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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 16 - 22 November 2000 Issue No.508 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 16 - 22 November 2000 Issue No.508
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Ten digits, or more
By Aziza Sami
To be trapped in the workings of mundane economics when the challenge is greater and stands outside one's boundaries does not bode well. Our overriding problems have become sugar shortages, liquidity crunches and exchange rate problems. Increasingly the Egyptian economy is being presented as a giant with vast potential. Less attention is drawn to its stumbling because of lack of coordination.
In a recent article published in the New York Times, Thomas Friedman spoke of Israel's high-tech industry, and the "other side" of its Silicon Valley, huge high-tech military superiority.
Banking on this, Friedman wrote, Israel cannot be threatened in any substantial way by its neighbours, but will instead be the constant threat imperilling all. This statement -- although political -- is both important and true.
It is especially relevant for Egypt, given the political situation in the Middle East, and in view of the constant reiteration by the government -- supported by scientists and investors -- that Egypt possesses the potential to become an IT hub and, more ambitiously, an exporter of software.
But compared to Israel, which now exports $6 billion worth of software, a figure it plans to more than double in the near future, what has Egypt begun to achieve in this direction?
Less than a week ago, the newspapers published on their front pages the news that Egypt will launch its "first Silicon Valley" with full details of assets, private investors, location etc.
The news is that there is nothing new. This same announcement, down to the minutest detail, was made six months ago, imparting -- as with so many government announcements -- an unwelcome sense of déjà vu. Confusing pronouncements with reality is becoming a serious malaise for a government which, because it dominates everything, must bear the responsibility.
Talk to people working in the IT sector in Egypt and you will find, despite the grand announcements and officially upbeat rhetoric, an awful lot of deeply entrenched frustration.
New regulations governing e-commerce, trumpeted loudly in recent months but without the nitty gritty of any details, will necessitate modifications in current taxation and tariffs before e-commerce can take off. But still no draft of the law has been made public, which leads one to wonder whether it is even being compiled.
The state has done little if anything, either through legislation or through its own administration, to support would-be entrepreneurs. It has failed, most noticeably, to furnish anything like an investment climate capable of providing venture capital for IT start ups.
The government says that it is working towards putting all of its operations on-line. But where, other than the current minister of Communications and Information Technology Ahmed Nazif, is there a team capable of fulfilling the demands that will be made if such an initiative is ever to come to pass? And how -- no minor question this -- is it to be funded?
Some initiatives have been successful -- think of the Internet companies that have sprung up over the past three years. But these remain the work of the privileged few who have been able to access the needed knowledge. The results are isolated, ineffectual pockets of IT, catering to a handful of users.
Egypt's human resources -- despite the drawbacks imposed by an oppressive and backward educational system -- might still provide a strong intellectual base for IT, a fact attested to by multinational corporations hiring no small number of Egyptian software programmers. But beyond theatrical representations intended for foreign donors where schoolchildren are no more than pathetic props poised in front of temporarily installed computers, what have we done to get our schools wired?
At a time when the ability to utilise information technology has increasingly come to determine one's position in the world, our government remains trapped in the throes of bad economic management -- creating crises out of problems. A change of vision is needed as well as a government that can resolve the sugar shortage.
Related stories:
Like India 24 - 30 August 2000
No Trojan horse 27 July - 2 August 2000
Welcome to e-gypt 29 June - 5 July 2000
Reality bytes 29 June - 5 July 2000
Raising the bar 15 - 21 June 2000
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