Amr Talaat has been appointed the Minister of Communications and Information

Technology since June 2018, to the Cabinet of the Prime Minister Dr. MostafaMadbouly.

Talaat possesses over 30 years of solid experience in communications and information technology areas, with a wide experience in developing and implementing strategies across a vast spectrum of activities in Egypt.

Talaat joined IBM-Egypt in August 1988 and held various managerial positions. On May 23 rd , 2010, Amr Talaat held the position of the Country General Manager of IBM, and also served as IBM Egypt Territory Manager since 2005.

He held various managerial positions within IBM Egypt including Business Partner Organization (BPO) Manager as well as Systems and Technology Group Manager.

During his tenure, his scope transcended financial goals to strategic and operational elements such as building human capital, fortifying customer loyalty, corporate social responsibility and employees’ Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

He also sought to establish relationships with key officials and executives of various sectors, both at the national and international levels, to attract major investments, and Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) deals.

In addition, Talaat was an adjunct professor at Cairo University; teaching marketing and & sales strategies and tactics, organizational behavior and strategic management. He was, also, an honorary member at the ICT Board at Cairo University and member of the ICT Board of the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT) and the Chairman of ICT Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham).

Talaat graduated in 1983 from the Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, completing his undergraduate studies in Electrical Engineering at Cairo University.

He earned his PhD or doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) from the University of Paris - Paris School of Business (PSB) and Masters of Science in Computer Science from Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), in addition to an MBA from Paris ESLSCA Business School, France.

2014 – Present: Chairman of Egyptian / Russian Business Council 

2014: Member of the Committee of 50 for drafting the new Egyptian Constitution

2010-present: Chairman, ASCAME (Union of Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce & Industry)

2010 – Present: Chairman, Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce.

2010 – Present: Chairman, Union of African Chambers of Commerce, Agriculture, Industry and Professions.

2010- Present: Senior vice chairman, Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

2010- Present: Board Member, Arab Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture.

2010- Present: Member, Board of Trustees, the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, «GAFI»

2010- Present: Board member, the National Organization for Social Insurance.

2008- present: Board member, Internal Trade Development Authority.

2006-2010: 1st Deputy Chairman, Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce.

2006- Present: Board member, Alexandria Ports Authority.

2006-2011: Board member, Arab-Belgium-Luxemburg Chamber of Commerce, Brussels.

2006- Present: Chairman, Alexandria Chamber of Commerce.

2002-2011: Board member, Arab French Chamber of Commerce, Paris.

2002- Present: Chairman, Egyptian-Syrian Business Council.

1988-2006: Vice chairman, Alexandria Chamber.

1984- Present: Elected board member, Alexandria Chamber of Commerce.

2009- Present: Chairman Wakalex for Industry & Trade.

2008- Present: Board member Fast Bus Transport.

2004- Present: Board Member Antoniadis for the Civilized &Touristy Development Co.

1972- Present: Chairman and Founder, Wakalex Group.

Maha Rashad is the Acting CEO of the Egyptian Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA). In addition, she holds the position of an Associate to the ICT Minister for Marketing Strategies. 

With over 15 years of professional experience in strategic planning, marketing, and leadership, Rashad has led a number of flagship projects and key initiatives that contributed to promoting Egypt ICT sector and increasing the market outreach of Egyptian providers in key markets.

Maha championed different campaigns and activities for promoting Egypt as a leading outsourcing destination and promoting ITIDA as a thought leader locally and internationally. 

During her tenure at ITIDA, Rashad spearheaded a number of significant projects and strategic initiatives, the most important of which was improving the positioning of the Egyptian ICT sector and enhancing cooperation with international influencers, analysts, and major consultancy firms.

Thanks to the exerted efforts and effective communication strategies that Rashad oversaw, Egypt has strongly cemented its position on the global ICT map, advanced in the various world rankings and recent indices of the largest research and consultancy firms. This is in addition to helping Egypt win the award of the Outsourcing Destination of the Year 2016.

Prior to ITIDA, Maha worked at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) where she led different developmental capacities with governments, NGOs, donor organizations, research analysts and the ICT community.

Maha earned her bachelor's degree in Economics and Political Science- English section, from Cairo University in 2001 and an MBA with distinction from the Arab Academy for Science Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT) in 2008, which qualified her to join the professional Ph.D. program in business administration (DBA) at AASTMT. Throughout her career, she managed to obtain a number of awards and training courses in e-government management and digital solutions.

•Board Member, Federation of the Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FEDCOC), since 2015

•Chairman, Digital Economy and Technology General Division, Federation of the Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (DET-FEDCOC), since 2001

•Chairman, IT Division, Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, 1992-2006

•Board Member, Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, 2002-2015

•Board Member, Food Industries Chamber, Federation of the Egyptian Industries (FEI), 1986

•Head of Development Committee, FEDCOC

•Member of the Head Committee, PC4Egypt

•Member of the IPR Head Committee

•Chairman, Winner Trade for Imports and Agencies

•Managing Director, Winner Brands

Major Public Activities

•e-Alexandria Project for eradicating digital illiteracy in Alexandria

•PC4EachHome National Initiative with Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT)

•Economic GIS Project, Alexandria Chamber of Commerce    

•Articulation of Tax system for the IT industry

•Tanweer National Initiative with Ministry of Education (MoE), for availing technology for Educators and Students

Ambassador Jan Thesleff has been serving as the

Ambassador of Sweden to the Arab Republic of Egypt since September 2017.

From 2014 to 2017, Thesleff served as Sweden’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, residing in Abu Dhabi. In June 2015 and in October 2016, respectively, he was accredited as Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain and the State of Kuwait.

Thesleff has previously been Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman, the Republic of Yemen and the State of Kuwait (2006-2011) and to Libya and Tunisia (2011-14). He also served as Sweden’s Special Representative for the Syria Crisis (2012-2014).

His previous diplomatic posts include serving in Brussels (Deputy to the EU Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process at the Council of Ministers, as well as at the Swedish Permanent Representation to the EU) and at the Swedish embassies in Cairo, Tokyo and Damascus.

Ambassador Thesleff is a frequent speaker in international fora and has contributed to a number of publications, including on art and architecture.

Lauren Maillian is the Founder and CEO of LMB Group, a strategic marketing and brand advisory company; was a Founding Partner at Gen Y Capital Partners, an early stage venture firm focused on investments in mobile and consumer facing technology enabled companies; and is the author of the instant bestselling business memoir, The Path Redefined: Getting To the Top On Your Own Terms. Lauren’s passion for innovation-through-entrepreneurship and her unique ability to story-tell, brought her talents as an expert onto television as the Master Marketer and co-star of the startup focused docu-series, Quit Your Day Job, on Oxygen (NBCU).

At age 19, Lauren cofounded a boutique winery that quickly became an internationally recognized award-winning wine brand, making her the youngest self-made winery owner in the country. She served as the Chief Operating Officer of the company from inception through the brand’s acquisition in 2011.

As a change agent, connector, influencer and media spokesperson, Lauren has demonstrated her ability to create messaging that resonates with brands, millennials and women. Lauren has worked with brands such as J.P. Morgan Chase, DeVry, Cover Girl, Bumble and Bumble, and Secret Deodorant to humanize their brands and better tell their stories to more authentically connect with the consumer. 

Her multi-dimensional expertise has catapulted Lauren into a new type of marketer who has global influence as both a brand strategist and ambassador.

Lauren’s experience is both vast and distinctive given the roles and responsibilities she’s had ranging from entrepreneur, investor, advisor, talent, client focused strategist and brand marketing thought leader.

Lauren’s global market leadership leverages media, culture, strategy and technology to grow brands. Lauren is an innovative marketer, who is passionate about deeply understanding people and products to create an emotional connection through storytelling.

She is driven by the belief that there is always an impactful solution to every problem. She develops marketing initiatives with a concentration on the creation and implementation of dynamic yet strategic plans that are rooted in authenticity to build brand identity, influence and notoriety.

She is a detail-oriented strategist with a deep understanding of business operations, management, and formation across various industries. Having traveled the world to more than 40 countries, Lauren has a global perspective and a fresh forward-looking approach to content creation that is sensitive to the cultural nuances faced in global media and the highly-engaged digital consumer landscape.

Maillian has sustained and deepened her influence internationally through speaking engagements to address topics that include marketing, branding, business development, venture capital, women’s leadership, innovation and technology.

She has spoken at prestigious institutions including Harvard University, Columbia University, Cornell University; Fortune 500 companies such as Google, Shell, Dell, Ernst and Young (EY), Prudential, Ogilvy, Weber Shandwick, L’Oréal and Bloomberg; and at industry leading conferences and events such as Social Media Week, ColorComm and AdWeek.

She has invested in several startups and serves on the advisory board of Digital Undivided, a social enterprise that increases the active participation of minority women in the digital space; CoSign, a technology company that allows you to monetize your social media and shareable content; LIQS, a brand of pre-mixed single serve cocktail shots; Levo League, a career content community for Gen-Y women; and Pipeline Angels.

Lauren’s work has been featured in national media outlets including Forbes, American Express OPEN Forum, Interactive ONE, Sirius XM Radio, 1010 WIN’s, HuffPost LIVE, AOL Build, Inc. Magazine, Mashable, UPTOWN Magazine, Jet Magazine, CNBC’s Nightly Business Report, MSNBC, FOX 5, CBS New York, Business Insider, Fast Company, and Black Enterprise. In 2011 she was recognized at The White House by the Kauffman Foundation as an Empact100 Award honoree which lists the top 100 entrepreneurs under 30 and in 2013, Essence Magazine named Lauren a “Shot Caller” to watch in business.

In 2014, the New York Urban League’s Young Professionals awarded Lauren the honor of Philanthropist of the Year for her charitable involvement and dedication to giving back, in 2015 Kia Motors and UPTOWN Magazine awarded Lauren for being Inspirationally Crafted for her leadership and fearless entrepreneurial journey and in 2015, Smart CEO Magazine named Lauren as a Smart CEO Brava Award Winner.

In 2016, Walker’s Legacy named Lauren to their WL50Power List that honors women making strides in the business and philanthropic community.

Lauren is involved in various philanthropic organizations that affect youth, poverty, education, and the arts. She serves on the Advisory Board of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Multicultural Audience Development Initiative (MADI) Committee, as Vice Chair of The Apollo Theater Foundation Young Patrons Steering Committee, New York Urban League’s Development Committee, is a founding member of the Young Entrepreneur Council, and a Lifetime Member of the Children’s Aid Society. Lauren has a Bachelors of Science, Magna Cum Laude, in International Trade and Marketing from the Fashion Institute of Technology. She currently resides in New York City with her two children, Jayden and Chloe.

Corine is responsible for IM Capital operations, including deal sourcing, investment project evaluation and valuation, business models validation, value creation and mentoring in investments, and supervision of exits from investments.

She is also junior coach of the Seeders Business Angels group.

Prior to joining IM Capital, and for more than 9 years, Ms. Kiame was a Director at SHUAA Capital psc Dubai, UAE, where her responsibilities included Product Development, Strategy and Project Management, and Operations. In 2006 and 2007, Mrs. Kiame worked as an assistant fund manager on several regional funds representing USD 1 Billion in assets under management, covering fifteen Arab markets.

Corine holds a Masters in Finance from Paris IX Dauphine in Paris, an Executive Education Certification from Harvard Business School with emphasis on Private Equity and Venture Capital, and is currently a member of the “Grant Evaluation Committee” of the iSME Program, a Kafalat-World Bank program, and a member of the Lebanese League for Women in Business.

Andrew has helped investors, companies and entrepreneurs succeed in emerging markets for over ten years. His main focus is providing senior executives and startups with tailored consulting on market expansion, risk management and due diligence.

Andrew is also a shareholder in two Africa-focussed investment firms and a mentor to tech startups in the region.

Rita Makhoul is the Editorial Publisher at Arabnet, managing the content, distribution, and monetization of the editorial division which consists of the Arabnet website and The Quarterly publication. The ArabNet website is a leading reference for digital businesses in the Middle-East, featuring news, analysis, expert advice, interviews, and a vibrant community of startups, developers and entrepreneurs.

The ‘ArabNet Quarterly’ is the first print release for growing digital enterprises and leading companies with insights and special stories covering the latest e-business, technology, media and entrepreneurship news in the MENA. 

She has a wealth of strategic experience from her 16 years in the marketing and communications industry having led key accounts across industries and finding her passion in the digital, tech, and startup industry. Rita has also worked on several NGO accounts and has demonstrated the value a community success program or a CSR campaign can bring.

Agamemnon sits on the UK Department of Energy & Climate Change Community Energy Contact group, has an MBE for his service to the British Empire, is a London Leader, and co-founded of Repowering, Brixton Energy, Clean Marine, Energy Garden, Community Energy England The Edible Bus Stop, The Edible Overground.

Agamemnon has a Master degree in Architecture: Advanced Environment & Energy and a Baccalaureate in Pre-Medicine, Literature and Fine Arts. Overcoming cancer twice, he has spent 16 years working to bring arts into the health sector, making hospitals more hospitable.

Keith Wallace is a Scotsman with a passion for entrepreneurs and deal-making.  Having founded the Dutch Investors Club (DeInvesteerdersClub) he put his vision of joint investments within the Netherlands and further afield into effect.

With deals in Africa and Asia, as well as Europe, this small group of active investors has striven from the beginning to make impact as well as financial returns.

Working with the Hivos Foundation, he was part of the team that founded Hivos Impact Investments, where he sits in the investment team and manages the portfolio companies of the Hivos Food and Lifestyle Fund (Southern Africa) and the Hivos Mideast Creatives Fund (MENA).

Keith is also Global Ringmaster of Get In The Ring, an international entrepreneurial competition that takes place in over 100 countries and allows him to wear top hat and tails, even in the tropics.

Mark is a strategist, author, and entrepreneur.

His work combines collective intelligence with networks, complex systems, behavioral science and neuroscience.

He is the founder of Orcasci, a consulting firm designing scaling and growth strategies with recent clients including the $1m Global Teacher Prize with the Varkey Foundation.

Mark is also the CEO and founder of Vork, a business social networking application. Previously Mark co-founded Imaginatik plc, a pioneer in crowdsourcing and collaborative problem solving for innovation.

During his 16 years at Imaginatik, Mark worked with hundreds of companies, including Allianz, Bayer, Cargill, IBM, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Whirlpool and Xerox.

The World Economic Forum nominated him a Technology Pioneer and a Young Global Leader. Mark is a Professor at Hult International Business School.

Jessica Berlin is the Managing Director and founder of CoStruct, and co-founder of the MakerNet Consortium and BerLink.

Based in (and coincidentally named) Berlin, Jessica advises companies, governments, and nonprofits on innovation strategy, partnership development, and international scaling in emerging markets, and builds global programs that bridge the gap between business, tech, and development.

She has lived and worked in Afghanistan, China, Myanmar, Rwanda, the UK, and the US and is passionate about bringing people and institutions together to create practical, win-win solutions to global challenges.

Nicolas Rouhana is currently the General Manager of IM Capital, a $15M fund, part of USAID MENA Investment Initiative, providing Matching Capital, Equity Guarantee and Technical Assistance to early-stage businesses and investors in Lebanon.

Between 2002 & 2015, Nicolas was the Executive Director of Berytech Technological Pole, a leading Technology Business Innovation & Incubation Center in Lebanon. Between 2008 & 2015, Nicolas was senior technical advisor to Berytech Fund, a Lebanese VC technology fund for start-ups, and was Associate Professor at Saint-Joseph University. He is also Vice-President of Internet Society-Lebanon Chapter.

Nicolas has a Telecommunications Engineering degree from Saint-Joseph University in Beirut, a PhD in Networking Systems from University Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, and is an EDP graduate from INSEAD, France.

Visiting professor of management sciences at the Egyptian and French universities for the MBA and the DBA .

Acted as consultant to the United Nations and occupied the posts of chairman , president and general manager of different companies in various fields .

Active in the public life in Egypt and was the board member of the Social Fund for Development , the State Holding Company for Chemical Industies , and the Alexandria and Damietta Port Authorities , the Alexandria Business Association and the Arab Management Association .

Was appointed as the first Honorary Consul of India in Alex and awarded the highest French academic award for his teaching . Also acted as head of the management department of Senghor University and is consultant to the Egyptian Japanese University for Science and technology .

Author of several books on economic and administrative development and write articles periodically in Al Ahram newspaper since 1990 . Member of the High Council for Culture and the Academy for Scientific Research and Technology .

More than 35 years of experience in the business and financial markets. She graduated with an Economics & Political Science bachelor’s degree from Cairo University in 1980, and a diploma in business administration from both Harvard Business School and London Business School. 

El Tahri started her career at the Chase National Bank of Egypt (Commercial International Bank - CIB) and held several positions until the post of Assistant General Manager of the credit and marketing department for the Petroleum, Tourism and Electronic. In 1994, with the re-activation of the Egyptian stock exchange, she founded several companies: one of the first Brokerage firms “Delta Securities Egypt” (later known as Delta Rasmala Securities, due to different partnerships)., EAB Delta Asset Management (later known as ABN AMRO Delta Asset Management and Delta Rasmala Asset Management), Delta Capital Investments, Delta Holding for Investments, Delta Financial Solutions and Nuun Fund Services.

In 2007, El Tahri sold most of her stakes in a number of her companies to focus on supporting the SME sector to develop and embrace small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs. With the rise in young entrepreneurial talent after the 2011 revolution, she established “Delta Shield for Investment” which focuses on advice for family businesses. While “Delta Inspire” the specialized incubation/acceleration arm, managing “138 Pyramids” the funding arm to partner & seed the process.

El Tahri is the first elected woman on the Board of Directors of the Egyptian Stock Exchange for two consecutive terms from 1997 to 2003. She also served on the boards of several companies, both public and private, including but not limited to the Board of Directors of Banque Misr, Telecom Egypt, General Authority for Investments “GAFI”, Egyptian Arab Land Bank, Egypt Information Dissemination Company “EGID”, Suez Canal Development Project “SCZone” on the Board of Directors and Head of the Investment Committee, Misr Capital Investments, Egyptian Railway Projects & Transport Co.  ”ERJET”, Cairo Oil & Soap, Egypt Mortgage Finance Support & Guarantee Fund, Cairo for Investment & Development “CID Group”, Egyptian American Enterprise Fund, the Board of Trustees of Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center “TIEC”; Cartier Women Initiative; Regina for Pasta & Food Products; Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority “EFSA”, Director of Representative Office and Member of the Middle East Advisory Board of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) (previously ABN AMRO). 

She is currently on the boards of: “Orange Egypt”; Arab Moltaqa for Investments; Hassan Allam Holding; Export Development Bank of Egypt “representing Banque Misr Shares”; the AUC Dean’s Strategic Advisory Board in addition to its Editorial Board, on top of other non-profit organizations e.g. INJAZ Egypt and foreign entities e.g. OECD MENA Women’s Business Forum (Co-Chair), 8 Miles and YPO-WPO.

El Tahri was nominated and won numerous local and international awards such as: one of the best businesswomen in the Arab World by the Financial Times for two consecutive years (2007-2008), and locally, one of the ten awards issued by the Egyptian Ministry of Investment on International Women's Day in March for having positively contributed to the investment environment of Egypt. She was awarded Best Businesswoman in Egypt “Corporate Women in Egypt” by the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo in December 2013. In 2014, she was also nominated by Forbes Middle East magazine as one of the 200 most powerful businesswomen in the Middle East, and was nominated in January 2016 by Amwal Al Ghad magazine as one of the “The Most Influential 50 Women in the Economic”.

Khaled Ismail is the Willard W. Brown Chair at the American University in Cairo (AUC) for the academic year 2014-2015.

He is also the head of the African Academic Association on Entrepreneurship.

Ismail is the Founder and Chairman of KIangel, an angel investment fund focused on investing in early-stage startups in the Middle East. The fund has invested in 11 companies since 2011 and is still growing. Ismail is a serial entrepreneur who has started 7 companies in Egypt since 1992.

His latest company, SySDSoft, which is a technology company focused on the design of wireless communication system modems, was acquired by Intel in March 2011. Ismail became thereafter and until January 2014 the Managing Director of Intel Mobile Communications.

Ismail was the Chairman of Endeavor Egypt between 2011 and 2014, board member of Orascom Telecom (2004-2011) and board member of the IT Industry Development Authority (2009-2012). Between 2005 and 2007, Ismail was the Senior Advisor of the Egyptian Minister of CIT, responsible for Technology Development.

Between 1997 and 2000, Ismail was the Managing Director of Gemma, a company specialized in Ceramic manufacturing, which he managed to take public in 1998.

Ismail was with IBMs TJ Watson Research Center in NY. He is the recipient of the IBM Invention Achievement Award and the IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award in 1997 and 1995, respectively.

Ismail received his Ph.D. from MIT in 1989.

He has been an IEEE Fellow since 1997 and has published over 160 papers in international journals, and is the holder of 22 US patents. He was the recipient of the Eta Kappa Nu Best Young Electrical Engineer in the US award in 1994, and the Shuman Award for the Young Arab Engineer in 1995.