Presentation by Samir El Gammal (Ministry of Trade and Industry, Egypt) at the ERF 20th Annual Conference - 21 March 2014

1. Dr. Samir A. El-Gammal, CIO –
Minister’s Advisor
Ministry of Trade & Industry,
Egypt
Cairo, March 21st , 2014
National Data Warehouse For
Egyptian Foreign Trade; a
Success Story
Cell: +20(12) 313-8507
selgammal@mti.gov.eg,

2. Page # (2)Government Efficiency Machine; Value of
Data

3. Page # (3)
Numbers; The Most Definitive Aspect of
Lives• They Form:
– Date of our birth, Location of
our home, IQ that describes
our intelligence.
– Numbers form the Zeros and
Ones that now rule every
aspect of our modern life.
• Powerful & can be dangerous:
– If Taken alone, can't be
trusted; as they can easily be
made to lie.
– Leads to conclusions that
shouldn't be made.
• If you want the truth from
numbers, you have to bring
them out in the light.
– Unite with other numbers. To
see the big picture.
• After all it is “Understanding”
not just Numbers …
• Business Issues & Objectives
– Need to Know all the attributes of both
Exports & Imports with their Relevant Drivers
– Explore opportunities and potential markets.
– 1st timers; markets and Traders,
– Ad-hoc Vs. Trends.
– How much International Fairs / Rep Offices /
Commercial Attaches are being utilized?
– When a Commodity is exported, what others
usually goes with it ….
– Need to better know our markets,
stakeholders and parties
– How much SME is participating in the
National Exports?
– Are we ready for a seasonality, national
occasions, in terms of Strategic Reserve of
Commodities.
– Specific Patterns in exports through a port,
exporter, commodity, …
– Export Promotions for specific Commodities,
Markets, …
If You Cannot Measure it … You
Cannot Manage it
The Value of a
Decision
Fact; Data is a
“PRODUCT”
Change is the Only Constant

4. Context
Egyptian Foreign Trade
Data;

5. Page # (5)
Egyptian Ministry of Trade &
Industry
• Ministry of Trade & Industry:
– Promote and Enhance Exports by Establishing strong
links between Production and Exportation
– Development & Upgrading The Egyptian Industry
• GOEIC Mission:
– Protect Citizen & Retains an elegant Image of Egypt’s
Exports through Proper Inspection of imported &
exported goods using state-of-the-art testing labs and
technologies.
– Avail Exports and Imports statistics.
Exports’ Promotion
Trade Facilitation
Consumer Protection
http://www.mti.gov.eg/english/index.htm
http://www.goeic.gov.eg/

6. Page # (6)
2000 2001 2002 2003 2012
CBE 3,104 2,702 2,742 3,323
CAPMAS 404 346 387 527
US ITC 617 879 942 1,144 1,672
MTI DWH 1,472
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
MillionUS$
Example; Comparing Egyptian Exports to USA
Why does a Government need
Accurate Data?
12 %
Vast
Differences
Between
Data
Sources

7. Page # (7)
Objectives ….
• Avail Foreign Trade Data to Enable government /
business to take decisions on accurate information
• Should be accredited, un-disputed and officially
endorsed
• Transparent Process, reflecting what’s happening
on the ground
• Record it as a Raw Data for further analytics
• Flexible / scalable system to respond to business
requirements
• Narrowing the gap between local & int’l sources
• Complement data sources used by CAPMAS;
State official statistical reporting agency.

8. Page # (8)Challenges; Data & Numbers
Issues• Data Islands; (no data or too much, Value?!)
• Data Sources (Governance Rules ???!!! Any
???!!!)
• Data Quality
• 2nd Hand Data
• Aggregated / Detailed (Macro & Micro …)
• Pre-set / Tailored
• Trust / Mistrust
• Continuity
• Openness & Sharing

9. Page # (9)Challenges; Government &
Business Culture• Legislations; Rules and Regulations
• Government bureaucracy
• Operational Systems
• Inadequate results compared with other
countries
• Business Community Views and;
• National Data Sources and Availability

10. … a business-driven
approach
Foreign Trade Data
Warehouse

11. Page # (11)Plan …Parallel Tracks
• System Building:
– Identifying & Qualifying Data Sources
– Building Operational Systems & DWH
– Generating Simple Reports and continuously
enhancing
– Moving to BI and Data Mining
– Generating Custom-tailored Reports and
Analytics, BI, Dashboard
• Government Officials & Business
Community:
– Marketing data freely and give feedback
(meetings, seminars, …)

12. Page # (12)A High-level Architecture

13. Page # (13)
IT; the Business Enabler
• Avail realistic data to serve mainstream line of business
• Direct access to data @ proper time in the form & language
business understands
• Identify & Avail Proper KPI’s
Central Repository
(Data Warehouse)
Trade Services Channels:
• Contact Center 19591
• Web Services www.goeic.gov.eg
• Business Services
RAW
Data
e-Data
Intelligently
Modeled,
Cleansed &
Consolidated
Automated Inspection System
Results; The average release time:
Less than an hour for exported goods
2-3 hours for imported goods subjected to visual
inspection.
Lab inspected goods are released within 72 hours
at most based on the governing rules, type of
goods, …
Inspector’s selection based on system’s selection
Automated Calculation of Inspection Fees
Easier Document Flow
Electronic Integration with Ports’ Communities
AIS
• Single view of FT Context across the Ministry
– All data under one roof (Single Version of the Truth)
– Perform statistical analysis from single point to all
FT elements
– Improve turnaround time for reports
– Predict Commodities behaviors and add-values
• Output:
– Above 100 multi-dimensional stat reports’ sets to
different business users; Ministry, IMC, ECS, EFC,
Exporting Councils, Chambers, …and ad-hoc
reports
– Special Business Portfolios
– Custom driven data mining
• Business Patterns:
– Value-add between imports & exports & comparing
them to
– Fraud detection
– Anti-dumping cases against quotas.
– Shipping routes patterns
– Private Business Facilities opportunities to enhance
exporting

14. Page # (14)Output
• Custom-tailored Simple Reports,
• Custom-tailored reports and BI for detailed
analytics
• OLAP, Data Mining
• Portal & Dashboards
• KPI System
• New Skill set (DWH, OLAP, Data Mining, BI,
…); Higher Value

15. Page # (15)Outcomes …
• Improve turnaround time for reports (from
days … to minutes)
• Predict Commodities behaviors and add-
values
• Perform statistical analysis from single point
to all FT elements
• An endless number of multi-dimensional
reports to different business users; Ministry,
Exporting Councils, Chambers of Commerce
& Industry, Exports Development Bank and
other Commercial Banks, Egyptian Industrial

16. Page # (16)Outcomes …
• The ability to provide accurate information
when needed, including a real-time view of
the corporate performance and its parts
• Aligned with the Government / Business
strategy demands.
• 10-years of historic data. Changed the way
data is used, and hence conducts business
based on facts rather than speculations
• Supported the National Data Dissemination
Cycle
• An acceptable marginal difference of 05-

17. Page # (17)Examples
• Daily Monitor during “2011 - Jan 25th
Revolution“ time …
• Monitor specific bilateral agreements and
proposing others.
• Geographic Distribution of Egyptian Exports
(Arab Countries, EU, Specific Markets) by
port, market, traders and others).
• Discovering Business Patterns, which were
not seen before with many insights: Such
as potential Fraudulent, discovering anti-
dumping incidents and others.

18. Page # (18)Examples …
• A businessman wanted to build a Hydration
facility for specific commodities, closer to a
port where exports to EU are the highest.
DWH helped him to decide the location and
capacity of the facility.
• “World Bank”, “IFC”, “European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development” and
others use data for development programs
in Egypt
• DWH started a process in 2008 to avail
standard KPIs for World Bank “Doing
Business Report”.

19. Page # (19)Critical Success Factors
(CSF)• Senior Management Commitment
• Business-driven Project (not technology)
• Follow the Data; Avoid Mislead by Operational
Systems – DWH can always help
• Fetching Raw Data from the Main Source without any
changes
• Using the Right Technology
• Phased Approach; Think Big & Start Small …
• Continually getting the Feedback from the end-User in
a complete Lifecycle
• Change is the Only Constant; Always Keep a room for
improvement for both Systems and Business
Processes

20. for your
time
Thank you