Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, received a report submitted by Dr. Mohamed Bayoumi, head of the National Authority for Remote Sensing, about the authority's discussion of ways of cooperation with the Institute of Graduate Studies and Agricultural Research and Arid Zones at Ain Shams University, within the framework of activating the cooperation protocol signed between the authority and the university, in the presence of Dr. Islam Abul-Magd, Vice-President of the Authority and Advisor to the Minister for African Affairs, Dr. Osama Al-Behery, Dean of the Institute, Dr. Ayman Farid Abu Hadid, former Minister of Agriculture, and Emeritus Professor at the Institute.

On his part, Dr. Mohamed Bayoumi was keen on establishing joint and fruitful cooperation with the Institute of Graduate Studies and Agricultural Research and Arid Zones within the framework of Egypt’s 2030 vision for sustainable development and supporting the state’s efforts in implementing several giant national projects, including aquaculture, the 1.5 million feddan project, and the new delta, livestock development and other state-supported projects; to achieve food security is a strategic commodity for citizens.

The report indicated that the two sides agreed to set broad lines of cooperation between them, including setting up a professional master’s program in the field of smart agriculture, using remote sensing, to serve agricultural development projects in Egypt, and exchanging experiences in the field of remote sensing applications, geographic information systems, and control techniques from a distance in the field of smart or precision agriculture, and joint supervision of graduate students in the field of remote sensing applications and smart or precision agriculture.

The report indicated that it was also agreed to provide technical and applied consultations in the field of agriculture and the agricultural environment, depending on modern technologies, such as: remote sensing, the Internet of things, mobile applications, and artificial intelligence, providing training courses in remote sensing applications in agriculture and the agricultural environment, and participating in the work of applied projects that serve development goals in the agricultural community, and preparing scientific cadres, conducting community-serving research, holding joint conferences and workshops; to present the outcomes of cooperation between the two sides in the field of agricultural development.