Cairo:– International Data Corporation (IDC) hosted today the fourth Egypt CIO Summit at the Nile Ritz-Carlton in Cairo. The annual summit, themed ‘Developing a Blueprint for Thriving in the Digital Economy’, brought together more than 100 of the country’s most influential ICT leaders and CIOs. The distinguished guests engaged in full-day discussions sessions, and learnings about emerging local, regional, and global ICT trends such as digital business, disruptive automation, cloud innovation, digital security, IoT, and more.

In her keynote speech delivered on behalf of H.E Yasser ElKady, Egypt’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Maha Rasha, Acting CEO of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), declared that the ICT sector is a top priority on the state’s agenda. She also underlined that the sector The ICT sector has been witnessing unprecedented growth and is currently one of the largest contributors to the country’s GDP growth and a major exporting sector with more than 3.25 billion USD export revenues.

“In today’s digital world and the fast-paced IT industry, we are always keen to pursue any opportunity for collaboration and be part of all occasions that are instrumental for success. ITIDA has joined forces with IDC to deliver a profound understanding of Egypt’s ICT exports”, Maha said. “Scaling Egypt’s IT/ITeS offerings, spreading science and tech parks throughout the country, electronics design and manufacturing, and building a digital ready workforce for embracing the new digital context are among the pillars leading to meet our growth targets.” she added.

IDC's Egypt CIO Summit has served as a pioneering platform for ICT thought leadership in the country since 2015, and this year the summit's agenda has been designed to help CIOs rethink the way they leverage information, implement emerging ICT solutions, and facilitate organization-wide innovation, with the ultimate aim of making their enterprises more agile, efficient, and productive than ever before. The rise of disruptive automation featured prominently, while expert guidance was provided on issues such as driving digital business at scale, building a resilient cybersecurity strategy, and empowering innovation with cloud.

Jyoti Lachandani, IDC group VP and regional managing director for the ME, Turkey, and Africa, initiated the Summit proceedings. The launch session highlighted how third platform technologies reshape Egypt’s ICT industry. “The digital revolution drives the ICT industry to penetrate the second chapter of the third platform era,” built on “techs and business models quicken digital innovation,” said Lalchandani. “The advent and wide adoption of cloud and big data analytics, and innovation accelerators like the IoT, AI, VR, 3D Printing, and Blockchain, will transform the ICT landscape,” added Jyoti.

Targeted exclusively at C-level executives and above, the summit included a rich lineup of presentations and panel discussions, delivered by technology leaders focusing on two tracks; the first was 'Driving Innovation with the Cloud', where discussions centered on enabling organizations to embrace rapid cloud adoption through the use of hybrid cloud solutions, easier procurement cycles, and the development, deployment, and integration of custom applications.

The second track was titled 'Security Metrics for the Digital Era' and addressed the complexity of the region’s security landscape, examining the uptake of digital transformation and contextualizing the rising security risks. It also outlined the security metrics that organizations need to consider as part of a comprehensive security strategy. The Summit also connected the providers of cutting-edge technology solutions with the influential decision makers responsible for driving their implementation, with a series of one-to-one meetings taking place between both parties.

Commenting on the success of the event, Nagia El-Emary, IDC Egypt’s country manager and senior consultant for the Middle East and Africa (MEA), said: "Egypt is now the third-largest MEA market in terms of ICT growth and this year’s Summit succeeded in being the country's main ICT summit to date, delivering a clear focus on enabling business transformation and economic growth through technology 3rd Platform solutions, Innovation Accelerators, and export opportunities. We are delighted to have reinforced IDC's position as the premier ICT market intelligence, advisory services, consultancy, and events provider in Egypt and a key partner in facilitating the country's growth ambitions."

IDC's valued partners for the Egypt CIO Summit 2018 included Egypt’s Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) and WE as Strategic Partners; IBM and Oracle as Summit Partners; Fortinet, HP Enterprise, MobileIron, ManageEngine, Global Knowledge, and VMWare as Gold Partners; and Juniper Networks, Citrix, Commvault, and Veeam as Silver Partners.

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For more information about the IDC Egypt CIO Summit 2018, please contact Sheila Manek at smanek@idc.com or on +971 4 446 3154.

About IDC

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,100 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. To learn more about IDC, please visit www.idc.com . Follow IDC on Twitter at @IDC. 

IDC in the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey

For the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey region, IDC retains a coordinated network of offices in Riyadh, Nairobi, Lagos, Johannesburg, Cairo, and Istanbul, with a regional center in Dubai. Our coverage couples local insight with an international perspective to provide a comprehensive understanding of markets in these dynamic regions. Our market intelligence services are unparalleled in depth, consistency, scope, and accuracy. IDC Middle East, Africa, and Turkey currently fields over 130 analysts, consultants, and conference associates across the region. To learn more about IDC MEA, please visit www.idc-cema.com . You can follow IDC MEA on Twitter at @IDCMEA.

© Press Release 2018