Minister of Communications and Information Technology Raafat Hendy attended the graduation ceremony of the third cohort of the "Superhero Academy" cybersecurity academy for children and youth, organized by the National Telecommunications Institute (NTI) in cooperation with the National Telecom Regulatory Authority's EG-CERT and major global and local tech firms, celebrating over 6,000 graduates across all governorates.
Held at the NTI headquarters in the Knowledge City at the New Administrative Capital, the ceremony was attended by ITIDA CEO Engineer Ahmed El-Zaher, Assistant Minister for Digital Transformation Engineer Mahmoud Badawy, Acting President of Egypt Informatics University Ahmed Hamad, Chairman of the National Academy of Information Technology for Persons with Disabilities Abdel Moneim El-Sharkawy, Ministry Acting Permanent Undersecretary Samer Saeed, executive ministry leadership, and regional heads of partner companies including Fortinet, Cisco, F5, and ICT-MISR.
Hendy emphasized that the immense turnout reflects growing awareness among youth and families regarding cybersecurity, underscoring state efforts to build a secure digital society and invest in future generations capable of safeguarding society and supporting Digital Egypt.
He noted that cybersecurity is a top ministry priority amid rapid digital transformation and artificial intelligence growth, explaining that AI is a double-edged sword boosting productivity while posing threats like identity theft, deepfakes, disinformation, and data breaches, which require qualified national cadres to enhance trust in digital services.
Hendy commended the academy's role in building cybersecurity skills from school age to university graduation, praising NTI, EG-CERT, and partners while urging graduates to continue honing their capabilities to build a secure digital ecosystem. NTI Director Dr. Ahmed Khattab stated that this year's academy featured qualitative curriculum upgrades matching different age brackets, focusing on practical projects, freelancing tracks, and advanced specializations, adding that hundreds secured freelance gigs shortly after graduation, confirming the training program's labor market alignment.
He added that NTI will continue supporting qualified youth teams to compete in the Egypt Cyber Heroes Hackathon 2026 at the Knowledge City, while providing on-the-job training and mentorship for university students with private sector partners to unlock employment and freelancing pathways.
The current edition expanded to encompass graduates across all 27 governorates, operating through 19 training centers in 17 governorates. The first stage, targeting juniors aged 8 to 17, graduated 4,626 trainees, focusing on cybersecurity basics, phishing, fraud, account theft, cyberbullying, grooming, blackmail, impersonation, and privacy risks.
The top 38 teams from age groups 8-11 and 12-14 were selected for an intensive boot camp to develop their concepts into functional projects, culminating in awards for the winning team in each bracket. The second stage targeted 1,324 university students aged 18 to 21 across four specialized tracks: penetration testing, network security, security operations centers (SOC), and cyber operations.
Within a week of completing training, 382 graduates, representing roughly 28.9% of this stage, completed paid freelance tasks, earning over 6,000 dollars across 20 global freelancing platforms.