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The Impact of ICT Investments on Economic Development in Egypt
Author(s) -
Kamel Sherif,
Rateb Dina,
ElTawil Mohamed
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the electronic journal of information systems in developing countries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.41
H-Index - 18
ISSN - 1681-4835
DOI - 10.1002/j.1681-4835.2009.tb00248.x
Subject(s) - information and communications technology , productivity , socioeconomic development , business , government (linguistics) , transformational leadership , private sector , economic sector , order (exchange) , economic growth , industrial organization , economics , political science , economy , management , linguistics , philosophy , finance , law
Since the mid 1980s, Egypt has realized significant growth in information and communication technology (ICT) usage across different sectors in the economy. However, in today's global environment, the challenge no longer lies in accommodating the growth of the ICT sector that introduced changes that are arguably the most important since the industrial revolution. The essence is the diffusion of ICT across the society and ensuring that it furthers socioeconomic development. Managing this transformational process requires cooperation and partnerships between different stakeholders in the society to ensure steady and successful progress towards the goal of realizing a fully developed information society. Moreover, in order to generate economic development and growth, ICT need to be transformed into economic activities offering services, applications and content that create new markets, reduce costs and increase productivity. While ICT are generally adaptable; their effectiveness in addressing development issues still depends on their introduction, adoption, diffusion and adaptation within a healthy and encouraging regulatory environment. In that respect, the importance of ICT in socioeconomic development in Egypt was realized since 1999 leading to the allocation of ICT on the government agenda supported by the private sector and the civil society. This article addresses the recent efforts that were exerted in Egypt, as an emerging economy, in terms of building its ICT sector while analyzing the associated investments and their impact on economic development.