Cisco Strengthens Digital Skills and Innovation in Egypt

Talaat met with Francine Katsoudas, Executive Vice President and Chief People, Policy and Purpose Officer at Cisco, alongside other senior company executives.

The talks covered:

• Cisco’s ongoing projects in Egypt’s ICT sector
• Electronics design and customer experience (CX) services
• Expanding collaboration with Cisco Networking Academy to boost digital skills

A key highlight was the CCIE Mobile Lab in Egypt, hosted at Cisco’s Cairo office in partnership with the National Telecommunication Institute (NTI). The lab allows Egyptian engineers to earn the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) qualification locally, eliminating the need to travel abroad.

Vodafone Backs Network Infrastructure and Digital Empowerment

The ICT Minister also met with Joakim Reiter, Chief External and Corporate Affairs Officer at Vodafone.

Discussions centered on:

• Vodafone’s projects to enhance network infrastructure in Egypt
• Joint initiatives in digital capacity building
• Collaboration with the National Academy of Information Technology for Persons with Disabilities (NAID) to develop assistive technologies for persons with disabilities (PwDs)

iQor Eyes New Service Center in Egypt

In another meeting, Talaat met with Dustin Fleming, Senior Vice President of Finance at iQor, along with Martin Lehtio, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

The talks explored:

• Plans to establish a new service center in Egypt
• Egypt’s role as a global hub for offshoring and BPO services
• Incentives under the Digital Egypt Strategy for the Offshoring Industry

iQor executives also showcased the company’s worldwide outsourcing operations, emphasizing Egypt’s attractiveness as a destination for global outsourcing investment.

Digital Egypt Strategy Driving Growth

The meetings were attended by:

• Ahmed Elzaher, CEO of ITIDA
• Sherine El-Guindy, Assistant ICT Minister for Strategy and Implementation
• Samah Aziz, Head of the Central Department of International Relations at MCIT

The visit reflects Egypt’s commitment to engaging with international technology leaders to expand cooperation, attract investment, and drive digital transformation.

Conclusion

The engagements with Cisco, Vodafone, and iQor highlight Egypt’s growing role in the global technology ecosystem. With investments in digital skills, infrastructure, and outsourcing services, the country is positioning itself as a regional ICT powerhouse.