Egypt’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWRI) has started to leverage the capabilities of Digital Earth Africa to monitor and manage its coastal zones as the country works to strengthen its national water security.

The initiative, led by Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Professor Hani Sewilam, forms part of the Irrigation System 2.0 plan, under Egypt’s 2050 Water Resources Strategy, which marks a strategic shift beyond traditional water management, and integrates advanced digital tools and platforms under its “smart management” pillar.

A specialised team of MWRI scientists has been exploring the use of Digital Earth Africa to support national water management objectives, as the ministry actively develops mobile applications and Web-based systems using cutting-edge technologies such as remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS) and numerical modelling, explains MWRI planning sector head Walid Hakiki.

“Our goal is to equip ministry agencies with the latest tools for efficient planning and monitoring. We are building systems that are not only data-driven but also user-friendly and scalable.”

The platform has proven instrumental for several applications, including shoreline monitoring, water quality assessment, land cover classification and irrigation network management.

“One of the key successes has been the use of Digital Earth Africa’s coastline service to monitor over 2 000 km of Egypt’s coastline,” says Hakiki.

By analysing shoreline changes from 2000 to 2023 at 30 m intervals, the ministry has been able to evaluate the performance of existing shoreline protection structures, identify high-risk erosion zones and detect deposition areas where natural sediment accumulation is forming new landforms such as beaches, spits and sandbars

These insights were further validated through field assessments conducted by the Egyptian General Authority for Shore Protection.

“The coastline service has provided us with extremely detailed insights into shoreline evolution over the past 23 years. This has been incredibly useful. Since the initial investigations, the General Authority has also adopted the platform for ongoing monitoring.”

In addition to shoreline analysis, the MWRI team is now expanding the use of Digital Earth Africa’s other capabilities, including water observations from space and fractional cover monitoring.

“The intuitive visual interface allows non-technical users to extract and interpret complex satellite data with ease. Moreover, the platform’s open-source algorithms and APIs make integration with external systems seamless.”

Egypt’s adoption of Digital Earth Africa reflects its broader commitment to technological innovation and integrated coastal zone management as part of its long-term strategy for water sustainability.

“As the Irrigation System 2.0 plan progresses, such digital platforms are expected to play an increasingly vital role in shaping Egypt’s climate resilience and water governance for decades to come,” Hakiki concludes.