Year 1995: Step One

Year 1995 was the birth date of the ICT idea, that's to create a meeting place for amateurs and professionals alike in the IT business field. But it seemed the PC market was quite unwelcoming, let alone the fact that no IT infrastructure was laid so far.

The stage was bare; nothing existed beyond the infant local PC industries which never harboured the idea of organizing events as such. Likewise, m u l t i n a t i o n a l companies were left in the dark about what was going on in the Egyptian market and so, directing their investments to our market was even unthinkable.

1996

Planning started on the real ground for a better show that year. Therefore, a special attention was devoted to organization. This is where the German partner did an efficient job, particularly with regard to the conference details.

In becoming an integrated forum for the exchange of thoughts and ideas regarding the upgrading of IT potentials and not merely a place where business transactions are concluded, the ICT gained itself an additional value in both the business and IT specialists' circles. Among key planners for the 1996 ICT conference was Dr. Tarek Kamel, the current Minister of Communications and Information Technology who devoted his expertise in running technology events towards the ideal organization of the conference.

The opening attended by several Egyptian ministers like Safwat El Sherif, Suliman Metwally as well as by dignitaries and high ranking officials came out glamorous. Though the event was mainly dominated by local entrepreneurs, many well established Arab firms – such as Etisalat of UAE - were among the top list of participants.

It is worth noting, international participation was solicited at a large scale, yet the result was not quite positive as business chances were quite limited in such a narrow market like ours, particularly with a monopoly of the ICT activity at that time by Egypt Telecom.

Yet, among these multinationals some – such as Alcatel, Siemens, Motorola, Ericsson, Lucent and Three Com - had the expert vision not to refrain from having a foothold in the Egyptian market. Currently, these companies are practically the market leaders in the telecom sector in Egypt. IT giants - particularly in the sector of data such as NCR, IBM and Microsoft were also present in the 1996 ICT.

1997

Concern over maintaining success was overwhelming, particularly with the announcement made by COMDEX – the renowned American IT fair- that it will soon be represented in Egypt. Therefore, there was a fierce competition to anticipate, particularly with the high turn out on the part of IT companies in favour of COMDEX due to its solid reputation.
On the other hand, the fact that the 1995 ICT was mainly devoted to telecom service providers excluded other categories of participants.

Yet, it is important to draw attention to the fact that the dominant share in the 1996 ICT given to telecom sector is justified by the peak in telecommunications businesses witnessed at that time, around which our activities had to revolve.

Therefore, our activities had to be consistent, bearing in mind that IT- either locally or globally - was not yet on its current prosperous track. The year 1997 is also remembered in terms of politics, as unexpected requests for participation in ICT came from Israel, then making its way strongly in IT and telecom fields.

Israel's several requests for participation - denied even on the level of non official visits- were explained by its wish to feature as the technology gateway to the Middle East.

1999

The event was supposed to run for the third consecutive year but in a different time. January was the alternative date many foreign international participants found more convenient. Likewise, the 1999 ICT is remembered, but by what we can term as a bid for “haggling”, as the exhibition hall was reserved by another organizer at the customary time of the event.
It was up to us if we wished to retrieve the hall in return for $100.000.

But turned down the offer and shifted the event into the other date. When competition is considered, similar exhibitions in the calendar of a single year should be outlined.
In the same year the Cairo ICT was supposed to see the light in January, while GITEX was scheduled for April, COMDEX for May and finally ACITEX of Al-Ahram organization to be held annually in February.

So within only the span of six months there was a jam of competing events. Yet first to remember is how the participation of Mobinil was a real incentive. Mobinil’s presence in the event - out of its drive to promote the use of mobile phones - attracted a huge number of visitors.

Therefore, it was decided to launch a separate shopping pavilion in the forthcoming year.The unprecedented visit of top ranking Arab state officials including ministers and other dignitaries was indicative of the fact that the ICT was coming further into the limelight.
The event hosted more than 110 exhibitors in all telecom Internet and IT fields, with the participation share in favour of IT companies. At a certain time it seemed it was such a risky bet to expect promising results out of trade fairs other than food stuff or fashion. But in fact the new technology put on display turned out to be a safer bet.

Capitalizing on the success gained so far, it was proposed to stretch the scope of the event beyond the limits of the local market. Instead of venturing into the already saturated Gulf, our sight turned towards North Africa.

This is where our upcoming event - Morocco Telecomp - was planned. It was at that time that the German partner decided to go through that project with other entrepreneurs, thus bringing to an end the partnership with our company.

2000

The success gained every year never blinded us to the fact that more difficulties were ahead. Competitors dissatisfied with their performance over the past year, decided to brace for more c o m p e t i t i o n .

It seemed then every body was geared towards fulfilment at any cost. The race was even more powerful to win the trust of the newly launched ministry of communication and information technology headed by Dr Ahmed Nazief.

Throughout the race rounds COMDEX fell behind and walked out while JITEX – relying on a direct support from Dubai – insisted to press on till the end. But this came to nothing and that year happened to witness the end of its business in the Egyptian market.

So, Cairo ICT was left as the one and only player in the IT and telecom scene, grabbing the interest of an increasing number of companies which - for the first time - exceeded 200 by the year 2000.

Here it is of crucial importance to note that the business of "exporting exhibitions" (Organizing events in foreign markets) is not a smooth task. The failure of COMDEX when it was held outside the USA is powerful evidence. In fact organizing exhibitions has more to do with the ambience where the event is held and not only the image of the exhibition.

2001

This year was special in more than one way as The ICT witnessed the visit of the head of International Telecom Union along with many African and Arab ministers, in response to an invitation by Dr. Nazif. Further more, that year brought Cairo ICT as the sole technology event, representing a real window for local companies on IT and telecommunications worldwide, and equally for international business leaders seeking access to the Egyptian market.

The ICT had a noticeable advantage over other similar events in being the magnet for different categories of shoppers due to the presence of mobile phone and ISP's companies which started to gain a bigger foothold in the market. Moreover, the 2001 ICT devoted a whole pavilion bearing the name "e-town" where high tech, Internet and online companies displayed their wide range of services. It was also the first time an equal share was given to the IT and telecom sectors seen in the fair presentation of multimedia and hardware companies.

2002

In 2002, competition was nothing to worry about as JITEX and COMDEX were already out of the Egyptian market. Yet, ICT had to stand another test as the opening was supposed to take place only three months after the 11th Sept 2001 which brought world markets to a standstill. Marketing the event was an uphill task.

Further more, many telecom and IT companies – representing a considerable number of the ICT clients were already gone to the Africa Telecom which, held earlier in October.

Once more it was as if the ICT was destined to meet more difficulties as the organizers were informed almost 3 days before the ICT opening that President Mubarak was going to attend the ICT opening. Nevertheless, the 2002 ICT which carried the slogan "Two Steps Ahead" lived another successful experience when it witnessed the launch of the "Free Internet" initiative which brought up the number of Internet users to more than 1 million in 2002 and almost 5 million in 2006.

It is worth noting the 2002 ICT saw a notable participation of the MCIT through an independent pavilion which displayed the ministry's achievements in the area of upgrading "IT society". On the other hand, the ICT conference was able to boast a series of sessions discussing vital issues such as E- Learning, E-Health, and E-Gov.

2003

If the German partnership was at a certain period a true back-up to the company, it was the support of Dr. Ahmed Nazif - then Minister of Communications and Information Technology - which gave the event a better chance for repeated success. In fact President Mubarak' visit to the 2002 ICT supplied the event with weight which served to attract more companies and visitors alike to the 2003 ICT.

After the "Free Dial up Internet" initiative of 2002, the MCIT took the ICT as the launching pad for more consecutive initiatives. In 2003, the MCIT declared its "PC for Every Home" initiative which involved many private sector companies.
In the same year, shopping was carried out in a separate pavilion which attracted a huge number of visitors who were allowed to benefit from the facility of one step shopping.

It was pride to the ICT that the sales volume achieved for clients was equal to that achieved throughout a whole year.
The stimulating activities such as the live panel described as a "forum for thought exchange" and the "Free Internet" seminar which reviewed the results accomplished since the launch of the initiative were key topics in the ICT conference.

2004

Competition was strongly the headline that year as Africa Telecom was scheduled to be held in Egypt. It was even assumed by some the ICT was scheduled for postponement. But postponement was never a choice. One here can recall the incessant support of the MCIT officials when they decided to take part in the ICT though the Africa Telecom in which they also participated was only 5 months earlier.
The 2004 event carried the slogan "The Age of Mobility" – a concept no longer confined to mobile phones, which also includes all modern technologies that present mobility and wireless approaches.

It is worth mentioning the 2004 ICT grabbed the participants' interest as it was held after the WSIS (World Summit of Information Society -2003).
Arab and African delegates came to the ICT where they discussed the summit results in a session chaired by Dr. Tarek Kamel among other 50 sessions which gathered developers from both Egypt and the whole Middle East. Of particular interest was the "Broadband" initiative seminar which tackled the difficulties impeding Broadband uses in Egypt.

The seminar came out with the conclusion that pricing – along with applications - are decisive factors in the promotion of Broadband. 4 months later, the "Broadband" initiative saw the light with offers starting from LE150.

2005

The 2005 ICT which adopted the slogan "Access the World of Tomorrow" started to reap the fruits of the credibility it managed to achieve in the previous years. In this respect the ICT became the voice through which concerns and ambitions related to the nascent IT industry were expressed.

This was the focus point that year, meanwhile addressing a new angle, namely to render IT and telecommunication industries interactive with other sectors.
It is worth noting, the conference on the margin of the exhibition was the most successful one ever held during the ICT life.

A bridge was built, connecting the IT world - through the ICT – to sectors of petroleum, transportation, tourism, education, mass media and other sectors of industry.

The new cabinet included many ministers with powerful IT background such as Dr. Ahmed Darwish – the current Administrative Development Minister who was previously in charge of the E-government project.
It was not really a difficult task to have the big gallery of local, regional and international companies as participants as a new 6000 meter hall was added to the ICT which received the extra 30% bookings for participation.

2006

Under the slogan, “The X Generation”, the official inauguration of Cairo ICT 2006 on February 5th witnessed a large number of ministers and government officials headed by HE Dr. Tarek Kamel – Minister of Communications & Information Technology, during which the ICT minister announced offering two licenses for international communications and four licenses of E-Signing, the bidding schedule for the third mobile network, as well as the official launch of the “Low Cost PC Initiative”.

HE Dr Tarek Kamel and Tradefairs International (organizer of Cairo ICT) honoured on this occasion distinguished ICT figures at this year’s gala dinner hosted by Telecom Egypt – Official Sponsor of Cairo ICT 2006; and attended by over 700 invitees.
The closing session saw the honouring of ICT companies for the number of participations at Cairo ICT since its inceptions among those companies where: Telecom Egypt, Etisalat, Siemens, Huawei Technologies, Flag Telecom, Ericsson, Lucent Technologies and many others.

450 exhibitors from 30 countries representing over 1000 companies participated at Cairo ICT 2006 on a total area of 20,000 m2, a 45% increase in exhibition space as compared to 2005 (including Cairo ICT 2006 Consumer section – The Mall). For the first time since its inception Cairo ICT 2006 international and regional participations represented nearly 70% of the total exhibitors.

Cairo ICT 2006 official forum was the first conference in the MENA region to tackle the controversies in the future of Arab communications in Egypt & the region, with an opening session attended by over 600 VIPS and government officials from the region, Keynote speaker was HE Dr. Tarek Kamel – CIT Minister.
The session openly discussed the liberalization of the telecom sector in the Arab world, headed by CEO’s of the regions mobile and fixed line operators, during the session HE Dr. Tarek Kamel announced the bidding schedule for Egypt’s third mobile operator.

2007

Under the slogan “The Shape of Things to come,” Cairo ICT 2007 brought a concept of visualizing what the future holds for the ICT industry and the Arab region at large as it relates to new solutions and services, economic growth and regional investment.

Cairo ICT 2007 opened its doors on February 4th to receive an unprecedented number of prominent ministers, government officials, dignitaries, businessmen and VIP figures from the ICT industry headed by Dr. Tarek Kamel, Minister of Communications & Information Technology.

Renowned ministers toured the four exhibitions halls, commenting on the new dimension Cairo ICT took this year and noticed the success it accomplished by doubling both the number of participants and international attendees.

Followed by the official opening session with the CIT minister as the keynote speaker and Minister of Finance Dr. Youssef Boutros Ghali gave a presentation as a guest speaker. Panellists on additional forums included: Eng.

Akil Beshir – Chairman Telecom Egypt, Mr. Amr Badawy – Executive Director National Telecom Regulatory Authority, Eng. Mohamed Omran – Chairman Etisalat U.A.E, Mr. Ian Grey – CEO Vodafone Egypt and Mr. Omar Hijazi – CEO Tejari Holding, with moderator Ms. Lamis El Hadidy debating and questioning the panellists and speakers on their visions and views of the future of technology in the ICT industry.

The session speakers concluded that further investments in the Middle East, particularly in the ICT industry, would be needed to continue developing the region. Moreover, the ministers also agreed that technology will affect every industry; it will help improve social sectors such as health & education. Panellists added that with competition still rising; the future still has so much more to offer.