Today, the University of Ottawa becomes the first university in Canada to sign a strategic partnership with the Egyptian government to train the next generation of Egyptian engineers in digital technologies. Ultimately, 300 engineers will be trained as part of the government's Digital Egypt Builders Initiative (DEBI).
The Faculty of Engineering will welcome each year about 100 students selected through a national competition in its Master of Engineering programs in critical areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Science, as well as Internet of Things and Robotics. The experiential component of this online training will be accompanied by internships in Egyptian and international industries based in Egypt, supervised by the Ministry and in collaboration with the University of Ottawa.
This innovative, competency-based program represents a unique opportunity for the University to strengthen its collaboration with the local and international business community in Egypt and Africa.
DEBI is an initiative that aims to develop local skills in Egypt to accelerate the country's digital transformation, ensure economic development, promote innovation and entrepreneurship, and contribute to solving major global challenges, in partnership with world-class organizations and universities.
"The agreement between the University of Ottawa and Egypt is a logical extension of a new dynamic in which we are engaged and is a further step in the internationalization of our institution. We will accelerate the implementation of bold and structuring training and research projects, and this partnership strengthens the University of Ottawa's position among the world-class universities," said Sanni Yaya, Vice-President, International and Francophonie.
“I could not be more excited about this new partnership with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) of Egypt and what it means to the advancement of modern technologies such as AI & Data science, the Internet of Things and Robotics,” explained Jacques Beauvais, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Ottawa. “These are crucial technologies for a modern economy and the growth in both our countries depends directly on our ability to train our engineers at the cutting edge of these disciplines. What we learn from one another through this partnership will help us forge a path that will allow institutions to continue to build long-lasting collaborations with the world’s future leaders in technology.”