The NTRA’s R&D department was established in 2007 with key objectives of supporting national research projects and activities in the area of telecommunications, watching for and keeping pace with emerging technologies and applications, and aiming to bridge the gap between academic activities and technical developments from one-perspective and policy visions and real market needs from another. This vision entails the interaction and collaboration with a wide variety of academic and industry stakeholders with the goal of advancing science and technology in key strategic domains that serve the Egyptian ICT sector at large, and contribute to the development of solutions that can solve key chronic challenges facing the ICT industry nowadays.
Backed up by a solid strategic vision for the telecom market, whereby research, and analysis of complex, novel, and non-traditional technological and techno-regulatory communications and digital issues are conducted, NTRA has established a roadmap for investing into techno-regulatory and standardization Research and Development Programs (RDPs) in multiple technical domains including:
- Advanced ICT Infrastructure
- Telecom Networks (Core, Transport, and Access) and its Security/Cryptosystems
- Photonics and Submarine Optical Research
- Advanced Sensing, and Smart Materials
- Advanced Computing, Artificial Intelligence, and Big Data Analytics for ICT
- Robotics, Optimized Control, and Autonomous Systems
- Digital Ledger Technologies (DLTs) and Blockchain
- Automation and Data Processing and Management
- Internet of Things (IoT) and Smart Cities/Communities
- AR, VR, MR, and Digital Twins
- Energy Harvesting and Embedded Systems
NTRA RDPs target the development of different instruments (short, medium, and long-term) to develop key advanced technological domains that would greatly benefit the ICT sector. In addition, the RDPs will target the development of specialized programs to enable higher levels of participation of young researchers.
Examples of RDPs include:
- Research and Development Proposals
- Centers of Excellence
- Scientific and Industry Laboratories
- Industry Collaboration and Partnership Programs
- Graduation Projects Funding (Motamayez Program برنامج متميز)
- International Standardization Development