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Egypt upping high-tech game to smarten cities, services

The Egyptian government is launching itself into the world of technology by digitizing an array of services.

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An Egyptian man talks on his cellphone in front of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the headquarters of Telecom Egypt in Cairo, Egypt, Sept. 21, 2017. — REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Egypt is rolling out seven online government platforms to automate various state services and digitally transform the country. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology announced the plan May 26 and said the services will be available by June 30.

The platforms include ones for data, automated services, payments, strategic management (part of the "new Cairo" administrative capital project), geographic data, state property management and content.

The automated services platform will cover health insurance, taxes, social housing, special needs, commercial registration, real estate registration, education, subsidies, customs, traffic, marriage and divorce documents, and electricity and gas. The payments platform will aim to provide a smart card for each citizen to use for all relevant government services.

The services will be implemented first in Port Said at the northern end of the Suez Canal, making it Egypt's first "smart city." Major developmental projects are underway and will require high-tech capabilities.

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