The One Circle ICT Reboot Ideathon reached its grand finale with a powerful message: Egypt’s youth are ready to lead the transition toward a circular and sustainable ICT sector.
Organized in coordination with the Ministry of Industry, and in collaboration with our dedicated pilot partners—UNIDO, Sofrecom, Orange Egypt, Upgrade, and E-Tadweer—the ideathon marked a key milestone within the SWITCH2CE project in Egypt. The initiative was designed not only to raise awareness around circular economy principles, but to actively engage young innovators in developing practical, scalable solutions across the ICT value chain.
The response from Egypt’s young innovators exceeded expectations.
Despite academic pressures and exam season, the ideathon received over 110 team applications, reflecting strong awareness, motivation, and readiness to engage in sustainability-driven innovation.
Applications were distributed across three thematic focus areas, reflecting the diversity and maturity of youth-driven innovation:
- Smart E-Waste Management attracted the highest level of interest, with many teams proposing tech-enabled and data-driven solutions to improve e-waste collection, sorting, and recycling.
- Refurbishment & Reuse followed closely, featuring practical ideas focused on extending device lifecycles through repair, refurbishment, and creative reuse.
- Sustainable Product Design introduced forward-looking concepts that reimagined electronics through durability, modularity, and responsible design.
This distribution highlighted a strong youth preference for solutions that combine technology with immediate, real-world impact.
From ideas to impact: selection and finalists
Following a structured evaluation process, 35 teams were shortlisted, with 7 finalist teams advancing to the final interview stage. Ultimately, four winning teams were selected based on innovation, feasibility, sustainability, and potential impact.
What stood out throughout the process was not just the quantity of ideas, but their quality. Many teams demonstrated a strong understanding of how AI and digital tools can serve as enablers, rather than trends, in building circular ICT solutions.
Spotlight on the winning ideas
- 🥇 Orebit – Smart & Automated E-Waste Ecosystem
Adham Mohamed Abdalfatah and Ammar Yasser Mohamed Abdalqawy (both 19),
Faculty of Engineering, Fayoum University
Orebit is an end-to-end, AI-driven ecosystem designed to digitize and automate the entire e-waste value chain. Moving beyond fragmented traditional approaches, the solution integrates IoT technologies, robotics, and advanced material science to transform e-waste from an environmental burden into a scalable economic resource. The project impressed the jury with its systemic vision, technical depth, and potential for large-scale impact.
- 🥈 SolarLoop Circular Services
Omaima Ahmed Dakrony (23) and Islam Ahmed Abdelrahman (21),
New Cairo Technological University
SolarLoop Circular Services introduced a circular brokerage model that connects solar energy system owners and ICT companies with certified e-waste recyclers and refurbishers. Rather than operating as a recycling facility or a purely digital platform, SolarLoop acts as an intelligent intermediary, coordinating assessment, routing, and compliance to ensure electronic waste from solar systems follows the most sustainable pathway within the ICT value chain.
- 🥉 ReVolvix – Educational Upcycling for STEM
Hazem Mustafa Atiya and Ibrahim Khder Ibrahim (both 22),
Faculty of Engineering, Mansoura University
ReVolvix redefines how e-waste is perceived by treating discarded electronics not as scrap, but as a source of high-value, reusable components. The team recovers functional parts such as sensors, motors, and microcontrollers, subjects them to rigorous testing, and repackages them into affordable, ready-to-use STEM educational modules. The solution bridges circular economy principles with hands-on education, making sustainability tangible for engineering students and makers.
- 🎖️ Fix & Flow
Youssef Alaa Ebrahim and Mostafa Khaled Mohamed (both 18),
Faculty of Computer Science, Cairo University
In recognition of their strong innovation at an early academic stage, the jury awarded a special prize to the Fix & Flow team. Their platform reimagines device repair and reuse by treating broken electronics as assets to be restored, rather than waste to be discarded. Fix & Flow offers a digital solution that helps extend device lifespans and keep products in circulation, reflecting both technical awareness and circular economy thinking from a remarkably young team.
These ideas demonstrated how innovation, when grounded in real challenges, can translate into scalable and actionable solutions.
In addition to the three winning teams, the jury awarded a special fourth prize to a team of secondary school students, recognizing their exceptional creativity and technical insight. The team was awarded a one-month internship at Upgrade, highlighting the importance of nurturing innovation from an early age.
The 1st & 2nd Place winning teams were awarded with one-month internships at Orange Egypt, trophies, and features in upcoming One Circle communication campaigns, while the 3rd Place & Special 4th Place with one-month internships at Upgrade and trophies.
Ultimately, by bridging the gap between theoretical concepts and real-world application, the One Circle ICT Reboot Ideathon showcased the power of youth-led innovation in advancing Egypt’s circular ICT agenda.These young innovators have proven that the future of a sustainable, inclusive, and circular ICT sector in Egypt is already taking shape, and it is in capable, committed hands.
About the “One Circle” pilot in Egypt:
The pilot “One Circle”, part of the global “Switch to Circular Economy Value Chains” project, targets the ICT and electronics value chain in Egypt. Its ambition is to create a broad alliance of partners – local SMEs and multinationals – committed to transforming ICT and electronics towards a more responsible development model, for the benefit of society as a whole. Led by UNIDO, Orange, Nokia, and Cordon, and supported on the ground by e-TADWEER and Haya Karima Foundation, the initiative focuses on supporting the adoption of circular economy practices, building local infrastructure to extend the life of ICT and electronics, and creating local capacity-building opportunities for sustainable change.
About SWITCH2CE:
The global Switch to Circular Economy Value Chains (SWITCH2CE) project is an initiative that assists EU multinational companies and their suppliers from developing countries to switch to more circular economy approaches and practices in three selected value chains: Plastic Packaging, Textile & Garments, and ICT and Electronics. The overall objective is to support the “Transformation towards a circular economy”, including to contribute to sustainable growth, low carbon and climate resilient development, decent jobs creation, and safer, healthier, and pollution-free environment.
SWITCH2CE is co-funded by the European Union and the Government of Finland, and implemented by UNIDO, in collaboration with Chatham House, Circle Economy, and the European Investment Bank. Learn more at: www.switchtocircular.eu
