Dr. Tarek Mohamed Kamel Minister of Communications and Information Technology

Dr. Tarek Kamel was Senior Advisor to the Minister of Communications and Information Technology for five years before himself being appointed Minister. During this time he spearheaded a number of national initiatives to spread the use of ICT tools amongst segments of Egyptian society. Currently, the Minister is known for his visionary strategy to drive Public Private Partnership initiatives to develop Egypt's ICT sector, leading Egypt into the global Information Society.

Dr. Kamel began his career as a networks support engineer at the Academy of Technology and Scientific Research after receiving an Engineering degree from Cairo University in 1985. He then swiftly moved to becoming an assistant researcher at the Electronics Research Institute before being granted a fellowship for PhD studies from the German Academic Exchange (DAAD) for the period 1989 to 1992. Awarded a Doctorate in Computer Networking from Munich Technical University in 1992, he was then appointed manager of the Communications and Networking Department at the Egyptian Cabinet Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC/RITSEC). During this time he was also named Secretary of the Egyptian Internet Society and a professor of Computer Networks at the Electronics Research Institute. In May 1999, Dr. Kamel became Vice-President of these two organizations, and three years later a Trustee of the Internet Society (ISOC), Virginia, U.S.A. Dr Kamel was a member of the Board of Telecom Egypt from 2000 to 2004 where he played a pivotal role in the company’s development. 

On the international level, Dr. Kamel is a recognized authority on the Internet and is frequently called upon to address various events dedicated to debating its future. In October 2006, he was keynote speaker at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) held in Athens, Greece. The Minister has led many initiatives to increase Internet and broadband penetration in Egypt, Africa and the Arab world. Over the last several years, he has been the main proponent of Egypt's initiatives to reform and deregulate the telecommunications sector, which is the highest growth field domestically and one of the fastest growing in the region. Dr. Kamel has also directed the efforts of IT stakeholders on new initiatives for using ICT for Development, such as the Egyptian Education Initiative (EEI), as well as Egypt’s Health Initiative as part of the global health initiative. 

Since 2004, Dr. Kamel has acted as Chairman of the Executive Bureau of the Arab Telecommunications and Information Council of Ministers. He is also the Chairman of the Ministerial Conference on Communication and Information Technologies of the African Union (2006-2008). In recognition of his leadership in the sector, in 2005 the South African Ministry of Communications named him “Top Minister in Africa with an ICT Portfolio”.

Currently, besides being Minister of Communications and Information Technology in Prime Minister’s Dr. Ahmed Nazif Cabinet, Dr. Kamel is the Chairman of the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA), the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), the National Telecommunication Institute (NTI) and the Information Technology Institute’s (ITI) Board of Trustees.