Business Talks: Mohamed Salama, CBO DFA Egypt

What is the current forecast of your company, in terms of growth levels and exploring new markets?
Actually, all is good!! The current pandemic gave us the opportunity to explore new markets outside of Egypt and we started to approach our target segmentation in different Arab countries and in European countries as well.

We were able to expand and opened one new branch in October city and we are preparing to launch a new branch in Alexandria in addition to our online expansion. As of now, we are providing many courses for those who want to master the German language in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Dubai in addition to Germany.
And finally, we are still assessing the current situation to open our branch in Germany, which will help us  build a bridge between our branches in Egypt and the new branch in Germany.

What are the most significant changes that you did after COVID-19 to face the challenges of digitalization in your company?
Technology for sure Using technology was the most significant change that I did during and after COVID-19, it was very important to keep up with the rapid changes that happened during the last 16 months. We certainly love the face to face classes, it is awesome seeing the instructors, but when it comes to a disease and the students are afraid of attending the face to face classes, we should work on enhancing and developing our methodology to deliver our courses with the same quality and trying to attract the students who really dislike the online courses. Our R&D department suggested to work on a new solution, a very customized option that may fit those who are attached to the face to face classrooms and forced to take the online classes.

That solution are virtual classrooms, where the student can see the instructor through an HD camera and our instructors were delivering the session on a whiteboard, exactly like the one in a face to face classroom It was a creative solution and the students’ reaction was unexpected.

Where do you see Egypt in the future era of digitalization?
We took  very good steps forward as the Egyptian government has taken significant steps towards transformation into a digital economy. They are focusing on improving services presented to citizens via digitizing them. They also depend on linking governmental digital systems to improve work at the state’s administrative apparatus and ensuring efficiency and effectiveness. Promoting electronic governance and principles of transparency, accountability, and monitoring at all governmental agencies is another strategic objective.

What role should technology play in the future workplace?

• There is no doubt that technology is currently playing a pivotal role in the workplaces and how the employees will operate, especially after the pandemic. Everything is now connected through the Internet, even our personal mobile, which has been used for the business. The reflection on the workplaces is really huge.
• The systems that the companies developed will also be essential to preserving productivity and efficiency in the office in a time when companies have realized that fully remote operations are a possibility. COVID-19 has definitely led to more technological enablement than ever before, by the necessity.

In your opinion, what are the benefits and disadvantages of digitalizing in the workplace?

• I think almost all companies, even the SMEs, are now using technology to accomplish and carry out tasks and there is no doubt that technology changed how people work, but everything has advantages and disadvantages.
• The most common advantages of technology at work is that it facilitates mobility as the employees can work anytime, anywhere and can also meet every day to make decisions through the virtual meetings, which saves time which reflects positively on increasing productivity.
• Another advantage is that digitalization has opened up a new world of opportunities when it comes to hiring new candidates and the variety of available jobs. Since then, the world became a small village and anybody can be hired, even if he or she is living far away, plus, there are now completely new job roles, like internet technology specialists, and anyone can open their own online business which is an amazing new advantage.
• But one of the most important disadvantages for using the technology, especially in the workplaces, is the negative affect on the relationships at work as all employees are connected via smartphones and video conference, which will reflect negatively on the employees and the company in the long run.

• The second disadvantage it that it can lead to a lack of mentorship, since the leader is not seeing the employee and they are communicating through a short daily video. I think it might be too easy for a mentor to put more workload on an employee if they are not there to see it through with them.  

How will digitalization in the workplace affect our lives?

• How has the digitalization in the workplaces impacted our lives? The truth is it has changed it a lot. With the usage of cell phones and computers, allowing access to the Internet, social media, and more, we can plug in at any time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We might find ourselves chained to the phone or tablet for most of the day, perhaps we simply can't avoid looking at our phone and maybe we are unable to enjoy a meal without the interruption of a mobile notification.
• It is really affecting everything, interferes with our daily sleep, leaves us feeling isolated and distracted from our families, having problems with ears and eyes and finally, digitalization doesn’t build the best communication skills.

What can we, as the German-Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce, do to turn possible disadvantages of digitalization in the workplace into advantages?
Trying to connect the entities to each other, having  face to face meetings and webinars, letting the members enjoy some activities to be able to socialize  with the other team members, increasing the awareness of the disadvantages for the AHK members and trying to train the members on how they can avoid these disadvantages.

In your opinion, what are current issues in connection with digitalizing the workplace?
Internet quality issues, as we here in Egypt are facing unstable internet connection. For sure, it is much better than the last year but due to the huge usage, sometimes the internet connection is unstable and that affects the entire process.

How can you change the negative effects of digitalization to a positive way?

• I think balancing between the normal life and the new digitalization is the best option to avoid all negative effects, since it will be too easy to mix both options, to work three days remotely and two days from office for example.

• This will help us to change or at least decrease the negative effects of digitalization.

What role do you see the government playing in facilitating the future of digitalization in the workplace?Since the digitalization in the workplace has a significant role in improving business sustainability, the government right now is playing a very important role in enhancing and developing the tools that lead to becoming one of the best ten in Africa that succeeded in facilitating the future of digitalization in the workplace.

 Everything has become too easy to use and to access, many platforms have been developed by the government to enhance and develop the services that may reflect positively on the digitalization.

We just need to focus on holding more programs to introduce more digital tools. Plus, the government should provide incentives and an environment for innovation and build a platform to connect small businesses with internet content provider services.