibility and speed response to crises while ensuring the safety of its employees.

Mahfouz underlined that Egypt has invested heavily in developing its ICT infrastructure and digital capabilities where this enabled the services sector to remain resilient and to meet the unprecedented demand and increased reliance on digital services in all areas.

According to a former statement by the council, the technology and business services sector was integral to supporting businesses across the world as they addressed the challenges of adapting to changes caused by COVID-19, demonstrating remarkable agility, commitment and resilience in responding to the crisis; ensuring business continuity for global clients and prioritizing safety of all employees.

The sector was central to the rapid deployment of work from home models and digital transformations, providing critical support and “essential services” to various sectors including governments through highly skilled professionals around the world. This is all referenced in the report being published today entitled: “A unified global response for the technology and business services industry”.

Globally, technology and business services will play a key role in evolving nations to the next normal, driving the global economy out of an inevitable downturn and reducing the impact of future economic and social shocks, transforming businesses quickly and making them more resilient moving forward.

The Council members highlighted “We are all incredibly proud of how well our industry responded to the challenges presented by COVID-19. Partnerships and individuals around the world worked tirelessly to ensure key services were delivered in really adverse conditions, remodelling and reinventing business processes literally overnight.

It is the Council’s firm belief that technology, collaboration and access to a global talent pool will be key to driving business and Governments out of the inevitable downturn. Sharing best practices, thought leadership and collaborating on new operating models on a global stage will accelerate recovery around the world. We are delighted that our entire industry is collaborating in this global way for the first time and believe this will provide significant value to l global governments, our members, their customers and their employees around the world”

The Global Technology and Business Services Council has an ambitious program of work, with immediate next steps including conducting a global body of research to better understand the industry’s global state and prepare a report showing directions of further development.   

Founding members of GT&BSC (in alphabetical order)

ABSL, covering Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Bosnia & Herzegovina (Balkans), Latvia (Baltics)

AIBEST, covering Bulgaria and the Balkans

ASTRA, covering Russia and Belarus

BPESA, South Africa

GSA, United Kingdom

IAOP, United States

ITIDA, Egypt

ITUKRAINE, Ukraine

NASSCOM, India

OM MALAYSIA, Malaysia

SLASSCOM, Sri Lanka