Cairo ICT, A Networked Hemisphere… Cairo ICT does not only serve the Egyptian market – though this market is neither small, nor is developed enough – but also serves a region which is hungry for technology but with a twist. Africa and the Middle East constitute at least half of the southern hemisphere, with conditions very much similar. Cairo ICT serves all those markets, as the trend for visitors to attend the prestigious event is on the rise. Cairo ICT 2011 has a better display of technologies than previous years with a new hall that increases the space an additional 25%. Serving vertical fields that range from health to oil and gas, from transport to tourism and real estate, Cairo ICT 2011 presents itself as the place where life shapes up in its modern application. Combining telecommunication (for professional and other purposes), Information Technology (software, hardware and networking) and Satellite Technology (serving both telcom and media fields), Cairo ICT started the trend 15 years ago and continues to do so for the years to come. 2011, a year after the global crisis started receding, the world promises higher hopes for revival and Cairo ICT promises more professional networking and face-to-face contacts and business deals.

All Records Broken as Cairo ICT 2010 Concludes

As Cairo ICT concluded its 14^th round on February 10, all previous records set by the event were already broken.

Against all odds, it proved to be the region’s black horse, rising above all other similar fairs or conferences of the region and realizing positive results at a time when all competitors witnessed negative figures.

Dr. Tarek Kamel Minister of Communications and Information Technology, who paid a second visit on Tuesday February 9 to sign a protocol with Minister of State for Environmental Affairs Magued George, expressed satisfaction with the feedback he had received from within and outside the Convention Centre.

Records broken at Cairo ICT 2010 included space, number of exhibitors, number of visitors, number of parallel events, and even number of hits on the website: www.cairoict.com.

Statistics and preliminary figures concluded show an 11% increase in space compared to that of 2008, a 14.2% increase in the number of exhibitors and a 16.6% increase in the number of visitors to both the exhibition and forum (shoppers’ visitors not accounted for).

Meanwhile, the website has a seen more than 2.400.080 million unique hits since the beginning of February and by the time the event concluded, thus offering 250,000 average hits daily. More than 1 million of those visitors went through pages other than the home page, signifying interest in the content of both the website and Cairo ICT.

Parallel events included a successful CXO Networking Event that gathered more than 150 CEOs and CIOs from the different walks of life – including the field of ICT – from the Middle East and Africa to discuss issues related to how to overcome economic difficulties by using ICT. Presentations to the CXOs covered a wide range of topics from “Cloud Computing” to “Remote Manageability” and from “Consolidation of Technologies” to “Virtualization”. Keynote speakers from Cisco, EMC, Intel, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, and Telecom Egypt.

The CXO Networking event was sponsored by the Chamber of Communications and Information Technology and supported by Egypt’s Information Technology Industry Development Association (ITIDA).

One of the main highlights of the events was a high-level lunch for American companies attended by the U.S. Ambassador in Egypt Margaret Scobey and a number of high level guests from both the government and the private sector.

“Green ICT” and “E-waste” came at the top of discussions in the forum, led by First Aide to the Minister of Communications and Information Technology Dr. Hoda Baraka, who also set the ground for other fruitful discussions around “Internet Safety” and “Online News”.

Other hot topics discussed were “Future Living and FTTH”, “Public Safety Networks” “The GPS Forum” and the hot opening panel “Destination Egypt”. “Digital Identity” was the title of a session chaired by Dr. Sherif Hashem, Advisor to the Minister of Communications and Information Technology covering digital signature, cyber security and mobile cash.

 
In the field of cinema and media two panels covered “The Future of Cinema through Technology” covering a wide scope of issues and preceded with a presentation on “I-Max Cinema”. This panel was headed by Egyptian movie star and renowned producer Isaad Younis.
On “The Future of Media and ERTU” a panel moderated by advertising guru Tarek Nour addressed topics that ranged from IPTV to digital terrestrial television, also highlighting TV on the Mobile and digital content.

The highest turnout in a conference session (more than 600 attendees) came to the untraditional presentation and community discussion Dr. Ahmed Darwish – Minister of State for Administrative Development – had regarding what do the young people want in the government’s 2012 – 2017 five-year plan.

The closing session, basically a “Broadband Forum” turned through a large presence of service providers and telecom specialists into an amazingly interesting consumer rights open debate.

In the meantime, more than 70,000 registered visitors expressed admiration of the novelty presented by more than 400 companies present of the fairgrounds over more than 19,000 square meters. The companies covered a wide horizon of fields from software to government, and from hardware to networks, integration, solutions for business, financial institutions, digital signature companies, telecom, mobile and Internet providers, as well as vendors of telecom technologies.

Other vertical fields included real estate companies within a confined location and the start of the Cairo Media and Entertainment Trends fair (Cairo MET) that saw more than 25 companies exhibiting state-of-the art technologies, services, equipment and trends in the field of media and cinema.

The “Future Bridge” organized jointly with the German University in Cairo and inaugurated by the German Ambassador in Egypt saw a multitude of projects students from more than 6 universities in Egypt are presenting as a milestone in creating a future based on open and well-cultured minds.

Specialized visits from SMBs arranged by both the Cairo and Alexandria Chambers of Commerce, led by Mr. Aly Moussa – Chairman of the Cairo Chamber of Commerce – saw presentations from Avaya, Cisco, and TE Data in an event that saw more than 450 companies and sponsored by Egypt post.

More details and a post show report will be provided soon