By: Basel Khaled
Dr. Ahmed Abdel Hafez, Executive Vice President of the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority for cybersecurity, confirmed in response to a question from “Digital World” that we succeeded in concluding an agreement with the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport to develop an integrated curriculum for teaching cybersecurity to the academy’s students, and teaching of this curriculum began during the current academic year. A similar agreement will be concluded with 8 other universities to teach cybersecurity sciences in a professional manner to students in the faculties of computers and engineering, starting next academic year, which will actually contribute to the preparation and qualification of the human resources that we need in the field of information security.
He added, “We must know that the occurrence of a strong impact in the water of a large hall of cadres specialized in the field of cybersecurity will require more time and awareness of students, as well as cooperation between university institutions, through the Supreme Council of Universities, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and both the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and international companies.” A local specialist in the field of information security.
On the other hand, Engineer Tarek Shabaka, Chairman of the Board of Directors of MCS Company, said, “We are pleased to announce this joint edition of the Egypt International Summit for Digital Transformation and Cybersecurity, which reflects our clear interest in providing real added value to the information technology sector in general and cybersecurity in particular, in order to enhance the contribution of The digital industry is in the development plans for Egypt’s future and consolidating the concepts of secure digital transformation, explaining that this joint edition will carry within it many local, regional and Arab activities and events that will contribute to raising awareness of the importance of cybersecurity and its role in advancing Egypt’s economic locomotive.”
He added, through this summit, we aim to achieve best practices in confronting cyber attacks, the frequency of which has increased in an unprecedented way, in a way that is consistent with the requirements of government institutions and the private sector, and to provide appropriate solutions for each category in line with global technical changes. He explained that the summit during its next edition is an integrated platform that includes Participation of all parties of the system.”
He explained that the summit will include distinguished participation by a number of academic institutions such as Helwan University and Port Said University, and the event is scheduled to include a number of discussion sessions, technical workshops, and bilateral meetings with representatives of international companies and elite decision-makers in a number of Arab countries, with the aim of exchanging experiences and transferring variables. The summit will include a number of activities dedicated to entrepreneurs and innovators and will witness the announcement of a package of training programs and qualifying initiatives for graduates.
On the other hand, Ahmed Alaa, General Manager of Trend Micro Egypt, a global company specializing in the field of information security, confirmed in response to a question from “Digital World” that the company already has an initiative to offer all of its educational materials in the field of cybersecurity through a website that allows... For all human resources wishing to enter the field of cybersecurity by learning about the basic principles, but at the same time the student must be familiar with the concept of networks, computing and the Internet of Things so that he can continue the journey of learning and training in the field of information security.
This came during his participation in the press conference activities of the sixth session of the FDC Summit 2024, which specializes in the field of digital transformation and cybersecurity, which will be held under the title “Egypt International Summit for Digital Transformation and Cybersecurity” under the auspices of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in the period from May 19-21, in the presence of Engineer Tariq Shabaka, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Middle East Information Technology Services Company (MCS), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and representatives of a number of international companies “Palo Alto”, “f5”, in addition to “Trillix”.
He added that we must take into account that the element of desire and personal competence is an important distinction between one university student and another, as there is a student who searches online, studies and learns about the training courses available in the field of information security, noting that the majority of international companies specialized in the field of information security provide their own materials. Many universities and educational institutions provide free education and training to students, and training courses are organized in the summer “online” or through its strategic partners in the Egyptian market, led by the Middle East Information Security Company “MCS”.
For his part, Engineer Wassim Youssef, Regional Director of Engineering Systems in Egypt, the Gulf and North Africa at Palo Alto Networks, the international company specializing in the field of cybersecurity, confirmed in response to a question from “Digital World” that the company works in cooperation with a number of Egyptian companies specialized in the field of security. Al-Sirani aims to expand the provision of information security services, whether to the Egyptian market or the African market, especially since we have a very large opportunity and technical and human capabilities that allow us to double our share in the global market to provide global information security services. It is not necessary for us to have companies that have the ability to develop their own security applications and solutions. the information
He added that "MCS" is one of the most successful Egyptian companies specialized in the field of information technology, which has won the trust of many customers in providing information security services at the highest level of efficiency and quality, which constituted an incentive for it to export services to markets in the Middle East and Africa region, expected with an increase in Human resources awareness of the necessity of acquiring specialized digital skills in the field of information security, in addition to the Ministry of Communications and Higher Education launching many initiatives and training programs, will lead to an increase in the importance of the cybersecurity sector in doubling Egyptian exports from the technology sector.
Wassim explained that the share of “Palo Alto Networks” in the Egyptian information security market reached 25%, and the company also succeeded in increasing the number of its employees by about 20-30% during the year 2023, explaining that the company has a number of partnerships in the Egyptian market, the most important of which is the Information Technology Industry Development Authority.” ITIDA "in order to work on organizing training courses to qualify and prepare human cadres specialized in the field of information security. We also have partnerships with a number of Egyptian universities to make all our programs and solutions available to train students for free during the period of university study.
For his part, Ahmed Al-Sabki, a member of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Information and Communications Technology Industry (CIT) at the Federation of Egyptian Industries, confirmed that the Chamber’s participation, as a representative of the civil society of the ICT industry, in the Advisory Council. The “FDC Summit” represents a qualitative leap in coordinating efforts and cooperation in favor of developing and developing the local industry for cybersecurity and data centers, given the Chamber’s umbrella and voice for its member companies and its ability to strengthen partnerships, both with international bodies and international companies participating in the summit, in a way that reflects positively on all parties and achieves the goals of Egypt’s Vision 2030.
He added that we have many challenges to develop the information and communications technology industry, which requires us all to join hands to find innovative solutions, and this is what we aspire through the summit, to achieve through the participation of a group of industry experts in addition to the strong government presence in addition to the EGAY presence of international and local companies specialized in the field of cybersecurity. The summit's advisory council will also work to make available and communicate the recommendations that will result from the summit's activities to decision makers to achieve a qualitative leap in meeting the needs of the technology industry and creating a strong industry, in addition to changing the culture of society towards the concept of "cybersecurity" and transferring knowledge to our youth in Egypt, in addition to launching competitions to help... Local companies and Egyptian youth are keen to develop new solutions that suit the rapid changes in this field.
