Egypt, represented by the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), participated in “Industry 4.0 in Egypt: Enhancing the Readiness for the Adoption of Industry 4.0” webinar, organized by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), online, on June 8. The webinar was attended by the Ministers of Trade and Industry and International Cooperation, as well as representatives of a number of international and local organizations and agencies.
During the opening session, ITIDA CEO delivered a talk on behalf of the ICT Minister Amr Talaat. The speech highlighted that Egypt is fully committed to adopting and harnessing Industry 4.0 technologies across all sectors, within its 2030 Vision, aiming to develop the country to become a sustainable technologically industrialized hub.
The webinar comes in light of UNIDO five-year Program for Country Partnership (PCP) that Egypt has joined. PCP aims to advance Egypt’s inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and help the country increase the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies in key industrial sectors to enhance the contribution of manufacturing to national economic, environmental, and social development.
The Program supports Egypt’s efforts in achieving its industrial development goals, outlined in the Sustainable Development Strategy: Egypt Vision 2030. Accordingly, PCP will focus on industrial policy and governance, investment promotion, green industry, smart cities and sustainable industrial parks, value chains, and mainstreaming Industry 4.0 in priority industrial sectors, including chemicals, electronics, food, textiles, leather, furniture and handicrafts.
In this regard, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) is cooperating with the Ministry of Trade and Industry to help various state sectors adopt new technologies, including automation, Augmented Reality (AR), Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), which help in cost reduction, while enhancing both productivity and quality.
The emerging technologies of Industry 4.0 promise improved value chains, methods of production and business models, which are of utmost importance particularly to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in different sectors.
Moreover, MCIT is particularly focusing on promoting and adopting emerging technologies, such as IoT, big data analytics, microelectronics, digital fabrication, additive manufacturing, robotics and cybersecurity, in specific industries, mainly the engineering sector, agro-food, smart cities and other related industries.
To help reap the benefit of Industry 4.0 technologies, MCIT has created an enabling ecosystem, based on the digital transformation efforts, and has issued its National AI strategy. Egypt has also increased considerably the amount of digital infrastructure investments, dedicating $1.6 billion for this purpose.
Furthermore, ITIDA joined forces with the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s Industrial Modernization Centre (IMC) and the private sector to establish and equip the first Industry 4.0 Innovation Center (IIC) in Egypt. With a prime location in the Knowledge City in the New Administrative Capital, IIC aims to raise awareness of Industry 4.0 technologies and their practical applications in smart factories, adopt advanced technology in local manufacturing, and provide training in automation and digitization techniques. This is in addition to providing the necessary support in the areas of stimulating industrial innovation and designing smart factories in a way that contributes to the transfer of knowledge and the development of the industrial sector.
The IIC includes a training laboratory for the Industry 4.0 applications for students, entrepreneurs and industrial facilities, and a product development laboratory that includes design programs and prototyping manufacturing machines, in addition to the production process development laboratory. The IIC also incorporates a simulation of a smart factory with the techniques of Industry 4.0 devices, equipment and tools for developing smart systems.
The IIC targets factories, SMEs, startups and students. It also works to sponsor and support graduation projects in related fields.
During the webinar, ITIDA efforts in promoting the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies were highlighted. This included launching the Digital Transformation for Software Development (DX4SW) initiative, which aims to support digital transformation and enterprise agility in the local IT sector through helping software development companies achieve their digital strategies and business objectives. This is in addition to Egypt Makes Electronics (EME) initiative, which aims to transform traditional mechanisms and common practices of manufacturing electronics and home appliances to Industry 4.0 techniques and practices to bring about a qualitative transformation in the industry and transform Egypt into a leading regional hub for innovative electronic designs.
