Egypt’s ICT Minister Honours Digitopia Winners in the Country’s Largest Informatics Competition with Awards Exceeding EGP 10 Million
Egypt’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Dr. Amr Talaat, honoured the winning teams of the inaugural edition of Digitopia, the largest informatics and digital innovation competition ever held in Egypt. Launched by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), the nationwide competition aims to identify and nurture emerging Egyptian talent in digital creativity among participants aged 10 to 35, who competed to develop technology driven solutions addressing societal challenges across three tracks: software and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and digital arts and gaming.
In his keynote remarks, Dr. Talaat explained the philosophy behind the name “Digitopia”, which merges the term “digital” with “topia” meaning an ideal city. He noted that the name reflects Egypt’s aspiration for a technology enabled future built on creativity, innovation, and digital problem solving. He reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to sustaining the competition as a platform for preparing new generations of innovators across all ICT disciplines.
Dr. Talaat highlighted the strategic selection of the competition’s three tracks, which represent both the current direction and future potential of global technology. Artificial intelligence, he said, offers transformative applications in healthcare, agriculture, energy, and education, all of which rely on vast amounts of data and therefore demand robust cybersecurity to safeguard national and personal information. Meanwhile, the gaming and digital arts track demonstrates technology’s power to convert ideas into vivid, engaging experiences that deeply resonate with users. He underscored that technology remains an enabler while human creativity continues to drive meaningful innovation.
The Minister praised the creativity, teamwork, and resilience demonstrated by the participants throughout the competition’s phases, noting that all competitors gained valuable skills, hands on experience, and new networks of like minded innovators. He also acknowledged the essential role of families in supporting young participants throughout the process.
More than 25,000 innovators from across Egypt took part in the first edition of Digitopia, forming over 6,500 teams across all governorates. Following a multi stage evaluation process that included registration, idea submission, idea development, and final presentations, 72 teams reaching approximately 300 participants advanced to the final round.
Digitopia was structured into four age categories: Impact Explorer for primary school students, Impact Maker for preparatory and secondary students, Impact Innovator for university students, and Impact Leader for graduates and young entrepreneurs up to age 35.
During the ceremony, Dr. Talaat honoured the top six teams across the three tracks. Awards exceeded EGP 10 million, including a grand prize of EGP 1 million for the leading project in each track.
Winners in the software and artificial intelligence track included “Digital Environment Heroes” (Explorer), “MindLink” (Maker), “Qadron” (Innovator), and “Challenge of Will” (Leader). In the cybersecurity track, the top prizes went to “Awareness Champions” (Explorer), “System Guards” (Maker), “Nazwell” (Innovator), and “White Matter” (Leader). Winners in the digital arts and gaming track were “Techno Pro” (Explorer), “The Three Girls” (Maker), “Without Wings” (Innovator), and “Kan” (Leader).
Dr. Talaat also presented honourary awards to partner organisations in recognition of their contributions to the success of the competition.
Dr. Heba Saleh, President of the Information Technology Institute, highlighted that Digitopia advanced through four rounds of qualification with participation representing all Egyptian governorates. She noted that 65 percent of participants were male and 35 percent female. Many projects, she said, showed strong potential to evolve into fully fledged Egyptian tech products. Submissions in the gaming and digital arts track showcased a vibrant Egyptian identity, while AI, software, and cybersecurity projects presented sophisticated solutions addressing community and national challenges.
UNDP Resident Representative in Egypt, Ms. Chitose Noguchi, emphasised the strategic partnership between UNDP and MCIT in supporting Egypt’s digital transformation agenda. She noted that the collaboration has become the largest UNDP digital programme in the Arab region and stressed the importance of inclusive initiatives like Digitopia in empowering youth, girls, participants from remote governorates, and persons with disabilities. She reiterated that digital transformation is central to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and relies on strong partnerships and creative talent.
The closing event featured a panel discussion titled “Digital Empowerment Partners”, focusing on talent criteria in the ICT labour market and strategies for enabling Egyptian youth to compete globally. The panel included senior representatives from Cisco Egypt, Huawei Egypt, and IT Valley, moderated by Rana Hatta, Technical Advisor to the Minister.
Video messages were also presented from top executives at Telecom Egypt, Orange Egypt, Vodafone Egypt, e and Egypt, ICT Egypt, and WE Innovate.
The competition was held under the supervision of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), the National Telecommunications Institute, the Information Technology Institute, and Egypt University of Informatics, with support from national and international partners including UNDP, Huawei Technologies Egypt, Cisco Egypt, IT Valley, Telecom Egypt WE, Orange Egypt, Vodafone Egypt, e and Egypt, ICT Egypt, WE Innovate, EYouth, and YAT Learning Solutions.
Throughout the competition, participants presented digitally driven solutions spanning smart education, literacy, assistive technologies, telemedicine, mental health support, smart agriculture, smart homes, gas network monitoring, and medical booking systems. Cybersecurity projects addressed threat detection, application security testing, institutional protection, and governance, risk, and compliance. Digital arts and gaming projects explored cultural identity, ethical values, Egyptian heritage, environmental awareness, and marine sustainability.
The competition involved 100 judges and experts from MCIT, academia, global technology companies, and international organisations.
The ceremony was attended by senior government officials including Raafat Hindi, Deputy Minister for Infrastructure and Digital Transformation, Mohamed Shamroukh, CEO of the National Telecom Regulatory Authority, Ahmed El Zaher, CEO of ITIDA, Tamer El Mahdy, CEO of Telecom Egypt, Sherine El Gendy, Assistant Minister for Strategy and Implementation, Hoda Baraka, Advisor for Talent Development, Ahmed Khattab, Director of the National Telecommunications Institute, Ahmed Hamad, Acting President of Egypt University of Informatics, and Abdel Moneim El Sharkawy, President of the National Academy of Information Technology for Persons with Disabilities, alongside leaders of major ICT companies.