Technological Boom Heading to the Middle East

New IBM Nanotechnology Research Center Planned for Egypt

Cairo. Sept 20, 2008. Earlier this week, in a bold move indicative of the climate of technological change in the region, Samuel J. Palmisano, IBM Chairman, President and CEO flew in to Cairo for the launching of a Global Service Delivery Center in Egypt and a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Nazif. The subject of the meeting: Egypt’s emerging role as a strong player in the new global economy. Capturing the growing potential of Egypt as knowledge-base exporter, Palmisano signed an agreement with the Egyptian government to create a 100-person nanotechnology research center which is expected to grow to 1000-persons. The agreement is effective immediately and is to be reinforced by advanced cooperation between Egyptian and international research groups.

Dr. Mohamed Abdel-Mottaleb, CEO and founder of SabryCorp Ltd., a Cairo-based nanotechnology consultancy firm says that this recent development is yet another landmark move made in the Middle East region towards advanced tech uptake in recent months. “Arab governments are waking up to the potential of advanced technologies to develop their economies and societies and to decrease world dependency on oil.” Dr. Abdel-Mottaleb says there is a shift in mentality in the region, which is now beginning to prioritize efforts to develop science and make the leap towards knowledge-based societies. He points out that initiatives are popping up across the region promoting nanotech R&D from government-sponsored seed funds to incentives for foreign investors.

These initiatives include an over $6 Billion USD fund by the Saudi Arabian government to upgrade its research and development infrastructure for advanced technologies and a $100 Million USD Nanotechnology fund launched by Arbah Global Gulf, a Bahrain-based investment arm of Arbah Capital. A second IBM nanotech center has already been slotted for Saudi Arabia to explore green-nano, pursuing research in the fields of alternative energy, water desalination, and petrochemical applications such as recyclable materials. Other innovative financing projects in the region include a plan to create the world’s first carbon-free city in the United Arab Emirates, an over $22 billion project to be completed over 8 years.

Egypt in particular has undergone radical shifts in its approach to advanced research and technology in recent years. Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Nazif, a PhD holder of Computer Engineering from McGill University in Montreal, has been instrumental in leading a restructuring of Egypt’s science and technology (S&T) governance model by streamlining and strengthening S&T policy and investment. These changes include a a $50 Million USD fund for advanced technology research, the creation of the Pyramids Smart Village (ICT zone), the creation of a Science and Technological Development Fund (STDF), a $10 Million USD South-South technology transfer center, and a restructuring and strong investment in education and learning.

Speaking of the recent IBM agreement, Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tarek Kamel said, "Nanotechnology is a new and exciting field for innovation, impacting every industry and has been identified as the way to position Egypt to become part of the next generation technological revolution." Kamel identifies the key attractive factors for investing in Egypt are political stability, economic growth, geographic location and availability of highly qualified and trained human capacities. Egypt is often viewed as having one of the Arab region’s largest and strongest scientific communities. In addition to IBM’s strengthening ties to Egypt, other high tech corporations such as Microsoft, Cisco, and Intel, have boosted investments in the country and signed special research agreements with its government. A study by US consultant A.T. Kearney has positioned Egypt as twelfth worldwide for competitiveness in outsourced services.

This new wave of investment marks the dawn of what IBM CEO Palmisano calls the “globally integrated corporation”. Palmisano views the most promising business model as one that stimulates the global integration of innovation by engaging in new partnerships integrating diverse expertise and insight. By extending its research arm to the Middle East, IBM aims to capture the vast (and currently underutilized) human potential of the region to transform it into an IBM success story. Allana Haist, Vice President of SabryCorp says that “the announcement of the new center is already positively impacting the receptivity of local government and business towards advanced technologies.” She describes the new IBM center as a “win-win” scenario for both IBM and Egypt: IBM is able to better serve customers across geographic boundaries, and at the same time business standards, good governance models and knowledge are spread to local and regional bodies.

IBM will coordinate with the Egyptian government to equip the new nanotechnology lab with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities. Egyptian scientists and engineers will work together with IBM nanoscience and technology experts, coordinating work between the Cairo research lab and IBM Research in Zurich, Switzerland; Almaden, California, and Yorktown Heights, New York. In addition to the new center, a second watershed agreement was also made between IBM and the Egyptian government aiming to stimulate the local supply of high-value skills by introducing Services Science, Management and Engineering (SSME) into the Egyptian National Curriculum.

Mr. Palmisano is optimistic about the future of these agreements and sees their potential for nurturing talent and creative potential, the new nanotechnology center marks “IBM’s deep commitment to strengthening that process of growth and opportunity and extending the long and highly successful partnerships we have enjoyed in Egypt." IBM has been operating in Egypt since 1954, its Cairo Technology Center currently employs more than 500 software developers, architects and professionals.

IBM has been a historic leader in nanoscale research - from inventing the Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) in the early 80s at the Zurich lab to more recent developments including introducing self-assembling nanotechnology to conventional chip manufacturing, to build the next generation of computer chips.

 

For further information please contact inquiries@sabrycorp.com.

SabryCorp is at the head of the nano-revolution in the middle east. It is the first and the only nano consultancy based inside the Middle East and Africa, offering clients the opportunity to have an impressive entry into the lucrative middle eastern markets by providing local perspective, nano intelligence, and market insight.

 

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