7 - Targeted Strategic Initiatives Table 7.2: Arabic Digital Content Initiative – Primary Programs Output Activities Analysis of similar strategies Arabic digital content strategy on the national and regional levels Executive plan Documentation of Arab Heritage Program Determination of the efforts to be made by various ministries in the documentation of Egyptian/Arab heritage Determination of the priorities of various authorities in heritage documentation Determination of priorities with regard to promoting access to digital heritage materials Setting a time plan for implementation of the program Implementation of projects by concerned parties Egyptian heritage preservation manual Executive plan of the heritage documentation program Preparation of materials to be digitized Provision of digitized content Production and Provision of Government Content Program Setting the criteria to be used in the selection of data to be made available by the government Identification of digitized and accessible government data that can be published on the internet Determination of ministries’ priorities in the digitization and publishing of data Formulation of plans for each ministry to digitize and publish data on the internet in the period 2012-2017 Implementation of digitization projects in each ministry Guide to digitized government data, indicating what is availed Individual ministry plans, indicating which data is to be digitized and which will be availed Publication of digitized content Capacity Building for National Companies Program Implementation of an integrated training program in interactive content development, in cooperation with specialized local and international authorities Establishment of a competence center for innovation in Arabic digital content to be used by companies for training on modern technologies No. of companies to receive training Competence center for innovation in Arabic digital content Creativity and Innovation in Arabic Digital Content Program Implementation of a group of initiatives to encourage SMEs to produce Arabic digital content Establishment of an incubator program for start-ups in the field of Arabic digital content Implementation of projects promoting and supporting the production of advanced digital content Cooperation between the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC) and regional and international centers working in the field of digital content No. of projects and initiatives implemented No. of digital content incubators Participation of national companies in specialized conferences and exhibitions Promoting the establishment of specialized portals dependent on user-generated content by NGOs and research institutions Promoting the establishment of social networks that contribute to the creation of specialized content Enhancement of the social development portals established by the Egyptian Program for IT Development to ensure their sustainability and expand the sectors they cover No. of websites No. of social networks No. of pages and articles generated by users Promotion of scientific research in Arabic in the field of Arabic digital content technologies to cover areas including search engines, deep processing, linguistic and grammatical revision, word processing, machine translation and indexing systems No. of research papers No. of research projects Table 7.2: Arabic Digital Content Initiative – Primary Programs Formulation of the Executive Plan of the Arabic Digital Content Initiative Community Enrichment of Arabic Digital Content Program 66 67 Programs Establishment of the National Committee for the Preservation and Documentation of Heritage by concerned ministries Formulation of a detailed strategy for Arabic digital content Determination of the responsibilities of government and the private sector in implementing the strategy Drafting of the executive plan of the strategy Research and Development in Arabic Digital Content Program 7.3 Educational Reform Initiative based on ICTs, Cloud Computing and the Tablet Computer Development of Egypt’s education system is a national priority given the importance of education to development and progress in all fields. MCIT in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Higher Education, the Ministry of Scientific Research and other stakeholders has adopted various strategies and initiatives over the years supporting education development. Through publicprivate partnerships, MCIT has succeeded in integrating ICTs in the education system, developing the capabilities of teaching staff and students, and expanding the role of educational institutions in their communities. Looking forward, cloud-computing technologies offer great potential in the field of education. As teaching materials and resources are stored on central databases, they are accessible anywhere, at any time, via the internet. This reduces costs for educational institutions as they can access content on a pay-per-use basis rather than having to purchase various software packages and licenses and maintain equipment with sufficient processing power and memory to store and use them. As this system can be accessed anywhere with an internet connection, the space occupied by static computer labs can be developed for other uses. Cloud computing also supports the work of scientists and researchers, and promotes economic growth by reducing education expenditure and promoting local production of digital education materials, cloud computing software and tablet computers. The primary objectives of the Initiative are: Strengthening the national commitment to building a model of educational reform that can be replicated in other Arab and African countries Promoting research and development and supporting scientific research in the field of ICT for education Establishing a culture of e-learning among public and private educational institutions and developing e-courses for use in state education Developing regulations and mechanisms covering the production and use of e-learning materials by educational institutions, and determining standards for the evaluation of such materials B o o s t i n g t h e i n t e r n e t e c o n o m y and creating new job opportunities Providing Egyptian producers of digital content and applications with new opportunities to reach large numbers of learners at low cost Raising the contribution of the electronics industry in the GDP Developing the technology skills of university teaching staff and students Developing the skills of engineers and technicians for work in the electronics industry (Tablet Computer) to support national growth Establishing a plan for sustainable environmental protection and management of natural resources, energy and e-waste.