President El-Sisi during a meeting with Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat (left) and Director of the Egyptian Military Academy Lieutenant General Ashraf Salem Zaher (right) on Wednesday. Photo courtesy of the Egyptian Presidency
This occurred during a meeting between President El-Sisi, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat, and Director of the Egyptian Military Academy Lieutenant-General Ashraf Salem Zaher, according to a statement by the Egyptian presidency on Wednesday.
The Digilians initiative, announced by El-Sisi in March, aims to qualify and train young people in communications, information technology, and software, the statement added.
Building on El-Sisi’s directives to support and qualify computer science graduates for the labour market, the initiative will offer training in high-demand fields such as artificial intelligence, programming, cybersecurity, digital design, and digital arts.
The project, with an annual target of 5,000 students, is expected to cost around EGP 3 billion for accommodation and study spaces and EGP 1 billion annually for training programmes, according to a previous statement.
During the meeting, El-Sisi was briefed on the latest developments regarding the Digilians initiative, especially the executive procedures for enrollment and the progress made so far, including creating a dedicated registration platform.
Meanwhile, Minister Talaat indicated that the initiative is open to all youth of both genders, from various academic and professional backgrounds, representing all governorates of Egypt.
He clarified that selection will be based on objective criteria, and the educational programme will include various tracks such as an intensive diploma, specialized diploma, professional master's, and academic master's degrees.
All the initiative's programmes will be free, including accommodation, meals, and training.
The minister also emphasized that the curriculum will cover a comprehensive range of technical, personal, language, life, leadership, and freelancing skills.
Moreover, the president was briefed on the initiative's learning and development paths. These paths start with building students’ technical skills and then, after completing the theoretical phase, internships with a wide range of global and local companies operating in Egypt.
El-Sisi added that the focus will be on supporting participants to develop a technology-based, profit-generating project idea, contributing to Digital Egypt projects, and helping all trainees create accounts on freelancing platforms and secure real-world projects.
As per an agreement between the Ministry of Communications and the Military Academy, the initiative's programmes include technical training, personal development courses, English language instruction, and hands-on experience collaborating with leading international and local companies.
On Wednesday, El-Sisi also directed strengthening cooperation with specialized entities in various technological sciences, both domestically and internationally, to enhance Egyptian youth's language, life, and leadership skills.
Furthermore, he stressed the importance of implementing digital transformation plans and advancing the country’s technological infrastructure in alignment with the national strategy for building digital capabilities and training specialized technology professionals.
Short link: