Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the emergence of a ''digital developmental state'' in Egypt. Ongoing efforts to digitize governmental institutions, forge a techno entrepreneurial ecosystem, and develop a digitally capable citizenry, make Egypt is a powerful case of a new state form.

Paper long abstract:

This paper seeks to understand the emergence of what we are calling a ''digital developmental state'' in Egypt. Like the industrializing developmental states of the 1980s/90s, this recent iteration rests on the premise that states in the global South are differently positioned in their ability to engage with the global economy. Their disadvantaged position necessitates that the state play a distinct role in the growth process. Nonetheless, whereas the original developmental states sought to increase their comparative advantage through exporting complex manufactured goods, nascent digital developmental states must find other ways to engage with a profoundly transforming global economy that is being shaped by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In this paper we ask: How is the digital developmental state different from, and similar to, previous forms of the developmental state?

Egypt is a powerful case from which to document and explain the rise of the digital developmental state. Enchanted by the promises of technologies for economic development and modernization, the Egyptian state recently embarked on a comprehensive digital transformation quest to build a Digital Egypt, a society that integrates technologies, and an economy that operates digitally. Through its Digital Egypt Strategy, the state seeks to digitize governmental institutions and services; forge a techno entrepreneurial ecosystem that encourages digital innovation; and build a New Egyptian Person, a digitally-capable, skillful, competitive, responsible and flexible citizen who is ready for the future. This paper examines the actors, institutions, and resources that are being marshaled to establish Egypt's digital development state.