User:Nazli Hussain/sandbox

=Policies and implementation of ICT in Egypt=

The policies of ICT in Egypt include: Green ICT, Arabic digital content, Cloud computing, Digital Identity Management, access to information, e-commerce, mobile applications for development, using ICTs in education through the tablet computer, open-source software and empowering people with special needs.

One of the implementations of ICT in Egypt is e-governance projects. E-governance projects are long‐term projects and thus requires a long‐term financial support to be provided. Hence, for a healthy political framework any country must ensure communicative, accountable, transparent, and effective leading government. This has been reflected in the Egyptian initiative "Enhance Efficiency and Accountability of the Public Sector in Egypt through Information and Communication Technology" targeting an enhanced political and governmental operations. the project is designed as a multi-level intervention where e-Government solutions are applied so as to expand efficiency and accountability of Public Sector’s processes, improve the delivery of services to the citizen, and enhance coordination among different government entities. It provides technical assistance to Ministry of State for Administrative Development (MSAD), with regard to the following areas:


 * Integration of national databases to enhance inter-agency coordination.
 * Modernization of existing Personnel Offices on the model of Human Resources offices.
 * Enhancement of Government to citizen services and establishment of new channels for service provision.
 * Communication strategy to promote the use of e-Government services.
 * Enhancement of MSAD South South cooperation strategy on e-Government.

The project has proven quite effective and efficient as it helped with:
 * Supporting the democratic transition by providing informational and technical support to the electoral process in Egypt starting with the referendum of March 19th, the People’s Assembly and consultative council elections and the presidential elections. That was achieved by creating a database of voters, which gave great credibility to the elections, and providing service inquiry committees for election through the website during both elections.


 * Improve law enforcement by increasing the ability to monitor the implementation of provisions. This is achieved through reviewing, re-engineering and documenting the procedural cycle of litigation and the implementation of judgments. A national database of judicial provisions was also established as well as an information system to manage suits. Administrative procedures are managed by the Judicial Information Center.


 * Implement a One-Window system for government services in many service offices including:


 * 1) 132 city councils
 * 2) 75 courthouses
 * 3) 150 Traffic Units in 25 governorates


 * The creation of Bawaba Egypt to facilitate the procedures and automation of government services by providing 200 electronic services including: vacant government jobs, mortgage support fund services, medical care, e-government tenders, among many others.

The project was funded by Ministry of State for Administrative Development (MSAD) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). .

ICT policies in Egypt are divided into three groups according to the audiences they address. These groups are the government sector, the civil society and the private sector.

Government sector
The government sector is the main demand driving sector of the state. So, certain policies are diffused through it to ensure their dissemination and spread. These policies are:


 * 1) Green ICT
 * 2) Arabic digital content
 * 3) Cloud computing
 * 4) Digital Identity Management
 * 5) Access to information and data
 * 6) E-commerce

Green ICT
One of the government priorities is to depend on the Green ICT to mitigate the effects of climate change through the adoption of national policies that correspond to the global trends, while taking into consideration national needs and priorities.

The main Green ICT policies that the government adopts are:


 * Linking ICTs, the environment and energy policies to improve environmental performance.
 * Development of indicators to assess the potential of green and smart ICTs in reducing the negative impact of other sectors on the environment.
 * Fostering an environment friendly business cycle through the use of smart application, such as teleconferencing and video conferencing.

Arabic digital content
The development of and diffusion of Arabic digital content is of primordial importance for Egypt. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology adopts a set of policies in this regard, including:


 * Availing the necessary infrastructure through the national Broadband Initiative E-Misr.
 * Safeguarding the freedom of expression and freedom of access to information and ideas.
 * Cooperation with other Arab states with a view to achieving synergies and avoiding duplication.
 * Development of value-added digital content for Egyptian and Arab consumers.
 * Facilitating e-commerce through e-payments, e-signature and authentication.

Cloud computing
Cloud computing is considered one of the recent technological solutions aiming at achieving maximum benefit from the information infrastructure. The Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Technology adopts some policies in order to promote the utilization of cloud computing benefits such as:


 * Stimulating the use of cloud computing through awareness-raising, skills development and education.
 * Examining possible cooperation frameworks with regional and international organizations.
 * Boosting confidence in the use of cloud computing technologies.

Digital Identity Management
The growing local, regional and international economies led to the rapid evolution of internet based activities an services. Digital Identity Management emerged as a concept to regulate the privacy and security of such activities. The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology adopts the following policies in the area of digital identity management:


 * Shifting from a paper based identity card system to a digital system.
 * Raising awareness of the benefits associated with digital identity management, such as e-signature and authentication.
 * Developing the Open Government Data industry.
 * Facilitating access to national databases via the internet.
 * Promoting interoperability of the different e-services provided by the diverse entities through reliance on regional and international standards.

Access to information and data
Many of the leading knowledge economies pursue a policy of availing government information and data to the public in an attempt to reinforce communication and exchange with the beneficiaries. The Egyptian government is on its way to provide portals to facilitate the access to the public data and information about government through what is called "Egyptian Open Data Initiative". The purpose of this initiative is to make data publicly available and visible.The following principles provide a general framework for the use of of wider and more effective national databases.


 * Raising public awareness of the importance of national databases and clarifying usage conditions.
 * Promoting the use of technology particularly in archiving,searching and retrieving data, and the development of related skills.
 * Promoting the use of databases and boosting confidence in electronic transactions.

E-commerce
Egypt is the first country to benefit from the UNCTAD ICT Policy Review program to support countries seeking to formulate a national e-commerce strategy. The strategy is based upon six sub-strategies and recommendations aimed at strengthening Egypt's performance in key policy areas. These sub-strategies are as follows:


 * Empower businesses through e-commerce.
 * Leverage e-commerce to incentivize formalization of the informal sector.
 * Exploit strengths for the ICT sector for e-commerce.
 * Boost Egypt's logistics sector into a regional hub.
 * Stimulate growth of payment sector.
 * Build Egypt's e-commerce market.
 * Encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship in the development of applications supporting online and mobile financial transactions on the internet and on mobile phones to stimulate demand for e-commerce, taking advantage of Egypt's high mobile penetration rate.

The civil society
Government acquaints the people about government portals, websites, and other e-services. In addition to initiating strong campaigns through all the possible communication channels to help higher rate of citizen participation. Such campaigns can be in the form of mailing newsletters, advertisement in the news‐papers, sponsoring workshops and seminars, displaying posters and banners, use of media services etc. These kinds of awareness initiatives encourage citizen participation and involvement and thereby incentivize them for e‐governance service usage.

Egypt enhances citizen awareness through campaigns and field tours targeting different municipals starting from the country side to increase the understanding and acceptance of e-services and what it has to offer, also according to prime minister Dr. Moustafa Madboulythere will be periodic meetings with various media channels in order to explain to the people new policy changes and disclose the government`s plan. Mokhtar. H, ( 20/Sep/2018), “رئيس الوزراء: حملة توعية لتعريف المواطنين بالخدمات الإلكترونية وتشجيعهم عليها “, date of access 1/12/2018, retrieved from: https://www.youm7.com/story/2018/9/20/%D8%B1%D8%A6%D9%8A%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88%D8%B2%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B9%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%81-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B7%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D8%AF%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D9%84%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%AA%D8%B4%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%B9%D9%87%D9%85-A number of policies are already adopted and implemented by civil society view their popularity among citizens.These policies are as follows:


 * 1) Mobile Phone Applications
 * 2) Empowering people with disabilities

Mobile Phone Applications
Mobile Phone Application was used in Egypt in preparation for voting and election processes such as the parliamentry elections and constitution referendum. In partnership with Google, the MSAD (Ministry of State for Administrative Development) paved the way for mobile phone applications to be developed by civil society and the private sector by allowing them to use the information available on the official elections websites. Mobile applications such as "Sawtak" and "We3almobile" were established to provide Egyptian voters with access to comprehensive and impartial information on the elections (such as voting dates, registration processes, etc.). The application also allows citizens to allows citizens to check whether they are elgible to vote, which is their constituency, which parties and independent candidates are competing in their constituency using their national ID number.

Empowering people with disabilities
The Egyptian ICT Trust Fund, in collaboration with civil society organizations, relevant governmental and international bodies and supporting businesses , seeks to launch projects and initiatives that promote the rights of people with disabilities (PwD), in particular the right in education and employment.

Through its activities, the Fund seeks to address the needs of PwDs in terms of knowledge and information in order to ensure their full participation and integration into the society through the construction of websites and electronnic portals such as Irada Gate.

Private sector
The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology in Egypt paves the way for private sector investors in order to improve the infrastructure of ICT in Egypt. In July 2019, The Ministry announced offering 250 feddans for the private sector investors in the prospective Knowledge City that is under construction in the New Administrative Capital.

The Smart Village is another example of public-private partnership (PPP) in Egypt. Smart Village is an ICT-focused business park hosting companies and organizations from around the world in a tailor-made environment that allows them to excel.

=Legislation=

Law no.15,2004
Law No. 15 on the Regulation of Electronic Signature and the Establishment of the Information Technology Industry Development Authority was issued after its approval by the House of Representatives. This law is the first Egyptian legislation to regulate electronic transactions, whether governmental, commercial or administrative transactions.

The law enables using electronic means in the editing, exchange and archiving of documents in a manner that preserves the rights of customers and ensures the credibility and legality of electronic transactions at the same time. The main features of the Electronic Signature Regulation Law are:


 * 1) Giving legal proof of electronic writing and electronic signature in the scope of civil, commercial and administrative transactions, so that they have the same legal validity as proof of ordinary writing and ordinary signature provided for in the Law of Evidence in Civil and Commercial Articles.
 * 2) Establishing and defining the so-called electronic document and giving it the same concept as a written document, whether it is considered to be a customary electronic document or an official electronic document in accordance with the concept of customary and official documents found in the Law of Evidence in Civil and Commercial Materials.
 * 3) The wide scope of application of the electronic signature in accordance with this law includes all transactions that may be completed electronically, namely civil, commercial and administrative transactions, provided that they are signed electronically in accordance with the conditions and controls set by the law and its executive regulations.
 * 4) The law established a public authority called the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), which has a public legal entity, and it is mainly responsible for issuing the necessary licenses to practice the activity of electronic signature services and other activities in the field of electronic transactions and information technology. The electronic transactions sector in general and even in the control of licensees to work in this sector and take the necessary measures towards ensuring the proper functioning of this sector in accordance with the public interest and the state policy in this regard.
 * 5) The law stipulates that the entities that will provide e-certification services or services related to e-signatures must obtain the necessary licenses for this activity from the ITIDA, in order to ensure the confidence and control necessary for the health and safety of electronic transactions.

The most important areas of e-signature applications are:


 * E-government: This includes government administrative transactions and services of citizens in general, including various permits and services provided by customs, taxation authorities and the Civil Status Authority, as well as requests submitted to government agencies, which, in accordance with this law, can be done through electronic documents issued by the said authorities and signed by public officials in these bodies, which gives these e-government documents the status of official documents because of the public official to sign them electronically.
 * Electronic Commercial Transactions: This includes all transactions of a commercial nature in the various fields of dealing such as sales and other contracts, legal commercial transactions, import and export and the rest of the contracts, the booking of tickets and hotels, and banking transactions of all kinds, which are in the form of an electronic document signed by an electronic signature.
 * Electronic civil transactions: Include each electronic transaction with a civil nature, whether with a view of its parties, or only one of its parties, which depart from the concept of commercial transaction.