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Egypt’s Position in Technology and Information Led GlobalizationArea45at around 500,000 users. This is a relativelysmall number compared with othercountries, but reflects a high growth ratecompared to previous years. In terms ofabsolute number of users, Egypt is leadingthe Arab countries, but the United ArabEmirates take the lead in terms of thepercentage of Internet users in total countrypopulation.Data related to the distribution of Internetusers between governorates has to date notbeen gathered in a formal way. A sample of5,000 users using IDSC services shows thatdistribution is biased towards Greater Cairo andAlexandria. Table (5.2) shows the discrepancybetween the major five regions of thecountry.Table (5-2)Egypt: Distribution of Internet Users by RegionCreat Cairo64Developing countriesalready suffer fromeconomic and socialdivides.Alexandria90Upper. Egypt120Lower Egypt160Frontier Govern.208Volume of E-Commerce. The Internet hasrecently become a powerful tool forcommunication, education, entertainment,and of course, commerce. E-commercetransactions are now used by businesses tocut costs in many areas includingpurchasing, sales and pursuing new salesopportunities, and providing more efficient andeffective customer services. E-commerce isattracting an increasing share of the worldeconomy, its volume growing by hundredsof billions of US$. It is estimated to havereached US$ 223.1 billion by the end of2001 with the United States holding amarket share of 70 per cent.E-Commerce was introduced to Egypt in1998, but it is still very difficult to measureits volume. This is due to the large numberof parties who only partially carry outprocedures. However, despite the legal andfinancial problems associated with itsgrowth in Egypt, it appears to be growing ata reasonable rate. The basic form it takes inEgypt is business to customer (B2C), withbusinesses focusing on fast food, recruitment,and real estate. ‘Dot com’ companies arestarting to operate locally, and have becomea ‘hot’ issue as big business moves in tobecome part of the new economy. Six new‘dot com’ companies alone have beenestablished in the last six months, currentlyonly in greater Cairo, and these appearlimited to the younger generation.The E-Government ProgramAlthough the GOE believes that it is theprivate sector that should take the lead,within a legal and regulatory framework thatis conducive to IT, it is in fact thegovernment which took the initiative toprovide services on the Internet in order topromote Internet usage in Egypt. TheE-Government project encompasses threephases:The first phase was inaugurated on 4October 2000. This phase is limited to theprovision of information about governmentservices to the public. A web site has beenlaunched on which all governmentprocedures and fees required to conduct aservice have been posted. One can also dial131 on the telephone to get informationabout government services. Moreover,privately operated kiosks are slated toprovide this data to the public at minimumcost. The second phase covers transactionswith selected government units, and thethird phase will cover the full integration ofservices in different government units.ThreatsBox (5.2)Digital Divide versus DigitalOpportunityDeveloping countries already suffer fromeconomic and social divides, given anaccumulation of development problems,so it is legitimate to ask why they shouldcare about the digital divide. However,governments are aware of the threatsarising from the widening digital divide,which can dramatically increase theexisting economic and social divides.● Widening Productivity Gap. The latestsix major economic studies in the USAconfirmed that the intensive use of ITproducts contributed by half or more tothe acceleration of the USA economy inthe last five years. Given the existing gapin productivity between North and South,one can conclude that the increase of thisgap comes as a result of the extensive use82 -Egypt Human Development Report 2000/2001