LINK Development to put the punch behind Egypt's software development power

The company, which is the software development arm of Egypt's largest Internet solutions and services provider LINKdotNET and a subsidiary of Telcommunications giant Orascom, plans to push the merits of Egypt as a logical choice and strong contender in the IT outsourcing market for Europe.

The company has been working with ITIDA, the Egyptian government's Information Technology Industry Development Agency, to help it in its mission to grow an export-oriented IT sector in Egypt. Hanan Abdel Meguid, Chief Executive Officer of LINK Development, says, "With IT outsourcing becoming commonplace practice in many countries today and the global demand for outsourced IT solutions expected to grow over the next few years, Egypt is emerging as an extremely viable choice for offshore software development."

According to Abdel Meguid, Egypt is perfectly positioned to take on the role of a nearshore outsourcing partner for the majority of Europe. The country offers closer geographical proximity, and therefore smaller time differences, than its Asian counterpart India. In fact, Egypt's software development has been on par with India for the past few years, and has surpassed it in some cases. In addition, English and French are commonly used languages in the country's IT circle, removing the hurdle of multilingual communication. More importantly, with IT becoming a booming industry in the country, Egypt is able to offer a broad base of professionals skilled in software development with international certifications. In addition, with industry analysts predicting new challenges for India in IT labor shortage and escalating costs, LINK Development believes in striking now while the iron is hot.

With the company being at the forefront of the software development industry in the Middle East and North Africa region, LINK Development is well placed to provide software solutions to Europe due to its breadth of scope, sound IT knowledge and cost-effectiveness. The company has delivered large offshore development projects to Italy, Greece, Algeria in addition to its core business in other Middle East countries. In addition to being one of the largest software development houses in the region, LINK Development is also a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner in five competency areas, offering the best IT professional skills in the region from software development and design to project management and quality engineering. . It has also achieved ISO 9001:2000 and CMMI Level 3 Certifications.

LINK Development has also been highly active in the area of e-government, having delivered several e-government solutions for various Arab countries. The company was a key player, as a partner of Microsoft, in the development of Egypt's main e-government portal Bawaba. This initiative was officially inaugurated by Bill Gates in Egypt and is the most comprehensive and integrated e-government initiative of its kind in the Middle East region.

CeBIT Hanover 2007 is the world's largest trade fair showcasing digital IT and telecommunications solutions. It takes place in Germany from 15-21 March, 2007.

LINK Development's stand is in Egypt's Pavilion, Hall 1, H71.