The NileView

IDSC––step one in accelerating the digital transformation in public administration in Egypt.

This special edition of the NileView is very personal. I wrote it in tribute to an organization that is dear to my heart––the Cabinet of Egypt Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC), initially called the Information Project Cabinet of Ministers (IPCOM)––established in 1985. I was privileged to join as a fresh graduate 35 years ago today.

On Sunday, October 11, 1987, I joined IDSC as a research assistant. Two years later, in 1989, I was mandated to work with a group of senior executives to establish a training department to offer professional development programs in information technology-related topics for various government offices and public sector organizations across different governorates. This was a significant mandate for a junior staff member, like me, with minimal experience. However, with an adequate technology infrastructure in place, well-designed processes, a clear objective, proper guidance, and close mentoring, such an ambitious project started in one room equipped with only eight desktops in the basement of one of the government buildings––formerly the home of one of Egypt’s royal family members Prince Said Tousson in the district of Zamalek in Cairo––and went on to be the go-to place for training in information technology.

I was part of this effort for three years before moving to work on another mandate. Since then, this critical and much-needed project in the late 1980s––with the beginning of the dissemination of information technology across different organizations and the need to invest in building human capital capacities––has witnessed massive transformations. Starting in 1992, this modest training facility has seen multiple developments, moved across several locations, and evolved into a national training institute helping to educate and train hundreds of thousands of fresh graduates and government and public-sector employees in information technology management-related skills and capacities. The transformation journey led the institute to become a colossal establishment known as the Information Technology Institute (ITI). Today, with a state-of-the-art stand-alone building and cutting-edge infrastructure at the Smart Village––established in 2001––ITI is Egypt’s primary destination for information technology training and professional development.

At a young age with minimal experience, nothing could be more of a learning platform than starting a new project supported by a manager who empowers you and gives you the space to think, learn, take decisions, develop, and grow on the job and even when mistakes happen, as they do happen quite often––he was always supportive, and encouraging. On this note, I would like to acknowledge Hisham El-Sherif who led IDSC at the time, with whom I worked as his administrative and teaching assistant from 1985 until 1994 at The American University in Cairo. He then offered me my first employment opportunity: an exceptional learning experience and a non-stop enriching work environment under his leadership. I remain grateful to him for presenting me with this incredible opportunity early in my career.

I worked at IDSC from 1987 until 1992. Then I joined one of its affiliated projects, the Regional Information Technology and Software Engineering Center (RITSEC). In both organizations, I worked with a magnificent group of experienced veterans and young professionals in the information and communication technology field for more than 15 years (1987–2001).

This was a great learning experience. I owe a lot of what I learned during that period to the caliber of people working at IDSC, coupled with the constant interaction with various organizations and the exchange of knowledge and experiences that were––in my mind––due to the organizational culture spread across the different managerial levels. The environment was collegial and supportive, the team working there was exceptionally talented, and we were all collectively growing and learning together.

IDSC was a professional hands-on school where staff learned much about leadership, organizational dynamics, information systems, management, software development, software engineering, decision support systems, systems design and development, and database management systems, to mention a few. Until October 1999, in many ways, IDSC, besides being a think-tank given its intellectual power, was the go-to organization for introducing and diffusing the concepts of information and communication technology in Egypt with a focus on the government and public administration as a platform to support the decision-making process of key stakeholders in the government through a variety of activities including project development and management, research, advocacy, professional development, application development, technical support, and more. Building a distinct organizational culture spearheaded by its leader and where all staff have buy-in and are engaged and aligned is always a sign of proper leadership––that was the case for IDSC.

What made all the difference was the hiring of the top young talents, fresh graduates, the blending of different and diversified backgrounds and experiences, the combination of youth, passion, and determination coupled with the wisdom and knowledge of experienced professionals and long-serving government officials and information technology experts from the private sector. This blend was fueled by the right mix of academic, market, industry, policy, and government experience. The diverse portfolio of experiences included diaspora members living in different parts of the world who always made themselves available to help, support, and contribute whenever needed. This was the organizational culture model installed and effectively deployed.

All this reflected the knowledge-rich profile of the IDSC ecosystem which was incepted as an idea and supported for many years by one of my former professors—as I have always thought of him—Atef Ebeid, as part of his portfolio during his decades of service as a senior government official. It was a learning environment, a school for knowledge creation, exchange, and dissemination; much of it was learned on the job and from one’s peers––all contributing to the learning mix through a duet of explicit and tacit knowledge. It is important to note that this was a government organization in an emerging economy led by private-sector experts with a competitive and agile mindset due to its leadership style, ambition, and drive.

The list of professional achievers who, at some point in their career, worked, contributed, and had an effective impact on the buildup and progress of IDSC and with whom I was fortunate to work on several projects; includes many exceptional individuals––I am sure I will forget a few so apologies in advance. Mahmoud Rezk––a smiling, understanding, sharp, critical, sarcastic, and experienced professional; Effat El-Shooky––one of the most respected, wise, intelligent, and skilled professionals I have ever enjoyed working with; Ahmed Nazif––a composed, organized academic, and a calm technocrat; Tarek Kamel––a close friend with whom I achieved many successful initiatives and projects, for that, some even thought we were relatives––we are not; Alaa Fahmy––a kind, funny, and intelligent professional who joined the organization the same day I did; Ali El-Hefnawy––an office neighbor who smartly, quietly, and shrewdly led for some time what I thought was Egypt’s IT game-changer project for the future, the Pyramids Technology Valley; and Heba Ramzy––a classmate and a lifetime friend who early on had an eye on the social impact of information technology.

In life, one gets lucky to come across and learn from one of the global gurus in their field. Together with my colleagues, we were extremely fortunate to be continuously exposed to interactions with world-renowned academics, business leaders, technology gurus, economists, and industry specialists and experts in various fields––sometimes via one-to-one conversations. Working at IDSC provided the opportunity to meet and engage with a long list of leaders and game-changers in their respective fields, including Tom DeMarco, Joyce Elam, Omar El-Sawy, Bill Gates, Paul Gray, Stuart Madnick, Everett Rogers, Ralph Sprague, Scott McNeilly, John Chambers and many more. One should always look for opportunities to meet, learn, and, more importantly, listen to those who made a difference and pioneered in their fields and society at large. Simply put, never stop learning; living is a continuous learning journey.

The IDSC staff was constantly exposed to intellectuals who helped enhance their experience. We learned from them, and they, in turn, opened for us different venues of thinking and innovating, and that helped in growing a much-needed and influential technology sector that is rich with its local expertise and change agents but also supported by incredible members of the diaspora that had the knowledge, will, and passion for transforming the industry, let alone the economy in Egypt. Technology can transform any economy, especially in developing countries, if given a chance through the proper legal, regulatory, investment, and other support environments. In the context of IDSC, I was lucky to meet and interact with many Egyptian diasporas over the years, including some remarkable achievers like Ossama Hassanein, Alex Shalaby, Adel Danish, Sherif Danish, Tarek Abdel Hamid, Magdi Kamel, and many more.

The IDSC school, as I like to call it, developed and nurtured a roster of many ICT experts and professionals; many of them went on to become entrepreneurs who established their successful startups, while others became leaders, movers, and shakers in different walks of life in the government, the private sector, academia, civil society and multinational companies such as Microsoft, IBM, Vodafone, Sun Microsystems, SAP, ICL, NCR, Oracle, HP, Ericsson, Apple, Compaq (at the time), Cisco, Nortel, Nokia, Google, Yahoo, and many more in Egypt and around the world. I want to acknowledge some of them who became lifetime friends, including Amr Badr Eldin, Hanan Abdel Meguid, Amr Ezzat, Khaled Bahgat, Yasser El-Tanbouli, and Wael Khalil. I am sure I have forgotten quite a few more, apologies for that.

It is worth noting that many of the best IT startups and successful organizations, whether educational, governmental, or private sector-related, that enriched the local and regional markets during the 1990s and beyond were led by former members of the IDSC staff. I am proud to have been associated with such an exceptional institution for 15 years. The experience of IDSC shows that when the organizational foundation is set adequately for knowledge acquisition and dissemination, and when access and exposure are provided to nurture and foster human capacities and skills, the potential and prospects become limitless. The business model of IDSC as an organization was effective and impactful. Therefore, it was no surprise that IDSC won several international awards for its impact on society.

Working for IDSC had an invaluable impact on me, my career, and the following stages of my life.

About the author: Sherif Kamel is a Professor of Management and Dean of the School of Business at The American University in Cairo.

11 October 2022
Issue #26