The Banking Executive Magaizne - March 2025 Issue

ISSUE 195 MARCH 2025 the BANKING EXECUTIVE 41 FinTech and AI Chornicle Digital Creation Centre in Giza, was attended by representatives from AI companies, venture capital funds, and various sectors interested in AI applications, as well as entrepre- neurs and startups. The forum aligns with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology’s commitment to dis- cussing the pillars of the National AI Strategy (2025-2030) with the private sector and relevant stakeholders, and to highlight the strategy’s importance in supporting entrepreneurship and investment in AI technologies. Talaat emphasised the ministry’s commitment to holding regular meetings with various elements of the communications and information technology sector to understand their needs. He noted the increasing im- portance of AI across different sec- tors. He added that the forum aims to fos- ter dialogue among the AI ecosystem in Egypt, including the government, startups, small and medium-sized en- terprises, civil society, and private sector companies involved in spon- soring and investing in startups. Rep- resentatives from key sectors relying on AI technologies, such as commu- nications and information technol- ogy, healthcare, and the banking sector, also participated. The goal is to enable startups to understand the requirements of these sectors and de- sign AI-based solutions, thereby sup- porting companies operating in this field. SIX PILLARS OF THE AI STRATEGY Talaat explained that the National AI Strategy, launched in January, is based on six main pillars, which he said are important in empowering AI startups to develop their businesses. The first pillar concerns computa- tional infrastructure, aiming to pro- vide computational capabilities that meet the requirements of the govern- ment sector and provide capacity for the private sector, particularly start- ups and SMEs, through the ministry’s Applied Innovation Centre. The sec- ond pillar focuses on data, aiming to organise and govern data availability through a governance framework that allows the private sector to use more data in building algorithms and systems related to AI, while main- taining data privacy. AMR TALAAT The third pillar involves building sys- tems using AI. Talaat said that the ministry has begun building a range of systems through its Applied Inno- vation Centre, which was established to implement the first version of the National AI Strategy. The second ver- sion of the strategy aims to achieve