Egypt's National Telecommunication Institute and the State Lawsuits Authority signed a cooperation protocol on 1 September 2026 to expand training in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and digital transformation for the state's legal advisers, according to TechAfrica News. The protocol builds on an AI Ambassadors programme whose first cohort, run in 2025, trained more than 600 counsellors from judicial bodies, according to The Middle East Observer.
The new agreement formalises an existing training relationship between the two institutions, The Middle East Observer reported. It covers State Lawsuits Authority counsellors and members of other judicial bodies, and gives the authority access to NTI's technical and advisory expertise.
Who signed, and who attended
NTI Director Ahmed Khattab signed the protocol together with Ahmed Saad, Vice-President of the State Lawsuits Authority and head of its Judicial Studies, Training, International and Cultural Cooperation Centre, according to TechAfrica News. Egypt's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Raafat Hindi, and State Lawsuits Authority President Abdel Nasser Abu El-Azm Issa attended the signing.
Saad's centre is the unit within the authority responsible for training as well as international and cultural cooperation, according to the title TechAfrica News gave him. The outlet also described NTI as providing the authority with technical and training expertise under the new protocol.
Hindi described the agreement as part of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology's wider push to support government institutions through digital transformation, according to TechAfrica News.
Hindi also said, in remarks reported by TechAfrica News, that the cooperation would help the State Lawsuits Authority keep pace with rapid technological developments, particularly in artificial intelligence, while improving institutional efficiency.
A programme that has trained more than 600 lawyers so far
More than 600 counsellors from judicial bodies took part in the AI Ambassadors programme's first cohort in 2025, according to The Middle East Observer. A second cohort launched in 2026, extending the same training model to a fresh group of state legal advisers, the outlet reported.
The cooperation is expected to support successive cohorts and increasingly advanced levels of AI training as the partnership continues, TechAfrica News reported. Neither article specified how many advisers are enrolled in the current, second cohort.
The AI Ambassadors Programme goes beyond introducing participants to AI tools, instead focusing on developing a deeper understanding. — Ahmed Khattab, Director of NTI
Khattab's fuller remarks, reported by TechAfrica News, tied that deeper understanding specifically to the capabilities and limitations of AI systems — the same framing that recurs in how both institutions describe the second cohort's aims.
What the curriculum covers, and what it leaves out
The protocol focuses on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, digital transformation and specialist training, according to The Middle East Observer. It prepares legal officials to assess AI's capabilities and limitations, identify the risks it carries and recognise cybersecurity threats.
According to The Middle East Observer's reporting on the protocol, the training is designed to prepare State Lawsuits Authority officials and members of other judicial bodies to:
- assess the capabilities and limitations of artificial intelligence tools
- identify the risks that AI tools can introduce
- recognise cybersecurity threats that could affect state legal systems
- work through the wider requirements of digital transformation and specialist training set out in the protocol
The outlet reported that the protocol does not announce any use of AI in judicial decision-making, and that neither institution has published a budget, an implementation timeline or a numerical training target.
Training rather than deployment
Both articles frame the second cohort as an extension of an existing relationship rather than a new capability being switched on. The AI Ambassadors programme was already training judicial personnel before this protocol existed; what the 1 September signing adds is a formal cooperation agreement covering AI, cybersecurity, digital transformation and specialist training under one document, according to The Middle East Observer.
Neither report described the protocol as introducing AI into the authority's legal work itself. The training is aimed instead at officials who would need to recognise where an AI tool's output is reliable, where it is not, and where a cybersecurity risk has entered a judicial process — treated in the protocol as a skill to be taught rather than a function to be automated.
Across their public remarks, Hindi, Issa and Khattab each returned to the same theme: that the protocol is about preparing people to work alongside AI systems, not about handing those systems new authority. None of the officials quoted by either outlet described a specific software platform, vendor or AI product that trainees would use.
Also unaddressed in both reports: whether the second cohort follows the same curriculum as the first, or an expanded one reflecting the new protocol's broader scope covering cybersecurity and digital transformation alongside AI.
A recently appointed president looks on
Issa, who attended the signing rather than signing the protocol himself, was appointed President of the State Lawsuits Authority by a presidential decree issued in June 2026, taking up the post on 1 July, according to The Middle East Observer. The 1 September agreement grants the authority access to NTI's technical and advisory expertise, according to the outlet.
The protocol reflects the commitment of both sides to investing in human capacity and adapting to developments in technology and AI. — Abdel Nasser Abu El-Azm Issa, President of the State Lawsuits Authority
The programme is framed by its own officials as training in how to evaluate artificial intelligence rather than how to apply it to legal decisions. Neither institution has said when the second cohort will finish, or whether a third round of the AI Ambassadors programme is planned. For now, the record consists of a signed protocol, three public statements and a headline number from a programme that started before this agreement existed: more than 600 counsellors trained in a single year.
