The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) has announced signing an agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to design and launch a training program for 500 employees at Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), utilizing cloud computing.
This comes within the framework of fulfilling “Our Opportunity..is Digital” initiative, that aims to help grow ICT Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) and strengthen their AI-related role in the digital transformation system.
This came during the meeting held between the Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat, the Head of Middle East and Africa at AWS Zubin Chagpar, an AWS delegation and representatives of a number of ICT MSMEs. The meeting was held during an online session attended by the Deputy ICT Minister for Administrative Development, Digital Transformation and Automation Khaled El Attar, the Assistant ICT Minister for Strategy and Implementation Sherine El-Guindy and a number of MCIT officials.
Launching the program comes within the framework of implementing “Our Opportunity..is Digital” initiative, launched by MCIT and managed by the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA). The initiative includes a number of pillars, one of which is organizing competitions that provide training opportunities for ICT SMEs employees, to hone their skills in different areas, especially AI and ML.
During the session, the ICT Minister underlined that joining forces with AWS comes to fulfill the initiative’s third pillar that deals with building SMEs employees’ capacities. The first two pillars include providing SMEs the opportunity to participate in carrying out a number of digital transformation projects, he added.
Talaat stressed MCIT keenness to cooperate with international companies in qualifying Egyptian calibers in the latest global technologies, to enhance SMEs capabilities to work in the digital transformation system, especially in AI and data science, as well as boosting their business opportunities and stimulating their competitiveness in regional and international markets.
The program is also part of MCIT activities that target building the Egyptian citizen and creating a skilled generation for building the digital Egypt, said the ICT Minister, adding that the training is provided to the trainees free of charge, completely funded by MCIT.
For his part, Chagpar stated that the program targets developing SMEs employees skills in ML, AI and deep learning, with hands-on application. He said that the program represents a seed of having a base of young specialists in those fields, which will help promote sharing expertise and implementing projects that require such set of skills. The trainees shall receive international certifications, Chagpar added.
The program aims to build the trainees’ capacities and develop their skills in AI and ML, utilizing cloud computing, to help accelerate the implementation of AI and data analysis national projects. It aims, as well, to develop the IT industry through providing a group of exceptional developers, specialized in ML, to empower IT SMEs to access markets in the Middle East and Africa, after meeting the local demand, thus creating new job opportunities in those SMEs, as well as boosting the AI and ML services exports of this vital sector.
The program capitalizes on the ML curricula used in training data scientists and developers at AWS, and specialized trainers in this field. The AI and ML training courses will be organized on 18-week rounds.
The trainees are assessed based on the requirements announced on the initiative website, on the following link https://digitalopportunity.itida.gov.eg/Arabic/Pages/default.aspx#/home. The first round of the program is to launch in July, followed by the next rounds. Registration for the first round is available through the initiative website, by maximum June 18.
Trainees who pass the required tests receive an AWS certificate. In addition, 50 certificates are provided to applicants who are interested to apply for the test without joining the course.
It is worth mentioning that AWS is a leader in AI and ML services, with the largest number of AI and ML international references.
