A new cooperation brings together higher education and communications to support digital transformation and artificial intelligence

The world is witnessing rapid technological transformations and intertwined development challenges. Therefore, progress requires building effective partnerships between various sectors, whether at the national or international level. Partnerships have become an essential pillar for supporting development efforts, through exchanging experiences, integrating resources, and unifying visions, thus enhancing the ability of countries to confront complex challenges and formulate more sustainable development paths.

In this context, the importance of employing artificial intelligence and digital transformation technologies to be pivotal tools for supporting the efficiency of institutional performance and enhancing decision-making capacity, which contributes to achieving more accurate and effective results, is highlighted. These technologies also represent a fundamental pillar in developing services and improving the quality of life, in a digital environment that requires speed of response and continuous innovation.

Countries are keen to adopt integrated policies that enhance the efficiency of their institutions and support transparency and equal opportunities, in addition to expanding the scope of cooperation between government agencies and various sectors, which contributes to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) more effectively. This trend extends to include building future capabilities capable of keeping pace with global changes, by investing in knowledge and technology and enhancing innovation environments, within the framework of a comprehensive vision that places humans at the heart of the development process.

Supporting digital transformation and innovation in university education

Then, Dr. Abdel Aziz Qanswa, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and Eng. Raafat Hindi, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, held an expanded meeting at the headquarters of the Ministry of Higher Education in the New Capital, in a strategic step towards enhancing digital transformation in the university education sector. To discuss joint work axes to develop the educational and research system using modern technologies, which represents a practical application of the comprehensive Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The meeting dealt with four main axes, including capacity building, artificial intelligence, digital transformation, and supporting innovation and entrepreneurship, within the framework of an integrated approach that reflects the state’s keenness to invest in human capabilities and enhance integration between the higher education and communications sectors, which contributes to preparing qualified cadres capable of keeping pace with rapid technological developments and enhancing labor market competitiveness, in line with the comprehensive Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially Goal (16) peace, justice and strong institutions, and Goal (17) contracting companies to achieve the goals.

Dr. Abdul Aziz Qanswa confirmed that the Ministry has adopted a clear approach to expanding the use of artificial intelligence applications within universities, in a way that supports the development of education and scientific research, noting that the next stage will witness an expansion in the use of modern technologies to enhance innovation and improve the quality of the educational process in line with the state’s vision to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including providing quality education, achieving peace and justice, and building strong institutions, stressing the importance of training teaching assistants and assistant teachers to prepare academic cadres capable of employing technology efficiently, which contributes to Improving educational outcomes and linking them to development and labor market requirements.

Linking scientific research with industry and strengthening the economy

The Minister of Higher Education stressed the ministry’s keenness to enhance cooperation with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to implement strategic projects that support digital transformation, noting the importance of linking promotion with excellence in applied scientific research to direct research towards development needs and maximize the benefit from its outputs. He also stressed the need to stimulate the knowledge economy by expanding the involvement of faculty members in industry, which contributes to transferring expertise and applying research results practically, and creating a real shift in academic culture towards greater connection with development reality.

In this context, the Minister referred to the plan to create Technology Parks within universities to support innovation and enhance the link between scientific research and industry, stressing the importance of transforming research outputs into practical applications similar to international models.

He also explained that the Ministry is working to create a stimulating environment for researchers by providing funding and supporting innovation, in parallel with launching joint initiatives with the Ministry of Communications to support applied projects with competitive mechanisms, in addition to the pivotal role of the Science, Technology and Innovation Finance Authority in supporting these efforts. He stressed that empowering students and graduates remains a priority, by providing advanced technological training to create real job opportunities that support the knowledge economy.

Databases to support decision making

The meeting also discussed work on creating integrated databases, especially in the field of artificial intelligence, to support decision-making, in addition to attracting Egyptian scientists abroad to establish digital centers of excellence, announcing the start of financing graduation projects in a competitive manner starting from the next academic year, while organizing competitions in technology and innovation at the local, regional and international levels to enhance students’ skills and competitiveness.

Engineer Raafat Hindi, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, stressed the keenness of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to strengthen cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in building and expanding the human skills base in the fields of artificial intelligence, quantum computing and emerging technologies, which supports the competitiveness of the communications and information technology sector and develops the digital economy and the sector’s contribution to the national product, and that this depends on training and qualification curricula as well as the implementation of digital transformation at the level of all Egyptian universities in addition to the availability of a supportive environment. For innovation.

Expansion of training programs within educational curricula

During the meeting, the two ministers discussed the expansion of training programs by integrating technical training programs into university curricula, based on the successful cooperation experience with Cairo University in entrepreneurship while linking training to the needs of the labor market.

The two ministers discussed maximizing the role of academic institutions in implementing the second phase of the national strategy for artificial intelligence by implementing 11 strategic initiatives whose success is measured through 21 performance indicators, the most important of which is targeting artificial intelligence specialists to reach 50,000 specialists within 5 years, in addition to training 30,000 professionals, and working to popularize the artificial intelligence course as a graduation requirement for all university students.

The two sides also touched on cooperation with the Applied Innovation Center to implement artificial intelligence solutions, most notably early detection of diabetic retinopathy with university hospitals and early detection of breast cancer for women with the National Cancer Institute and university hospitals.

In the field of digital transformation, the two ministers discussed the implementation of several projects, including the project to issue digital graduation certificates through the Digital Egypt platform, developing and making educational services available on the platform using the digital identity, using data analysis tools to provide accurate indicators about the needs of the labor market and the specializations required in the future, expanding the application of the electronic testing system and implementing institutional management systems within the ministry and universities to improve management efficiency, enhance governance and raise operating efficiency.

In conclusion, the cooperation between the Ministries of Higher Education and Communications reflects a comprehensive strategy to enhance digital transformation and employ artificial intelligence in university education, in a way that supports the development of human capabilities and improves the quality of education and scientific research.

The Earth Guards Foundationconfirms that cooperation between the Ministries of Higher Education and Scientific Research represents a practical step towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), most notably quality education, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure, peace, justice and strong institutions, and partnerships to achieve the goals, which enhances the integration between knowledge, technology and sustainable development.