Egyptian telecom and mobile operators are excited about the progress being made in the wireless market and about new handsets being introduced. Recently the BlackBerry Jam 10 World Tour visited Egypt and offered developers and the IT industry a glimpse of the newest BlackBerry device as a means of increasing interest in the sector.
Some 250 developers were on hand to see the company roll out the new hand device. It is seen as a boost to IT entrepreneurship that continues to take post-revolution Egypt by storm , where the telecom sector has been arguably the only bright spot in the country’s stumbling economy.
The Information Technology Institute (ITI), a leading national institute tasked with establishing training programs and helping the Egyptian technology community create relevant solutions for customers, hosted the event at its Cairo Smart Village offices.
Since its launch in the region in May 2011, BlackBerry App World “has benefited from a strong pipeline of locally relevant content and mobile apps provided by Egyptian developers,” a statement from the institute said.
“Leading developers include Asgatech, developer of the Call to Pray and the Egyptian Elections Guide apps; ZeroWire Labs, who launched the interactive Sports Vibe app earlier this year; Tawasol IT, who recently launched a medical encyclopaedia app for the Saudi German Hospital Group, SGH; T-A-Telecom, developer of several Islamic apps such as Megakheir and Al Azkar; and Ketabi Arabic eBooks developer Froot Apps.”
With the Egyptian government looking to invest in the mobile and telecom industry with new investments and infrastructure development by mid-2013, participants viewed the BlackBerry event as a positive sign that larger companies have an interest in the country.
“I think this is a great way to develop the sector by showing off the most recent and trendiest products that are being made available in Egypt,” said Mobinil representative Nabil Fahmy.
Ben Quirin, Regional Director for RIM North Africa said in a statement that, “Egypt has always been known as a regional hotbed of talented app developers and digital entrepreneurs. We are delighted by the turnout at our BlackBerry 10 Jam event today in Cairo, which reinforces the importance of the BlackBerry platform to this thriving developer community. In collaboration with organizations such as the ITI, we are committed to bringing the latest tools, training and resources to enable the Egyptian developer community to produce fantastic, locally- and globally-relevant apps and mobile content.”
Joseph Mayton
