The Digital Government of Egypt: A New Era for the Egyptian People

Digital government has become one of the buzzwords in the world, as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) continue to develop faster than ever before. According to different reports, over half of the MENA countries surveyed now have digital government initiatives in place, but there are still huge differences between them. Some, like Egypt, are rapidly moving forward with adoption; others are only taking baby steps towards modernisation if they're doing anything at all. However, the different initiatives from the Egyptian government are being hailed as progressive steps forward for the country and the region at large.

The Role of Digital Government in Egypt

When it comes to digital government, Egypt's progress has been considerable. The country has established itself as a regional leader in e-services and has even earned praise from international development organisations. Digital identity systems have provided Egyptians with greater access to key public services—such as education, health care, and financial services—and also help increase trust between citizens and government. By decentralising e-services, creating greater trust within society, increasing transparency, and improving service delivery for citizens by offering more convenient channels for service provisioning are some of the roles digital government plays in any country's success story.?

One of the latest massive projects is the ICT 2030 Strategy which includes provisions for the digital transformation of government services. Moreover, according to the UN E-Government Survey 2020, Egypt is one of the 16 countries that joined the high EGDI group in 2020 from Africa. The EDGI Index shows that the country has improved its ranking by three places compared to 2018, and it's particularly worthy of note its impressive advancements in online services provision despite having middle or low levels of infrastructure development.?

Early adoption

The ICT sector is overseen by MCIT or the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), established in 1999. Its goal is to transform the country into a telecoms and tech centre on both a regional and global scale and increase the size of the digital economy as guided by the ICT 2030 Strategy. Other important authorities that have helped the country accelerate its digital transformation are?

• The National Telecom Regulatory Authority - NTRA which provides oversight to the service quality and national security

?and?

• The Information Technology Industry Development Agency - ITIDA which aims to increase the global competitiveness of the ICT sector.

The case for digital government initiatives was first discussed publicly during Gamal Mubarak's tenure as vice president when he discussed plans to introduce a national identity card that could be used to access digital services, and this project was given renewed attention under current President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. In 2014, Egypt formally established a Ministry of Digital Services. The purpose of this initiative was to formalise digital services and improve public policy. The ministry would create a regulatory framework for e-commerce, facilitate access to online services by Egyptians, and guide future developments.?

Then, by 2015, over 11 million citizens had received cards with embedded chips that are interoperable across state institutions. The Egyptian government has long prioritised ICT development. That's why in mid-2020, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) launched the project Digital Egypt, a comprehensive plan to shift towards a more digital society focusing on digital skills and jobs. According to Boutheina Guermazi, Director of Digital Development at the World Bank, the Egyptian government has done a great job in responding to the need for improved broadband networks internet services. This was especially noticed during the Covid-19 pandemic. It provided free Internet services to university professors and SIM cards for students to access e-learning platforms and improve online education.

Future transformation: Digital Egypt

Egypt's Covid-related lockdown greatly impacted the telecoms industry as people went online to do business and interact socially. Growth slowed as the lockdown measures eased, but the pandemic has hastened digital transformation. Some trends that accelerated - including remote work, digital payments and e-commerce portals - are expected to continue for years to come. The growth of internet usage has led to opportunities not only for investment but also for public-private collaboration to strengthen digital infrastructure. Moreover, The MCIT is committed to developing the digital economy and strengthening Egypt's ICT infrastructure. Digital Egypt is the ministry's roadmap to facilitate growth in the sector through initiatives such as capacity-building, digital inclusion, and transitioning to a knowledge-based economy. The government's digital initiatives will be further driven by the creation of smart cities, the introduction of 5G networks, and disruptive technologies such as AI and IoT to improve the service delivery for all their citizens.

Sources:?

• https://blogs.worldbank.org/arabvoices/digital-transformation-time-covid-19-case-mena???
• https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/2020_un_e-government_survey_full_report.pdf??
• https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/en-us/Data/Country-Information/id/53-Egypt?
• https://mcit.gov.eg/en/Digital_Government?