The survey quantified the volume and value of unlicensed software installed on PCs in addition to surveying more than 22,500 consumers and employees in 32 countries.
Egypt has seen a two percent drop in its software piracy rate to reach (59%), the U.S.-based Business Software Alliance said in its recent study.
The study revealed that Egypt has managed to lower the commercial value of the unlicensed software, which declined significantly from $157m in 2015 to $64m in 2017.
The survey quantified the volume and value of unlicensed software installed on PCs across more than 110 national and regional economies in addition to surveying more than 22,500 consumers and employees in 32 countries who use PCs at home or at work.
Globally, Egypt now has lower piracy rates than some of other global outsourcing contenders including Morocco (64%), the Philippines (64 %), Vietnam (74 %), and Sri Lanka (77 %). This is the second consecutive year that Egypts piracy rates have fallen.
Last July, the Egyptian parliament; backed by two thirds of parliament’s 596 members, passed the cyber-crime law that helps in mitigating the cyber threats and establishes rules and measures to be followed by the local ISPs.
The law, which legalises the digital evidence for the first time in the Egyptian jurisprudence, aims also at stamping out any information inciting violence or hatred, addressing various other types of computer crimes including hacking, fraud, or any attack on private and public information systems and networks.
Over the past several years, the government has taken tough measures to crack down on the illegal use of software, said Dr. Mohamed Hegazy, Egypts IPR office manager, commenting on the BSA studys findings.
We have managed to create a conducive business environment through modernising the legal framework and law enforcement, combating piracy, and protecting intellectual property rights., He added.
Egypts Ministry of Communications and Information Technology announced the Cabinets approval on the data protection and privacy draft law that, as reported, embraces the new EUs General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
We are working on a comprehensive strategy for increasing the attractiveness of Egypt to international investors building on our momentum and the ICT sectors growth which we believe will remain robust, said Maha Rasha, Acting CEO of Egypts IT Industry Development Agency.
Valued at nearly $3.26bn in 2017, the Egyptian IT and IT-enabled services (ITeS) export industry is spurred by the expansions and increased presence made by the existing multinational companies and the new IT foreign direct investments to the country.
Many multinational companies including DELL EMC, Valeo, Microsoft, Convergys, Teleperformance, Sutherland, IBM, Sykes, and Mentor Graphics have reportedly opted to outsource their IT services and R&D centers to Egypt.
