COUNTRY FOCUS: EGYPT
Egyptian ICT ministry
collaborates with Japanese
organisation to empower
disabled people
Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information
Technology has signed a MoU with Japan’s Assistive
Technology Development Organisation (ATDO) to carry
out projects to improve the lives of disabled people.
T
he Ministry of Communications and
Information Technology in Egypt
has signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with Japan’s Assistive
Technology Development Organisation
(ATDO) to work together for the benefit of
disabled people.
The aim is to enhance co-operation to
achieve the digital inclusion of people with
disabilities and develop a comprehensive
strategy through the establishment of a
joint centre for excellence in universal design
and Assistive Technology at the National
Academy of Information Technology for
Persons with Disabilities (NAID).
This is in addition to collaborating in
establishing and implementing universal
design and Assistive Technology standards,
especially those supporting Arabic, thus
facilitating access to animated images
and inclusion of people with intellectual,
cognitive or psychosocial disabilities.
The signing was witnessed by Amr Talaat,
the Minister of Communications and
Information Technology. He underlined that
this partnership comes within the framework
of empowering and integrating disabled
people to be active members of society,
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adding that he looks forward to a fruitful
co-operation between NAID and ATDO in
carrying out value-added projects to improve
the lives of disabled people.
Hiroshi Kawamura, ATDO Vice President,
stated that the MoU will help promote
co-operation between Egypt and Japan in
Assistive Technology and disabled people’s
digital inclusion through the establishment
of the centre.
The MoU was signed by the ICT Minister’s
Advisor for Social Responsibility and
Services and NAID Executive Director, Abeer
Shakweer, and Kawamura, in the presence of
a number of officials from the Egypt office
of the Japan International Co-operation
Agency (JICA).
The MoU provides for co-operation in setting
and implementing high accessibility training
standards and research and development
(R&D) in Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics,
Internet of Things (IoT) and other emerging
technologies to serve Japanese and Arabic
speaking disabled people.
This is in addition to using AI to develop
screen reader facilities (converting text to
speech) for Japanese and Arabic speaking
disabled people, as well as supporting and
facilitating communication and collaboration
between Egyptian and Japanese researchers,
innovators, start-ups, companies and entities
specialising in universal design and Assistive
Technology areas.
Moreover, the MoU provides for co-
operation in localising advanced Assistive
Technology in Japanese, promoting capacity
building and transferring knowledge in
ICT access, comprehensive design and
Assistive Technology. This is in addition to
carrying out training, capacity building and
skills development programmes between
Japanese ICT institutes, training centres,
universities and NAID.
The MoU comes out of MCIT’s keenness
to establish partnerships with international
entities to achieve its strategy for
empowering disabled people. It also comes
in light of the distinct ties with Japan and
ATDO’s exceptional expertise.
ATDO was founded in 2006. It has achieved
international contributions in accessible ICT
R&D, meeting disabled people and seniors’
needs and achieving social integration.
ATDO also focuses on developing universal
design and international standards. n
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