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‘e’ is for Egypt
If you ask people what they think
about e-government, some may shake their heads and say, fine –
but you have to walk before you can run.
What business does Egypt have digitalizing
bureaucratic procedures and offering government services via the
Internet when civil servants are still using ledger books, and less
than 10 percent of the population have access to PCs? But the fact
that the bureaucracy is so bogged down with paperwork, and that
PC penetration is so low, are some of the main reasons why an e-government
upgrade is a priority.
It’s known that, despite the initial difficulties and expenses,
information technology offers major cost and time saving rewards
to every enterprise. In this case, Egypt is our enterprise, and
the sooner we make the inevitable transition to e-government and
its attendant services the better. In doing so, via training and
promotion throughout the many branches of government, hundreds of
thousands of people will come in contact with the possibilities
of information technology and be encouraged to become computer literate.
To that end, Egypt’s Ministry of Communications & Information
Technology under Ahmed Nazif can boast some outstanding accomplishments.
Among them is the “Computer in every home” program that
makes PCs available at reduced prices, paid in installments via
the quarterly phone bill. This is a creative way of helping people
(especially students) finance their PC purchases and lowering the
barrier for entry into cyberspace. The ministry also sponsors computer
training courses for the citizenry, in addition to providing access
to computers via Internet cafés and other locations to anyone
who wants to go on line.
Members are no doubt familiar with AmCham Egypt’s ongoing efforts
to promote IT awareness and usage in the business community. Aside
from the work of the Business Information Center (BIC) and the IT
Committee, AmCham’s Business Studies & Analysis Center
(BSAC) has produced a widely quoted report on the state of IT in
Egypt. We hope to extend our awareness-raising activities to a wider
public via an agreement signed between USAID and General Dynamics
soon.
Egypt already has the largest telecommunications network in Africa
and the Middle East. In cooperation with IBM, Microsoft and Oracle,
we have an excellent training program turning out highly skilled
personnel for the local IT industry. Egypt also has free Internet
access, placing a world of information at the user’s fingertips.
Although only a relatively small percentage of sites are available
in Arabic, the response to the Internet, especially from young people,
has been very enthusiastic.
As for “streamlining the bureaucracy,” it’s a catchphrase
we’ve all heard – but I doubt anyone would disagree with
its premise. Streamlining means e-government. It means computers
instead of carbon copies, and fewer people working more productively.
It also means pooling data and other resources between branches
of government, supplying quick access to information, and offering
online payment to facilitate billing and collection for a variety
of government services.
I’m looking forward to the day when businesses and corporations
can be established on line, circumventing time-consuming bureaucracy.
I also look forward to the time when well-informed Egyptians can
participate in government by logging on with their opinions. That
will take a while, but it’s where we want to be.
In the meantime, no one is confusing more efficient bureaucracy
with participatory civil life. But I believe that embracing e-government
is a step towards a more open mindset. I’m for anything that
makes living and doing business in Egypt a little easier, even if
at the beginning only a few participate and benefit. Seeing how
those few include most of Egypt’s businesses (i.e. job providers),
digitalized bureaucracy will have a positive impact on the economy
and its competitiveness, and thereby help create more jobs. In any
case, Egypt’s IT industry is growing, and will continue to
do so.
So if “to E or not to E” is, in fact, the question, then
I say, by all means, let’s E.
Taher S. Helmy
President, AmCham Egypt
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