Summary

It is crucial to develop a way to use the internet to benefit the less fortunate of the world. The most powerful aspect of the knowledge based economy is the internet and the internet is starting to have a great influence on:

• world trade
• global production
• and society at large.

The issue at hand is how to manage the internet for the good of everyone and how to apply it to developing countries and the 1.5 billion people who live on less than 1 dollar a day. Countries need to be able to collect, process and use digital information in order have economic growth.

Less than 1% of the world’s population is part of the knowledge economy. In Egypt there are 540,000 internet users out of the 68 million citizens and only 0.03 per cent of the population has an email address. It is said that 8.5 people out of 100 have access to a telephone.

Egypt is determined to become part of the knowledge economy despite its economic troubles. Since 1999, building an information society for economic and social development has been a central goal so they developed the Ministry of Information and Communication technology. They have also developed computer clubs for low income youth, training for small and medium size business managers, links to offshore software development and training. There are many challenges and constraints to developing a thriving knowledge economy within Egypt. Their success is dependent on four variables:

• an IT infrastructure
• a knowledge economy
• a public culture of discursive openness
• and formal legal institutions which support the digital age.

Their challenges include serious infrastructural and demographic challenges, political and economic centralization, a reticence toward innovation that would be unlikely to affect any but the top of the Egyptian social pyramid. Some constraints they face are the government’s narrow interpretation of desirable information flow, poverty, illiteracy, and un or underemployment. The current situation does not bode well for a thriving knowledge economy in Egypt but there are some positive steps being made to make it a reality in the future.

The policy makers and IT professionals are highly skilled but many Egyptians are skeptical. The speed of innovation required to be competitive is unlikely to evolve quickly. However, some universities in Egypt are offering access to technologies which has been a big selling point for students. Until the small & medium enterprise base adopt the information society vision of government Egypt’s transition will be slow. There are also heavy value added taxes on most imported technologies making access to the most basic technological tools out of reach.

The Egyptian government has set forth a plan implementing the internet and other technologies into their society in order to capitalize on the benefits. They have developed councils consisting of highly skilled individuals.The Cabinet Information Decision and Support Center was developed in the early 80’s. In 1987 the Governorate Information and Decision Support Center was developed which created an info system with which to better manage Egypt’s foreign debt, reducing it by 10 billion dollars. The national project for technology renaissance has four branches- development of an IT infrastructure and internet content, the creation of a flexible information society, the expansion of IT systems as tools for economic and social development and increasing the number and quality of IT professionals in Egypt.

The national project for technology renaissance has key projects that they are focusing on to better prepare Egypt for this transition. They plan on:

• modernizing and expanding the national telecommunications network and bolstering the power of the telecommunications regulatory authority
• introducing e-commerce and e-government
• improving the postal system
• training 20,000 government employees in IT annually
• and establishing a development plan for technical education.

Despite skepticism there have already been technological strides made within Egypt. Many Egyptians feel like there is a lack of utility in the new technology and others fear the technology will be inaccurate. However, you can now do many things online in Egypt including reserving a train ticket, finding forms online, instructions and other information to make public administration run smoother.

Internet use is growing at 100% a year. Job and housing searching is available online along with health care information and internet cafes are sprouting up more and more training centers. These training centers are doing a lot to narrow the digital divide. Through a project called 'Kafelet el-internet,' the IDSC is helping to wire over 300 villages with permanent internet connectivity. This enhanced internet access is creating a new avenue of economy in Egypt, but before these plans can be fully realized experts say that much stronger legal institutions should be put in place.

As of right now, Egypt does not have a solid legal foundation on which to build their e-economy. It is said that because many of the law makers do not understand the need for an internet economy, it can be very hard to get laws passed in regards to technology. The USAID has realized this and has created programs which address three key variables that Egypt needs to work on.

According to these programs, the first thing that must be done to create an information society is to develop institutions to support a "cashless society." As it stands now, most of Egypt can not be approved for a credit card, and thus there is no demand for credit card transactions. Without a way to pay for items and services online, no society could hope to become an information society.

Secondly, commercial cyber laws must be put in place in order for an internet economy to flourish. It is important to have a computerized court system, and also to make Egyptians economic data transparent so that they can be more easily approved for credit.

Finally, these programs realize that without intellectual property protection, an information society will not be able to stand on its own. Currently, it is very hard to innovate in Egypt because of relaxed copyright laws which make piraters feel safe. Thankfully however, Egypt's recent enforcement of violations has drastically reduced piracy. Some statistics put piracy at a 50 to 75 percent downturn.

Egypt recognizes that in order to achieve socioeconomic development and growth that is must become a knowledge based economy. For a knowledge economy to emerge, money and human capital are necessary. Human capital refers to workers who can know, think, imagine. Human capital is sustainable. Financial capital can come from the state, private sector, international aid, or foreign direct investment. Human capital is provided by the Gov, private local/global capital investment, organizations such as the world bank, IMF, and USAID. Maintaining human capital may be difficult for Egypt. IT professionals trained in Egypt with an international certificate can make more money in other countries. This could prove to be good in the long run if the Egypt-trained IT professionals work elsewhere and return to the country with more experience and insight.

From 1999 to 2001, IT investments in Egypt have doubled. Furthermore, growth in the IT sector has exceeded all other growth in the economy (35% per year)

Egyptian IT market currently generates $40 million a year. This is very small when compared to that of India's ($8 bill) and USA's ($1 trill). The Goal of Egyptian government and investors is to generate $1 billion a year over the next ten years. To achieve this goal, Egypt needs financial support to fund start up businesses as well as training projects to generate the necessary human capital.

Compared to well established Knowledge Economies, Egypt lacks sufficient human capital. In 2000, there were only 5000 IT professionals nationally. In India there were 500,000 and 6 million in the US. IBM Egypt sends its most valued workers to training that certifies them under international standards. Government is funding multi-national training partnerships with IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, etc. The Regional Information Technology Institute and Information Technology Institute provide training and certification fro young IT professionals. Ministry of Education began the Technology Development Center to enact education reform to make technology an important part of the curriculum. GOE sponsored other initiatives to expose children to computers and new technologies. 21st Century Club has trained 42,000 students so far.

The government created Ministry of Communication and Information Technology to manage IT growth. Their budget has increased steadily from $6 mil in 1999 to $15 mil in 2001. The Minister wishes to invest $50 mil in a bi-national fun with the US to create new ventures. India created a similar fund and Egypt hopes to model their success. There were some limitations to the India case that Egypt wishes to avoid. Limitations were: lack of sufficient telecommunications infrastructure and electricity, lack of privatized data communications infrastructure, lack of sufficient trickle down effects in effort to bridge the digital divide.

To avoid these limitations, efforts are being made to build up Egypt's infrastructure. Orascom Holdings is investing in cell phones, Baghat group is building smart cities that are wired for internet connectivity. The government is pursuing strategies to encourage Foreign Direct Investment that would finance the improvement of workers skill sets, equipment updates, and management retraining. Five million new telephone lines using wireless technology are being installed. So far, the World Bank, IFC, and USAID are donating capital to computerize banking, and to develop high value services in banking sector. From 1999 to 2001, IT investments in Egypt have doubled. Furthermore, growth in the IT sector has exceeded all other growth in the economy (35% per year). Still though, growth in Egyptian IT is hindered by a lack of communication between investors and entrepreneurs. The Informal Society of Technology Entrepeneurs was formed to tackle this lack of communication.

50% of the population is under 25. They have either grown up using computers or are aware of them unlike the other 50% who are more likely to be opposed to new technologies. Because children are more open to computers and other technologies they will serve as good sources of innovative ideas. 50% of pop lives in poverty while only 3% qualify as wealthy (consumer spending of around $4000 per year). It is argued that training children in technology is useless and it is still unknown if IT will improve the quality of life of the poor. It is likely that it will only widen the gap between the rich and the poor. 50-70% of poor are illiterate in Arabic, let alone English. Some NGOS propose streaming pictures or videos that demonstrate better farming techniques, commodity process, and trade opportunities. Possibilities to enhance productivity, secure crop prices. As it is seen now only the upper ranks of Egyptian Society stand to gain anything from a knowledge based economy because they are typically English fluent, computer literate, educated, and have access to financial capital.

As the number of connected individuals through the internet increases, an information society by which ideas flow between its users grows. Use of technological means are regulated differently by different governments. Ideally, an information society should develop a culture of discursive openness in order to flourish. Discursive openness allows the flow of ideas through technological means to be unregulated, uncensored, and allowed to develop freely. This is not the case in many countries gaining internet access for the first time, such as Egypt. The Egyptian government's censorship of the internet hinders their full participation in a global information society, and hinders the rights of its citizens.

Recently judged by the Freedom House of Press Freedom as in the lower third of all countries in terms of individual freedoms, as well as in the bottom half in terms of democracy, the Egyptian government believes strongly in internet restrictions. This is clear in the creation of a police branch specific to internet monitoring. A dual citizen of both the United States and Egypt, Saad Ibrahim was recently imprisoned for creating a video criticizing the Egyptian government and placing it on the web. Similarly, two homosexual Egyptian men met through the internet and planned to meet, and were arrested at their meeting spot, despite homosexuality not being illegal in Egypt. These restrictions and monitoring enacted by the Egyptian government do not promote discursive openness, and must be reformed in order for Egypt to successfully modernize their country and join the global community created by the internet.

In response to the growing gap between the haves and the have-nots in the digital divide, less economically stable countries, such as Egypt, are attempting to modernize their country and connect its citizens through the internet. In all fairness, and despite certain actions, the plunge into the technological world by Egypt has enjoyed moderate success. The push towards modernization has come from the need to create job opportunities, as well as increase the overall wealth of the nation. The Egyptian government is lessening the individual expense of connectivity by creating many internet cafes, and providing its citizens means of access via land-line telephone connections. This enables individuals without the means of purchasing computers the ability to connect through the internet. Many of these connections are charged by the minute, further lessening the effect on its citizens own finances.

Egypt still has quite a distance to go before realizing a destination of discursive openness within their newly formed information society. Only when internet access is unregulated and unmonitored can the country of Egypt and its citizens truly enjoy and participate in the growing global society connected through the internet. Egypt's future relies on correct, responsible infiltration of the internet into its society, which undoubtedly includes greater internet freedoms, and less government control. These technologies must find their way into Egypt's education system, breeding future generations with knowledge and control of the internet. Without such reforms, the Egyptian government only runs the risk of widening the gap between the rich and poor, or, the haves and have-nots, in society's digital divide.

Stage Summaries

Intro

• It is crucial to develop a way to use the internet to benefit the less fortunate of the world.

The most powerful aspect of the knowledge based economy is the internet and the internet is starting to have a great influence on world trade, global production and society at large.
The issue at hand is how to manage the internet for the good of everyone and how to apply it to developing countries and the 1.5 billion people who live on less than 1 dollar a day.
Countries need to be able to collect, process and use digital information in order have economic growth.
Less than 1% of the world’s population is part of the “knowledge economy.”
In Egypt there are 540,000 internet users out of the 68 million citizens and only 8.5 people out of 100 have access to a telephone.

• Egypt is determined to become part of the knowledge economy despite its economic troubles.

Since 1999, building an information society for economic and social development has been a central goal so they developed the Ministry of Information and Communication technology.
They have also developed computer clubs for low income youth, training for small and medium size business managers, links to offshore software development and training.

• There are many challenges and constraints to developing a thriving knowledge economy within Egypt.

Their success is dependent on four variables: an IT infrastructure, a knowledge economy, a public culture of discursive openness and formal legal institutions which support the digital age.
Their challenges include serious infrastructural and demographic challenges, political and economic centralization, a reticence toward innovation that would be unlikely to affect any but the top of the Egyptian social pyramid. Some constraints they face are the government’s narrow interpretation of desirable information flow, poverty, illiteracy, and un or underemployment.

Local Narratives & Demographics

• The current situation does not bode well for a thriving knowledge economy in Egypt but there are some positive steps being made to make it a reality in the future.

The policy makers and IT professionals are highly skilled but many Egyptians are skeptical. The speed of innovation required to be competitive is unlikely to evolve quickly. However, some universities in Egypt are offering access to technologies which has been a big selling point for students. Until the small& medium enterprise base adopt the information society vision of government Egypt’s transition will be slow. There are also heavy value added taxes on most imported technologies making access to the most basic technological tools out of reach.

The Vision

• The Egyptian government has set forth a plan implementing the internet and other technologies into their society in order to capitalize on the benefits.
• The have developed councils consisting of highly skilled individuals.The Cabinet Information Decision and Support Center was developed in the early 80’s. In 1987 the Governorate Information and Decision Support Center was developed which created an info system with which to better manage Egypt’s foreign debt, reducing it by 10 billion dollars. The national project for technology renaissance has four branches- development of an IT infrastructure and internet content, the creation of a flexible information society, the expansion of IT systems as tools for economic and social development and increasing the number and quality of IT professionals in Egypt.
• The national project for technology renaissance has key projects that they are focusing on to better prepare Egypt for this transition. They plan on modernizing and expanding the national telecommunications network and bolstering the power of the telecommunications regulatory authority, introducing ecommerce and e.government, improving the postal system, training 20,000 government employees in IT annually and establishing a development plan for technical education.
• Despite skepticism there have already been technological strides made within Egypt. Many Egyptians feel like there is a lack of utility in the new technology and others fear the technology will be inaccurate. However, you can now do many things online in Egypt including reserving a train ticket, finding forms online, instructions and other information to make public administration run smoother.

Internet use is growing at 100% a year. Job and housing searching is available online along with health care information and
internet cafes are sprouting up and more training centers.

IT Infrastructure

• As of today, less than three per cent of Egyptian businesses have a website. Furthermore, only 0.03 per cent of the Egyptian population have an e-mail address.
• The technical infrastructure of Egypt requires major overhaul if Egypt is to become an information society. As it stands now, much of Egypt's connectivity is located in Cairo while other cities are stuck with much slower connections.
• Internet cafes and training centers are going a long way towards making the internet accessible to much of Egypt. Many of these internet centers are being built by The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology as part of a project called 'Kafelet el-internet.'

Formal Legal Institutions

• Experts agree that a society must have laws in place regarding internet finance, taxation, and intellectual property protection before that society can flurish as an information society. In this regard, Egypt has a long way to go.
• Minister of Communication and Information Techonology Nazif has expressed that he is surprised at how hard it is to get internet laws passed through Egypt's legal system. It has been said by a CEO of a local IT venture that the reason it is so hard to get e-laws passed is due to the fact that many of Egypt's law makers are computer illiterate fifty year olds (P.633).
• USAID and other foreign parties have recognised that the institutional variable is one of the largest problems that Egypt faces on it's way to becoming an information society. These groups have taken to setting up programs which will create the instituations Egypt needs to support e-commerce. These groups have focused on three main aspects:

1.) The need for instituations to support a "cashless" society. Credit cards are often unattainable for Egyptians because of the LE5000 deposit required. Many business don't accept credit cards because so few Egyptians have them. This low demand has also slowed down the development of many online banking services.
2.)Commercial cyber laws: The Information Decision and Support Center is working to create a set of laws which will focus on online privacy protection and e-commerce security. This is important because the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt has noted that until Egypt's judicial process is computerized and it's data is made available to the business community, Egypt will be difficult to invest in( American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, June 1996, p.1).
3.) Intellectual Property Protection: As it stands now, Egypt has an absence of proper legal protection for intellectual property. This isn't to say that Egypt isn't making strides in copywrite protection however, as the Minister of Communication and INformation Technology, Ahmad Nazif, has been quoted as saying recent public government enforcement of violators has reduced piracy by as much as 50-75 percent (American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, 2001:2).

Knowledge Economy

• At the Middle East and North Afirca Economic Summit in 1994 Egypt identified the transition from an industrial economy to a knowledge based economy as one of the most important steps toward socio-economic development and growth. With protection from law, human and financial capital investment will increase and allow for the emergence of an information society.
• Egyptian culture is risk adverse, afraid of change, and built on conformity. It is not a well nurturing environment for an innovative knowledge-based economy to emerge.
• For a knowledge economy to emerge, money and human capital are necessary. Human capital refers to workers who can know, think, imagine. Human capital is sustainable. Financial capital can come from the state, private sector, international aid, or foreign direct investment. Human capital is provided by the Gov, private local/global capital investment, organizations such as the world bank, IMF, and USAID.
• Maintaining human capital may be difficult for Egypt. IT professionals trained in Egypt can make more money in other countries, therefore a brain drain is possible. The United States is known for
• Unlike the USA who supposedely soak up “good brains” from other countries, Egypt has opened up its borders allowing its smartest citizens to come and go. Bad in the short term but good in the long term when these skilled workers return with more knowledge and broader connections that would not have been acquired otherwise.

Countries need to provide workers with needed skills to compete on an international level, and also provide them with incentives to either stay at home or to return at a later date.

• Governments and corporations need to provide workers with environments that encourageinnovation. R&D support, political expirementation, education that allows for innovation, new forms of communication/behaving.
• Egyptian IT market currently generates $40 million a year. This is very small when compared to that of India's ($8 bill) and USA's ($1 trill). The Goal of Egyptian government and investors is to generate $1 billion a year over the next ten years. To achieve this goal, Egypt needs financial support to fund start up businesses as well as training projects to generate the necessary human capital.
• With the purpose of investing capital in Egypt, the government created Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. Their budget is increasing steadily from $6 mil in 1999 to $15 mil in 2001. The Minister wishes to invest $50 mil in a bi-national fun with the US to create new ventures. India created a similar fund and Egypt hopes to model their success. There were some limitations to the India case that Egypt wishes to avoid. Limitations were: lack of sufficient telecommunications infrastructure and electricity, lack of privatized data communications infrastructure, lack of sufficient trickle down effects in effort to bridge the digital divide.
• Local Venture capitalists are funding start ups related to an information economy. Orascom Holdings is investing in cell phones, Baghat group is building smart cities that are wired for internet connectivity. However when compared to venture capitalist investments abroad it is not very much. European investment is 1000 times greater than that in the arab world.
• Growth in Egyptian IT is hindered by a lack of communication between investors and entrepreneurs. The Informal Society of Technology Entrepeneurs was formed to takle this lack of communication.
• The government is pursuing strategies to encourage Foreign Direct Investment that would finance the improvement of workers skill sets, equipment updates, and management retraining. Five million new telephone lines using wireless technology are being installed. So far, the World Bank, IFC, and USAID are donating capital to computerize banking, and to develop high value services in banking sector. From 1999 to 2001, IT investments in Egypt have doubled. Furthermore, growth in the IT sector has exceeded all other growth in the economy (35% per year)
• Only 5000 IT professionals nationally in 2000 compared with 500,000 in India and 6 Milliion in the US. IBM Egypt sends its most valued workers to training that certifies them under international standards. Government is funding multi-national training partnerships with IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, etc. The Regional Information Technology Institute and Information Technoloy Institute provide training and certification fro young IT professionals. Ministry of Education began the Technology Development Center to enact education reform to make technology an important part of the curriculum. GOE sponsored other initiatives to expose children to computers and new technologies. 21st Century Club has trained 42,000 students so far.
• 50% of the population is under 25. They have either grown up using computers or are aware of them unlike the other 50% who are more likely to be opposed to new technologies. Because children are more open to computers and other technologies they will serve as good sources of innovative ideas. 50% of pop lives in poverty while only 3% qualify as wealthy (consumer spending of around $4000 per year). It is argued that training children in technology is useless and it is still unknown if IT will improve the quality of life of the poor. It is likely that it will only widen the gap between the rich and the poor. 50-70% of poor are illiterate in Arabic, let alone English. Some NGOS propose streaming pictures or videosthat demonstrate better farming techniques, commodity process, and trade opportunities. Possibilities to enhance productivity, secure crop prices.
• As it is seen now only the upper ranks of Egyptian Society stand to gain anything from a knowledge based economy because they are typically English fluent, computer literate, educated, and have access to financial capital.

Culture of Discursive Openness

Thesis
A culture of discursive openness describes an information society by which the flow of ideas through technological means are unregulated, uncensored, and allowed to develop freely. The Egyptian government hinders this concept by restricting internet freedoms and monitoring use by its citizens.

• In order for a successful information society to come to fruition, discursive openness must be established throughout the technological world.
• Regularly rated as one of the worst countries in the sense of individual freedoms, the Egyptian government significantly monitors and restricts internet access and individual postings.
• A specific police force was instituted to enforce the government's internet restrictions.

Conclusion

Thesis
In response to the growing gap between the haves and the have-nots in the digital divide, less economically stable countries, such as Egypt, are attempting to modernize their country and connect its citizens through the internet. Without certain freedoms and discursive openness, however, Egypt has quite a distance to go before creating a lucid information society.

• Access to the internet grants less-wealthy countries such as Egypt the opportunity for economical growth in the growing technological, global, marketplace.
• Egypt has seen a growth in internet cafes and other means by which internet access can be more affordable, and more accessible.
• Egyptian attempts at modernization have been relatively successful, but require reform from the government stronghold on the internet before a true information society to be created.

Raw Notes

Intro

The most powerful aspect of the knowledge based economy is the internet and the internet is starting to have a great influence on world trade, global production and society at large.

The issue at hand is how to manage the internet for the good of everyone and how to apply it to developing countries and the 1.5 billion people who live on less than 1 dollar a day.

Countries need to be able to collect, process and use digital information in order have economic growth.
Less than 1% of the world’s population is part of the “knowledge economy.”

In Egypt there are 540,000 internet users out of the 68 million citizens and only 8.5 people out of 100 have access to a telephone.

Since 1999, building an information society for economic and social development has been a central goal so they developed the Ministry of Information and Communication technology.
They have also developed computer clubs for low income youth, training for small and medium size business managers, links to offshore software development and training.

This is all dependant on four variables: an IT infrastructure, a knowledge economy, a public culture of discursive openness and formal legal institutions which support the digital age.

Challenges: Serious infrastructural and demographic challenges, political and economic centralization, a reticence toward innovation that would be unlikely to affect any but the top of the Egyptian social pyramid.

Constraints: Government’s narrow interpretation of desirable information flow, poverty, illiteracy, un or underemployment.

Local Narratives & Demographics

"information society is a form of social and economic development where the acquisition, storage, processing, assessment, transmission and diffusion of information leads to the generation of knowledge and the fulfillment of needs of individuals and firms and thereby plays an important role in economic activity, the generation of wealth and the quality of the lives of citizens."

The policy makers and IT professionals are highly skilled but many Egyptians are skeptical.

The speed of innovation required to be competitive is unlikely to evolve quickly.

Some universities in Egypt are offering access to technologies.

Until the small& medium enterprise base adopt the information society vision of government Egypt’s transition will be slow.

There are also heavy value added taxes on most imported technologies making access to the most basic technological tools out of reach.

The Vision

The Cabinet Information Decision and Support Center was developed in the early 80’s.

In 1987 the Governorate Information and Decision Support Center was developed which created an info system with which to better manage Egypt’s foreign debt, reducing it by 10 billion dollars.

The national project for technology renaissance has four branches- development of an IT infrastructure and internet content, the creation of a flexible information society, the expansion of IT systems as tools for economic and social development and increasing the number and quality of IT professionals in Egypt.
Key Projects: Modernizing and expanding the national telecommunications network and bolstering the power of the telecommunications regulatory authority, introducing ecommerce and e.government, improving the postal system, training 20,000 government employees in IT annually, establishing a development plan for technical education.

Because the bulk of information technology is concentrated in Cairo, Giza and Alexandria so the awareness of the benefits and outcomes of the use of information on socio-economic development.

Many Egyptians feel like there is a lack of utility in the new technology and others fear the technology will be inaccurate.

However you can now do many things online in Egypt including reserving a train ticket, finding forms online, instructions and other information to make public administration run smoother.
Internet use is growing at 100% a year.

Job and housing searching is available online along with health care information.

Internet cafes are sprouting up and more training centers.

IT Infrastructure

• For an information society to be set up, it is important that the society has adequate access to PC and telephone services.

• In order to keep an information society running, electricity must be reliable and plentiful.

• Most bandwidth in Egypt is concentrated in Cairo because it is the capital city, however internet cafes and service providers are bringing IT to smaller villages.

• The Ministry of communication and Information Technology has created a project called 'Kafelet el-internet' which looks to wire 300 villages with permanent internet connectivity.

• Only .03 percent of the Egyptian population have an e-mail connection (Blakey, 2000:1).

• Despite this, ISPs are predicting massive technological growth in Egypt over the next ten years because of wholesale bandwidth.

Formal Legal Institutions

• It is important for a society to have legal frameworks for IP protection, taxation, and dispute resolution among other laws.

• Governing e-business is vital to online trading.

• As the United State shows, economic use of the internet will cause bring about connectivity.

• Legal safeguards encourage investment into many practical uses for the internet, which can make or break and information society.

• Legislation in Egypt is difficult because most of the ministry of ICT is computer illiterate and do not take this new technology seriously.

• Egypt has only 200,000 credit card accounts active and needs to develop into a more "cashless" society in order to become an information society.

• Egypt lacks a decent protection against intellectual property theft, and this causes an issue because piracy is running rampant. Steps are being taken to ensure that piracy is on the decline.

Knowledge Economy

At the Middle East and North Afirca Economic Summit in 1994 Egypt identified the transition from an industrial economy to a knowledge based economy as one of the most important steps.

Egyptian culture is risk adverse, afraid of change, and built on conformity. Not a well nurturing environment for an innovative knowledge based economy to emerge.

For a knowledge economy to emerge, money and human capital are necessary. Human capital refers to workers who can know, think, imagine. Human capital is sustainable.

Unlike the USA who supposedely soak up “good brains” from other countries, Egypt has opened up its borders allowing its smartest citizens to come and go. Bad in the short term but good in the long term when these skilled workers return with more knowledge and broader connections that would not have been acquired otherwise.

Countries need to provide workers with needed skills to compete on an international level, and also provide them with incentives to either stay at home or to return at a later date.

Governments and corporations need to provide workers with environments that encourageinnovation. R&D support, political expirementation, education that allows for innovation, new forms of communication/behaving.

Human capital is provided by the Gov, private local/global capital investment, organizations such as the world bank, IMF, and USAID.

Egyptian IT market generates 40 million a year. Compare with India (8 bill) and USA (1 trill).

Goal of Egyptian government and investors is to generate 1 billion a year over the next ten years. To achieve this goal Egypt needs financial support for new businesses, and training projects to generate the necessary human capital.

Government created Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. Budget is increasing steadily from 6 mil in 99 to 15 mil in 01.

Minister wishes to invest 50 mil in a bi-national fun with the US to create new ventures. A similar fund was created with India and Egypt hopes to model their success. There were some limitations to the India case that Egypt wishes to avoid. Limitations were: lack of sufficient telecommunications infrastructure and electricity, lack of privatized data communications infrastructure, lack of sufficient trickle down effects in effort to bridge the digital divide.

Local Venture capitalists are funding start ups. However not much compared to investments abroad. European investment is 1000 times greater than in arab world.

Orascom Holdings is investing in cell phones, Baghat group is building smart cities that are wired for internet connectivity.

However there is a lack of communication between investors and entrepreneurs, hinders growth. The Informal Society of Technology Entrepeneurs started to understand this problem.

The Information market in Egypt is small however cyberspace is a global market therefore there is plenty of room to grow.

Government is pursuing strategies to encourage Foreign Direct Investment. Finanacing the improvement of workers skill sets, equipment updating, and management retraining. Installing 5 million new telephone lines using wireless technology.

World Bank, IFC, and USAID donating capital to computerize banking, and to develop high value services in banking sector.

IT investments have doubled from 99 to 2000. Growth in IT sector exceeded all other growth in the economy (35% per year)

Only 5000 IT professionals nationally in 2000 compared with 500,000 in India and 6 Milliion in the US.

IBM Egypt sends its most valued workers to training that certifies them under international standards.

Government is funding multi-national training partnerships with IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, etc.

Regional Information Technology Institute and Information Technoloy Institute provide training and certification fro young IT professionals.

Ministry of Education began the Technology Development Center to enact education reform to make technology an important part of the curriculum.

GOE sponsored other initiatives to expose children to computers and new technologies. 21st Century Club has trained 42,000 students so far.

50 percent of the population is under 25. They have either grown up using computers or are aware of them unlike the other 50%who are more likely to be opposed to new technologies. Because children are more open to computers and other technologies they will serve as good sources of innovative ideas.

50% of pop lives in poverty while only 3% qualify as wealthy (consumer spending of around $4000 per year.

It is argued that training children in technology is useless. “what good is training students in Egypt to talk to students in the US?”

Still unknown if IT will improve the quality of life of the poor. It is likely that it will only widen the gap between the rich and the poor.

50-70% of poor are illiterate in Arabic, let alone English. Some NGOS propose streaming pictures or videosthat demonstrate better farming techniques, commodity process, and trade opportunities. Possibilities to enhance productivity, secure crop prices.

As it is seen now only the upper ranks of Egyptian Society stand to gain anything from a knowledge based economy because they are typically English fluent, computer literate, educated, and have access to financial capital.

Culture of Discursive Openness

Information society - means by which information is passed between societies and countries

censorship hinders an information society

Arab countries (Egypt) are less free than the rest of the world

US/Egyptian Saad Ibrahim arrested for making movie about the government and democracy of Egypt

Egypt has specific police force monitoring internet use

In one case, two gay men met in a chat room, and planned to meet. The men were arrested at the meeting place.

Egypt does not have freedom of press, freedom of speech is often under attack

Egypt is not an information society, as the passing of information is restricted and often banned

Access to the internet does not always promote a free and open portal by which to post ideas

Conclusion

Egypt is trying to become more technological in order to promote positive growth for the country, which has been both successful and unsuccessful

Internet cafes have been created to lessen the cost of connecting to the internet, and offer free internet and training to some in poorer sections of Egypt

Technology has created a larger divide between the rich and poor (the digital divide)

Early advancements in society deemed successful, against odds.

In order for a successful information society to form in Egypt, access must spread between more of its citizens, as well as changes made towards a more technologically-based society