Posted by Michael Tackett at 7:05 a.m. CDT
CAIRO -- A half an hour's drive from downtown Cairo, on what used to be desert, Egypt's version of Silicon Valley has risen.
There are palm trees and fresh sod grass along the concrete walkways and the new roads are lined with gleaming government and private sector buildings. One even has a glass pyramid entryway, as a metaphor for the old and new Egypt.
Technology is rapidly transforming this country beset by poverty. Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, IBM and Alcatel are among the businesses with new offices here.
Egypt has its own call centers, nothing on the scale of India but still the largest in the Middle East. Most serve customers speaking Arabic, but there are English-speaking ones as well.
The next time you call a help line, the person on the other end could be here.
This is a part of the country the government wants to showcase. And with good reason. It is perhaps the brightest spot in the economy.
And this summer the Smart Village will host a most honored guest: Bill Gates
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