Dr.Nagwa ElShenawy – INITIATOR AND PROFESSOR OF DIGITAL ECONOMY

Nagwa ElShenawy is a professor of Digital economy at Cairo University- faculty of economics and political sciences (FEPS). She is the initiator of this subject in the University’s curriculum in 2019 and teaching it until now in FEPS. This is the first university teaching this course in Africa and MENA region.
Dr Nagwa’s areas of research and expertise focuses on impact of ICT on economic development, digitalization and digital trade in Egypt, Arab and African regions. She successfully led a research on impact of digitalization in Arab region. The research was a part of a largest study to establish Social Expenditure Monitor for Arab States. She is currently working on designing a framework of ICT measurements for Africa to monitor the digitalization progress in the African region. She is also conducting a research on Digitalization & Innovation for women, developed initiatives on using ICT Tools for empowering Women in Egypt, African and Arab regions. Furthermore, she is currently working on designing digital economy courses to be taught in seminars & workshops for academic institutes in the region within the framework of continuous learning. Dr. ElShenawy was awarded in 2021 among the Top Ten Women leaders in Technology & Business by IDC International. She was also awarded the Excellence in Service Award in 2014 by the ITU and awarded by the UN Public Services in 2013 for an innovative platform developed to support the decision makers in Egypt. For more than four years (2019-present) She has been leading the Faculty of Economics & Political Sciences’ s digital economy program which contribute to the creation of digital economy ecosystem which impacted until now more than 1500 young.
Dr Nagwa received her doctorate in Business Administration from Maastricht school of Management (MSM) in Netherlands, where her research focused on economics of information technology. She also holds a Master degree in Philosophy and a Master in Information Technology from the same school and a bachelor degree in economics from Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences/Cairo University. She is a member in digitalization Network in Manchester University, UK.
Dr ElShenawy has a broad multidisciplinary experience in economic development, ICT, digitalization & digital economy, women empowerment, digital trade and technology based on professional practice and academic research. She is the founder of the first Egyptian Cabinet poll center in Africa and MENA. She has advised policy makers in Ministry of Communications (worked with nine ministers), Ministry of International Cooperation and Ministry of Planning on key socioeconomic issues, planning and funding issues, operations and ICT for development with a focus on women, and technology issues. She has also consulted and conducted research for international organizations such as the World Bank, UNECA, UNCTAD, ITU, WIPO, and UNESCO.
In 2019, Dr. ElShenawy was selected as a member in VR AR Council established by the World Economic Forum (WEF). She is a co-founder and member of the Board of Directors of Egyptian Gender Alliance, a leading non-governmental organization supporting the social and economic empowerment of women in Egypt. She is also an active member in Arab Women Network Steering Committee formed by ITU, mentoring & advising high-impact women/girls working in the ICT sector in Arab region. She is also chairing the Arab ICT indicators committee in the Arab States League. She is a member in the governmental e-commerce advisory board. She is also the co-founder of a Digital innovation hub in Egypt established to support MSEs/entrepreneurs with focus on women to leverage the benefits of the digitalization. She is also a member of number of ICT, digital economy and innovation regional and international committees.