The Egyptian Information Technology Sector and the Role of Intellectual Property: Economic Assessment and Recommendations

Knut Blind, Tim Pohlmann, Florian Ramel and Sacha Wunsch-Vincent
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Knut Blind: Berlin University of Technology, Faculty of Economics and Management, and Chair of Innovation Economics, Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems FOKUS Public Innovation, Berlin, Germany.
Tim Pohlmann: Berlin University of Technology, Faculty of Economics and Management, Berlin, Germany
Florian Ramel: Berlin University of Technology, Faculty of Economics and Management, Berlin, Germany

No 18, WIPO Economic Research Working Papers from World Intellectual Property Organization - Economics and Statistics Division

Abstract: This paper discusses the state of innovation in the Egyptian information technology sector (IT) and the corresponding role of intellectual property (IP). The Egyptian ICT sector is an important contributor to economic growth and employment. Having established itself as a leading supplier of ICT back office operation and services for multinational enterprises, moving up the value ladder towards the production and exports of higher value-added software and ICT services is now the priority. In this context, this working paper seeks to identify the current and potential role of IP for the Egyptian ICT sector, and the links between IP and innovation and FDI. First, the study describes the key characteristics of the Egyptian ICT sector, including its innovative activities. Second, after a discussion of the role of IP in the ICT industry, it describes what the current use of IP is in Egypt's ICT sector. Finally, it proposes IP-related policies which could contribute to promoting domestic innovation. It also formulates areas for future research which touch upon the interface of ICT services and business process outsourcing and the role of IP, and the hurdles that low- and middle-income economies face in successfully penetrating the global IT innovation networks.

Keywords: Egypt; information technology; business process outsourcing; intellectual property; innovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F23 L86 L96 O14 O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 67 pages
Date: 2014-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ara, nep-cse, nep-ipr and nep-pr~
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