News

Prof. Hosam Osman at TBRI presenting a lecture about innovation and Entrepreneurship 

TBRI Welcomes Prof. Hossam Osman, Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research for Innovation, Artificial Intelligence, and Scientific Research, to Present the National Strategy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Prof. Hosam Osman at TBRI presenting a lecture about innovation and Entrepreneurship 

Prof. Ahmed Abdelaziz, Director of Theodor Bilharz Research Institute (TBRI) and Chairman of the Board of Directors, welcomed Prof. Hossam Osman, Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research for Innovation, Artificial Intelligence, and Scientific Research. Prof. Osman attended the Institute’s Board of Directors meeting, after which he delivered an important lecture on the National Strategy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

At the beginning of his lecture, Prof. Osman defined the concept of innovation and emphasized the importance of linking innovative ideas to achieving both economic returns and social impact. He also presented several successful models of entrepreneurship, highlighting the high annual revenues achieved by some renowned global companies. Prof. Osman further stressed the need for institutions and bodies affiliated with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research to have an integrated system that enables researchers to transform their innovative ideas into entrepreneurship. This includes issuing internal bylaws to regulate innovation activities, establishing organizational structures such as technology transfer offices or business incubators, adopting policies for protecting intellectual property and establishing spin-off companies, and organizing regular events to foster communication with innovation partners from industry, entrepreneurs, investors, and government. He also pointed out the importance of developing systems for monitoring and evaluating intellectual property and innovation activities, and ensuring that researchers are well-informed about these innovation-related processes and are granted distinctive incentives for their participation.

Prof. Osman also reviewed the National Policy for Sustainable Innovation 2030, which aims to transform Egypt into a knowledge-based, innovative, and sustainable society by leveraging innovation to create value and promote sustainability across all productive and service sectors. This vision seeks to enhance quality of life, inclusive growth, and Egypt’s regional and global competitiveness. The policy is supported by a number of sub-policies, enabling factors, and action packages. Sub-policies include strengthening the developmental role of universities and research centers, advancing the innovative capacities and tools of higher education and research institutions, improving the business environment, fostering scientific and entrepreneurial culture, diversifying and expanding innovation funding to support sustainable development and quality of life, and ensuring governance of the national sustainable innovation policy. The enabling factors include effective governance of the working environment, access to funding, technology transfer, and talent availability. Action packages involve building innovation capacities, bridging the gap between research, development, and innovation, and strengthening R&D capabilities. He also highlighted leading international universities and research centers, such as Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, and others in Asia and Europe, as engines of innovation.

Furthermore, Prof. Osman pointed out that Greater Cairo has achieved a high ranking as one of the world’s emerging ecosystems for startups (ranked 41st in 2024), with its startup scene valued at USD 8.3 billion in 2023. According to the Global Innovation Index 2024, Greater Cairo appeared for the first time among the world’s top 100 science and technology clusters, being the sole representative of both Africa and the Arab world. Egypt also ranks first in Africa with 11 science and technology clusters (22%). According to the Scopus database, Egypt ranked 26th worldwide in terms of the number of published research papers between 2020 and July 2025. In addition, Egypt ranked first in Africa and third in the Middle East in terms of investment volume in 2024. Prof. Osman also showcased successful global Egyptian companies founded by talented young Egyptians who harnessed their innovative capabilities to achieve both financial returns and social benefits.

Prof. Abdelaziz expressed his great pleasure at the Deputy Minister’s visit, wishing that TBRI would continue to host him in future events to shed more light on the state’s plans, programs, and initiatives regarding innovation, sustainability, and entrepreneurship. He assured that the Institute’s administration is committed to taking serious steps toward achieving the set goals in line with the National Strategy for Higher Education and Scientific Research 2030.