Global Cisco Award Honors the Education Development Fund for Advancing Youth Digital Skills

The Education Development Fund (EDF), affiliated with the Cabinet of Ministers, announced that it has received Cisco’s Special Excellence Award, in recognition of its outstanding achievements in technology and digital skills training, and its success in delivering a national model that has become a global success story in building youth digital capabilities.

National Initiatives

This recognition comes as a culmination of a series of initiatives implemented by the Fund in cooperation with relevant ministries. Most notably, the “Digital Summer” and “Digital Winter” initiatives, launched in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Technical Education, as well as the “Be Ready” initiative, implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the Presidential Initiative “Alliance and Development.”

Training Students and Graduates

Through these initiatives, approximately 450,000 students and graduates were trained within just six months across various modern technology fields.

This achievement aligns with the presidential target of training one million trainees, in line with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s directives to build youth digital capacities and prepare qualified talents capable of meeting the needs of an evolving labor market and a knowledge-based economy.

International Recognition

In this context, Dr. Rasha Saad Sharaf, Secretary-General of the Education Development Fund, stated that receiving Cisco’s Excellence Award reflects the international recognition of Egypt’s efforts to invest in human capital and develop youth digital skills, within a clear strategic vision aimed at empowering young people with the tools of the future.

Training Programs and Global Certifications

She added that the Fund’s training programs go beyond developing technical skills, as they also enable trainees to obtain internationally accredited licenses and certifications upon completion. These credentials qualify graduates to work anywhere in the world, in accordance with globally recognized professional standards in technology and communications.

Dr. Sharaf emphasized that this award confirms the success of the model adopted by the Education Development Fund in designing and implementing modern training programs, in partnership with relevant ministries and international institutions, and in line with the latest global standards in technology and innovation.

Fund’s Strategy

She explained that the “Digital Summer,” “Digital Winter,” and “Be Ready” initiatives form a cornerstone of the Fund’s strategy to reach the largest possible number of students and graduates across all governorates, offering high-quality training opportunities that enhance their competencies and improve their employability both locally and internationally.

Expansion Plans

The Secretary-General confirmed that the Fund aims to exceed one million trainees by the end of the current year, through expanding specialized training programs and strengthening cooperation with Cisco in areas such as digital transformation, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), networking, and software development, ensuring high-quality training outputs aligned with labor market needs.

Building Competitive Digital Talent

She noted that building digitally skilled and globally competitive talent is a top priority for the Egyptian state, and that the progress achieved so far represents an important step within an integrated national path toward building a knowledge-based economy and achieving sustainable development, in line with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s directives.

The Education Development Fund affirmed that this achievement serves as a strong incentive to continue developing the technological training ecosystem and to further solidify Egypt’s position as a leading regional hub for preparing digital talent in accordance with international standards.

Source: Press Release