Dr. Hashem received a B.Sc. in Communication & Electronic Engineering (Distinction with honor) and an M.Sc. in Engineering Mathematics from Cairo University (Egypt – 1985&1988), and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University (USA – 1993). He also completed the Senior Executive Program at Harvard Business School (USA – 2001).

Dr. Hashem authored and co-authored more than forty articles and book chapters in the areas of information technology, e-commerce, computational intelligence, and operations research, with applications in engineering, energy, environment, and computer sciences.

Dr. Hashem held research positions at Purdue University (USA, 1992-3), West Virginia University (USA, 1997), Honeywell Sensor and Systems Development Center (USA, 1991-2), and was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow of the US-Department of Energy working at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory - PNNL (USA, 1994-5).

Dr. Hashem is currently the Executive Vice President of the ITIDA, responsible for e-Signature, cyber security, and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection for software and databases. Dr. Hashem is the Chairman of the national committee to draft Egypt’s cyber security, data protection, and privacy law; the Chairman of the High Level Committee for the Egyptian e-Content Competition (2005, 2006); the Deputy Chairman of the committee on cooperation between IT companies and R&D institutions; a member of the high level committee on IPR, and the technical committee for enhancing the National ID card. Prior to joining ITIDA in December 2004, Dr. Hashem was the Director of Information Society Development Office (ISDO) and the manager of the E-Business Program at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT). He headed the national committee that prepared Egypt’s electronic signature law, which is Egypt’s first cyberlaw. Dr. Hashem was also the Director of the Egyptian Focal Point for the EUropean MEDiterranean Information Society (EUMEDIS) Initiative (2000-3). In 2001, Dr. Hashem initiated and managed the first multi-applications smart card project in Egypt. The 3-years project established a Visa-certified infrastructure for issuing and processing smart cards, over a network of Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) and Points of Sale (POS) covering 56 post offices in Greater Cairo and Alexandria. From 1995 to 1999, Dr. Hashem was as a senior consultant and senior project manager at the Egyptian Cabinet Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC), and at the Regional Information Technology and Software Engineering Center (RITSEC), where he managed several information technology projects in various sectors including electronic commerce, tourism, culture heritage preservation, healthcare, and community empowerment, including the award winning project: Egypt Information Highway (http://www.idsc.gov.eg/), and led the team that established the first government website in Egypt, drawing over 3 million hits per month by mid 1999. In 1997, Dr. Hashem initiated a project to establish the first community oriented IT centers in Egypt (http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/pdf/fg7/egy001.doc), funded by the UNDP and supported by IDSC and the Governorate of Sharkeya. This model was refined and included in Egypt’s National ICT plan adopted later in 1999.

Dr. Hashem carried out several consulation assignments for international organizations including: United Nations Development Program – UNDP, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa – UNECA, United Nations Population Information Network – POPIN, International Telecommunication Union – ITU, World Health Organization – WHO, , International Development Research Centre – Canadian IDRC, and the Arab League Education, Culture, and Sciences Organization – ALECSO.

Dr. Hashem was an invited lecturer for the Regional Information Technology Institute / Maastricht School of Management (the Netherlands) joint MBA Program (1997-8). He was a Juror in the Global Junior Challenge. http://www.gjc.it/ (2000, 2002, 2004).

Dr. Hashem received several awards and recognition including: the Global Bangemann Challenge Award (from the King of Sweden: Stockholm – 1999), the International G7-GIP Information Society Award (G7/8: Warsaw – 1997), the Excellence in Teaming Award (PNNL – 1994), and the Spirit Award (Honeywell – 1992). Dr. Hashem is listed in MARQUIS Who`s Who in the World (16th edition – 1999 & Millennium edition – 2000 ) and in Who`s Who in America – Science and Engineering (5th Edition – 2000).

He is a founding member of the Internet Society of Egypt (ISE), and the Egyptian Smart Cards Association. Dr. Hashem is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and Egyptian Syndicate for Engineers. Dr. Hashem was a member of the Board of Directors of Egypt’s National Postal Organization (2001-6).