Impact of COVID-19 on Information Technology Sector in Egypt

Abstract

Pandemics raise huge challenges yet brought several opportunities. The sudden attack of COVID-19 revealed the importance of the information technology (IT) applications. The Reliance on the IT sector has become imperative to ensure sustainability and to raise most sectors' performance efficiency, especially the services' ones. This study applied PESTEL analysis to evaluate the current status of IT in Egypt. SWOT analysis was performed to explore points of strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats that face the IT sector in Egypt as a result of the COVID19 attack. The process of foreseeing the future, through non-officials' experts brainstorming, is the first step to design and implement strategic plans to achieve the targeted future. To exploit the future of the IT sector, the direct and indirect influences of the mentioned factors were studied with the use of the future wheel. An optimistic scenario is introduced to foresee the effects of the mentioned recommendations. The imperative of taking advantage of the opportunity to spread digital applications and to allow internet and digital services usage for all citizens is Egypt's gateway to reach international standards.