The journey from Cairo International Airport to the Smart Village Business Park outside is usually regarded as a nightmare. The 30 kilometre commute along the ring road around the city, takes more than three hours to complete in rush hour, while the drive through inner-Cairo presents some scary challenges.

Drivers have a relaxed attitude to personal safety as they hurtle past donkeys, carts and roadside scenes echoing recent unrest, and my current taxi driver tells me the best way to stay safe on these roads is to play the Koran through the tapedeck.

We’re both praying in different directions, but we get the result we’re hoping for, safe arrival at the Smart Village Business Park, outside Gisa in the shadow of the pyramids.

A counter-point to the ancient surroundings, this is a vibrant hub of high-tech innovation, built to accommodate major multinational and indigenous companies working in Telecommunications and Information Technologies others.

Spacious green areas, waterfalls, artificial lakes and business community leisure areas form a unique backdrop to iconic office buildings. It’s like a modern oasis that looks like it would be more at home in California’s Silicon Valley than an Egyptian desert. Worth remembering that Egyptians have a reputation for innovation with modern engineers still unsure how the great Pyramids were built!
The steady growing number of national and multinational enterprises moving or seeking to move to Smart Village Cairo underlines the business park’s reputation for providing an environment that supports competitiveness, productivity and profitability.

But, it’s the high calibre and ambition of the mostly youthful people that is most awe-inspiring. The Vodafone headquarters, for example, is populated with young 20-30 year olds that are driving its next wave of cutting-edge solutions.

Education is highly valued in Egypt and large companies are capitalising on the highly qualified talent pool and university partnerships to train people in the areas where the world needs skills. These aren’t back office support roles that young Egyptians are fulfilling. It’s high end software development that will make or break future successes.

There is a tangible desire and commitment here from aspiring and ambitious youths to grasp any opportunity for progression. Education offers a clear route from poverty towards a lucrative future.

The thing is, Northern Ireland has the ability and opportunities to far exceed what Egypt is achieving, but we need to do more to transform, inspire and energise new talent. Thankfully organisations like Northern Ireland Science Park (NISP) are taking proactive steps to identify and develop a lasting relationship with our brightest before, during and after they leave.

The Generation Innovation programme, for example, holds two annual events to identify some of NI’s most promising pupils and invite them and their parents into regular high value events. The next one takes place in November and I’m excited to proud that my daughter is among the students who were nominated by their school to meet 40 highly successful innovators in local science and technology companies like SLA Mobile.

Success is earned by going further and learning again and again. We need to shift mindsets towards proactivity. In Israel, for example, students are brought together and told they are special and have a role to play in making the economy successful. Our students must be given similar direction and encouragement if we are to compete at the best of our ability.

In SLA Mobile we work with a lot of nationalities and the capability of Northern Ireland talent rates highly amongst the world’s best. It always strikes me how similar New Zealand people are to those back home, but the big difference is the motivation to work overseas, build experience and get going. Working in London or Dublin is regarded as a daunting experience to some at home, but in New Zealand travelling to Australia; Kuala Lumpur; Indonesia and Europe are common work routes.

If the dusty roads of Egypt can lead to international innovation-led business, then so too can the well travelled highways of Northern Ireland. We just need to give our next generation of economic navigators a better roadmap and the confidence to choose the route to success.