{"id":695428,"date":"2026-04-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/?post_type=hardhat&p=695428"},"modified":"2026-04-22T03:42:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T03:42:17","slug":"egypt-shifts-digital-strategy-from-efficiency-to-national-sovereignty","status":"publish","type":"hardhat","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/hardhats\/egypt-shifts-digital-strategy-from-efficiency-to-national-sovereignty\/","title":{"rendered":"Egypt shifts digital strategy from efficiency to national sovereignty"},"content":{"rendered":"

Talks about the c<\/strong>ountry\u2019s digital transformation efforts are no longer just about <\/strong>efficiency, but about sovereignty and resilience too. <\/strong>Digital sovereignty and data sovereignty were highlighted by policymakers and the private sector players EnterpriseAM spoke to as important concepts that go beyond just the building of data centers within the borders of the country.<\/p>\n

Digital sovereignty isn\u2019t just about where the data resides<\/strong> \u2014 it\u2019s \u201cthe ability of an institution or the state to control its technological infrastructure and its own data and information,\u201d former CIT Ministry Legislative Committee head and digital legislation consultant Mohamed Hegazy tells EnterpriseAM. IBM North and East Africa General Manager Marwa Abbas, in comments to EnterpriseAM, similarly described digital sovereignty as \u201cthe ability for organizations and nations to operate technology on their own terms \u2014 maintaining demonstrable control over data, infrastructure, and operations, regardless of where systems are physically located.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why this matters: <\/strong>\u201cEgyptian national security is no longer confined to securing land, sea, and air borders. It has expanded to include virtual borders or what we know as cyberspace,\u201d Supreme Cybersecurity Council consultant Waleed Haggag tells us. While the question of who controls the data may seem like a technicality, it can make private or public institutions \u201ca hostage to foreign suppliers, platforms, or legislation, especially during critical times like wars and crises,\u201d Hegazy tells us.<\/p>\n

\u201cSovereignty helps ensure the uninterrupted operation of vital state facilities<\/strong>,\u201d Haggag tells us, explaining how having data stored locally makes it \u201cdifficult for hostile entities to exploit vulnerabilities in international servers to reach us.\u201d \u201cThis plays a pivotal role during geopolitical tensions that may lead to internet service cuts or restrictions by foreign powers,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Digital transformation is no longer defined by speed and efficiency alone \u2014 resilience is <\/strong>now a defining metric<\/strong>,\u201d Abbas tells us. \u201cRecent global disruptions, from large-scale outages to geopolitical instability, have demonstrated that digital infrastructure is now part of a nation\u2019s critical fabric. When systems fail, the impact extends beyond IT to economies, public services, and public trust,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

Digital sovereignty is also about accountability<\/strong>, as having data based physically and statutorily in Egypt \u201censures that any breach or leak falls under Egyptian [\u2026] jurisdiction\u201d and means we don\u2019t have to rely on \u201cforeign entities that might procrastinate or refuse to cooperate,\u201d Haggag says.<\/p>\n

The <\/strong>National Cybersecurity Strategy has already made significant progress onshoring <\/strong>government data<\/strong>, with a host of new data centers \u2014 albeit limited in number and size when compared to our regional peers \u2014 that now host \u201call sensitive government databases within Egypt,\u201d according to Haggag. Continuity of services is also a priority with \u201cisolated sandboxes used to ensure that citizen services remain unaffected by outages or breaches in global commercial clouds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vital sectors like water, electricity, and health have additional layers of protection<\/strong>, with the Supreme Cybersecurity Council mandating that the core operational technology networks for critical utilities be \u201ccompletely isolated from the public internet and administrative networks,\u201d Haggag tells us. Encryption and locally generated and managed keys are also mandated to prevent foreign manufacturers from having a backdoor.<\/p>\n

Before anything\u2019s connected, all imported hardware and software follow \u201cstrict<\/strong> requirements set for inspecting and testing,\u201d<\/strong> Haggag says. This step is taken before introducing anything to critical infrastructure to ensure that the components are \u201cfree of pre-planted malicious code or electronic components that allow remote exploitation.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the problem is that \u201cexcessive legislative rigor can become an obstacle\u201d to attracting <\/strong>global tech companies to Egypt<\/strong>, while on the flipside, \u201claxity can turn citizens' data into economic fuel for global companies without any return for the state,\u201d according to Hegazy. Upcoming legislation on the topic \u201cmust achieve this balance by adopting and applying international standards rather than reinventing the [regulatory] wheel,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cEgyptian national security is no longer confined to securing land, sea, and air borders,\u201d Supreme Cybersecurity Council consultant Waleed Haggag tells EnterpriseAM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":695429,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[7235],"tags":[7094,12583,72,7116,7448],"class_list":["post-695428","hardhat","type-hardhat","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hardhat","tag-ai","tag-data-centres","tag-enterpriseam","tag-hardhat","tag-tech","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"cf7c8fd0-75ca-4cf4-b47f-ca714dc91157","order":"13","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"2","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2026\/4\/1058.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"Digital sovereignty has an important role to play in the digital transformation","related_issue":[695406],"teaser":"\u201cEgyptian national security is no longer confined to securing land, sea, and air borders,\u201d Supreme Cybersecurity Council consultant Waleed Haggag tells EnterpriseAM"},"yoast_head":"\nEgypt shifts digital strategy from efficiency to national sovereignty - 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