The Africa Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Challenge has been officially launched in Egypt, Kenya, Uganda, Morocco, and Tunisia.

The challenge is currently being prepared to start in Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Ghana by the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2021, in cooperation with many regional and local partners across the Middle East and North Africa. These include: Banque Misr; the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT); Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology; and the Benya company. This is with the aim of preparing qualified employees in the technical field, and accelerating the process of digital transformation.

The challenge is directed to the entire African continent via the Internet, so that young innovators can join the challenge activities from all over the world.

Banque Misr was keen to participate with the challenge’s main partners as the sponsor of the financial technology track. The bank’s participation includes several activities throughout the challenge aimed at supporting and assisting the participating teams in the field of financial technology.

These events come in the form of: lectures; workshops; and educational videos about financial technology, and the regulations and laws governing it.

It is a key factor in the development of the digital economy, especially since the financial technology market in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region is well prepared for expansion and diversification.

Banque Misr is one of the leading banks in Egypt, and has recently started expanding in Africa in implementation of Egypt’s Vision 2030.

Akef El-Maghraby, Vice Chairperson of Banque Misr, highlighted the important role played by the bank in supporting digital transformation. It is adopting a strategy to transform from a traditional bank to one that leads the digital transformation in the Egyptian banking sector.

This is in the belief that introducing the elements of digital transformation into the banking system will further contribute to improving the provision of banking and financial services

El-Maghraby pointed out that Banque Misr has launched a digital transformation sector, which allows the establishment of a flexible model synchronised with the era of digital transformation, as well as digital transformation in all banking operations.

The main objective of digital transformation is to achieve competitive advantage and achieve success, leadership, and growth in general for the bank. The cornerstone in the process of digital transformation is its employees, as they are one of the most important pillars supporting digital transformation

El-Maghraby said that the bank’s employees, especially those in the branches, have been trained to use digital products. Investment is also being made in developing the institutional culture of Banque Misr, in line with the digital transformation process.

The IoT and AI Challenge is a programme to build the capabilities of university students and startup owners with innovative ideas, in the fields of the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and other related fields.

The programme provides participants with training and workshops, and provides them with all the support they need. After participants receive training, they compete in the local finals, after which the winners from each country qualifies for the regional finals.

The finals are held annually at the IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things.

Source: Daily News Egypt