The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the Ministry of Higher Education concluded the fourth edition of the Universities Capacity Building in Artificial Intelligence Initiative on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, highlighting the government’s efforts to equip students with AI skills aligned with labor market needs.
Speaking at the Giza-hosted closing ceremony, the Minister of Communication and Information Technology Raafat Hendi said the growing number of participating universities reflects the success of collaboration between the government, academia and the private sector in linking academic knowledge with practical applications. He added that the initiative supports Egypt’s National AI Strategy through fostering Arabic-language AI solutions and converting research into practical applications.
Minister of Higher Education Abdel Aziz Konsowa reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to expanding digital transformation across universities and promoting AI-driven education, applied research and innovation.
This year’s edition, organized with Dell Technologies, trained 1,090 students from 10 universities, who developed 445 AI projects. Twenty-one teams competed in an AI hackathon focused on renewable energy, with Hacktastic from Ain Shams University winning first place. Since its launch in 2022, the initiative has trained more than 2,700 students and supported 763 AI projects.
