ITIDA
Egyptian public authority under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, created by Law No. 15 of 2004 to develop the IT industry and license e-signature services.
Industry: IT industry development and e-signature licensing | Location: Giza, Egypt | Founded: 2004
About ITIDA
The Information Technology Industry Development Agency, known as ITIDA, is an Egyptian public authority affiliated with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT). It was established in 2004 as the ministry's executive arm for developing the country's IT industry, and its legal basis is Law No. 15 of 2004, which was published in the Official Gazette on 22 April 2004 and entered into force the following day. Its offices are located in Smart Village, a business park on the outskirts of Cairo. Under Article 4 of the law, ITIDA is responsible for issuing and renewing the licences required to provide electronic signature services and related electronic dealings. Its mandate also includes supporting small and medium-sized projects that use electronic dealings, encouraging investment in the communications and IT industry, and registering original software and databases to protect copyright. In practice ITIDA has become the government body most visible in Egypt's push to grow digital exports, particularly outsourcing and offshoring services. It promotes Egypt to multinational companies, signs agreements with firms that set up or expand delivery centres in the country, and runs programmes for startups and technology talent. Hossam Osman, who joined the agency in 2005, has held senior roles there including two periods as acting chief executive, the last ending in March 2016, and has been associated with the innovation sector and programmes such as Egypt Makes Electronics. Ahmed Elzaher has led ITIDA as chief executive since 2022, according to Forbes Middle East, and also serves as assistant minister for ecosystem development at MCIT. He represented the agency at events including Cairo ICT 2024, where ITIDA highlighted the expansion of digital signature services for businesses and government transactions, and at Techne Summit Cairo 2025. Official figures for the sector have grown quickly. ITIDA reported in November 2024 that outsourcing exports had risen from US$2.4 billion to US$3.7 billion over the previous year. Ahram Online reported in November 2025 that digital export revenues had reached US$4.8 billion in 2025, up from US$2.4 billion in 2022, and that ITIDA signed 55 agreements with multinational and local companies at the Global Offshoring Summit, with signatories including Accenture, Capgemini, Deloitte and Teleperformance. A 2026 Ahram report quoted Communications Minister Raafat Hindi putting 2025 outsourcing exports at about US$5.2 billion, with a government target of US$8 billion by 2028. The definitions behind these export figures differ between reports.