ITIDA and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft organize a workshop titled "Innovation as a Tool for ICT Industry Development"

The two-day workshop, that took place on the 29th of March in the smart village, targeted identifying mutual areas of interest for cooperation.

The workshop attracted dozens of Egyptian companies interested in familiarizing themselves with the benefits of cooperation with four of the renowned German ICT research institutes.

The Government of Egypt recognizes the ICT sector as a critical component of the national economy and through the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) has successfully mainstreamed ICT in as part of its national development strategy over the last decade.

The set of goals of Egypt's 2010 strategy include restructuring Egypt's ICT sector, maximizing the benefits of ICT for development, and nurturing innovation to support industry development, while creating partnerships locally, regionally and globally.

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, is having several internationally prominent institutes in the ICT sector, fulfils many of the criteria required to be a solid scientific partner for MCIT and its institutions.

Therefore, this workshop is considered as an introductory representation of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft to Egypt's ICT sector

Cooperative alliances and activities are essential ingredients in enabling Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft to fulfill its designated functions and mission.

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is not only appreciated by its industry partners, but also by research organizations and institutions in Germany.

In addition, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is a major player in the European research area.

The Fraunhofer Institutes network with other centers of excellence, and together help to assure the competitive strength of European research.

On the global level, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft cultivates working relationships in all technologically advanced regions of the world.

Collaborating with locally based leading-edge research helps the Fraunhofer Institutes to gain access to new markets.

Recently the Middle East has been identified as one dynamic region where the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft can be involved in contract research, scientific collaborations and capacity building.

The Fraunhofer Representative Office Middle East supports the 56 Fraunhofer Institutes and their partners to set up business connections and collaborations in the Middle East.

It is foreseen that this local Fraunhofer presence will benefit commercial enterprises in their business activities as well as government customers in implementing economic, research and development policies.

Most of the Fraunhofer activities in the Middle East are strategically based in the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. Market investigations and initial collaborations are now also underway in Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

International cooperation has been an integral part of the activities of the ICT sector for decades and has witnessed an evolution in line with the development of the sector.

Egypt is committed to engage with the EU in policy dialogue and knowledge sharing activation of systematic channels for cooperation with relevant European counterparts.

Resources have been dedicated and created the necessary institutional capacity to ensure the effective participation of Egypt's ICT sector in the EU's FP7 research program.

Research and Development Centers of Excellence have been established to provide an enhanced environment for Egyptian researchers in the ICT sector.

Each acts as a consortium bringing together professionals, private sector entities and educational establishments for the development of ICT.