Egypt’s Wasel Contact Center for PwDs wins CIO100 Award

03 / 02 / 2020

By Mohamed El Ghobashy - - | Edited by Marwa Nassar

Egypt’s Wasel Contact Center for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) – which was set up by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) – won the CIO100 Award of the Dubai-based CPI Media Group.

Egyptian Communications Minister’s Adviser for Social Responsibility Abeer Shakweer received the award – which is granted for innovative pioneering projects in the Middle East – during the 12th edition of the annual ceremony organized by CPI Media Group, in Dubai.

In statements to CSR Egypt on the fringe of the honoring ceremony, Shakweer said the ministry launched its CSR strategy in the communications sector in 2014 in order get the governmental sector, the private sector and civil society organizations to join hands and support the state efforts to buttress low-income strata and marginalized areas.

She added that ministry managed to accomplish several projects, including telemedicine project as well as qualifying 20,000 youths to join the labor market in a number of Egyptian governorates.

The ministry also worked on developing technology assisting handicapped people to facilitate their education as well as building their capabilities to get jobs, she added.

The ministry has through its Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC) launched programs for empowering female entrepreneurs in the fields of technology and communications and honing their skills to join the labor market.

About Egypt’s Wasel Contact Center for Persons with Disabilities:

Shakweer said the center is one of a kind in the Arab region, the Middle East and Africa. It provides full technological solutions and serves as a contact center enabling the access of people with hearing and speech impairments to emergency, ambulance, firefighting services and others.

Shakweer also said that the center deserved to win the award as it demonstrated excellence in two main areas; technological innovation that reflects the use of IT, innovatively, and enabling new innovative ways to deliver business internally or externally.

Other Egyptian winners:

Among the honored figures was also Yasser Sahraf, IT director of the Raya company for contact centers services in Egypt.

For his part, Sharaf said the company seeks to promote digital transformation in Egypt and encourage foreign companies to use outsourcing services in Egypt.

He added that the company has recently signed a cooperation agreement with Avaya international company to secure innovative solutions to IX Contact Center in addition to promoting the company’s role as a major provider of outsourcing services in Egypt.

The company focuses on three axes; namely promoting communication services, accelerating digital transformation and increasing productivity and efficiency of employees, he said.

The company seeks to depend on up-to-date technology in communication center to improve services and reduce costs, he said, noting that the company plans to up the number of its employees by 1,000 annually.

About CIO 100 Awards:

The CIO 100 Awards celebrates 100 organizations and the teams within them that are using IT in innovative ways to deliver business value, whether by creating competitive advantage, optimizing business processes, enabling growth or improving relationships with customers.

CPI Media Group was founded by the charismatic Dominic De Sousa in 1991 and it has published magazines and guides. It organized large scale events and run successful marketing campaigns across the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC).

From an initial start with B2B IT titles, it has grown its range to include industry, construction, hospitality, broadcast and finance. For the last ten years, it has also published in the consumer space, bringing globally important brands to the regional market.

CPI Media Group is committed to a digital future and is using social media to enhance its brands, as well as investing heavily into upgrading its web sites. Marketing solutions for clients typically include a mix of print, digital and event-based solutions.

CPI Media Group has several long-term partnerships with leading global brands – IDG and BBC Worldwide. These organizations chose CPI Media Group over competing publishers because of its innovation and understanding of the regional market.