Computer News Middle East January 2020

ISSUE 334| JANUARY 2020 TAHAWULTECH.COM

GOVTECH: EXPO 2020

LEADING THE CLOUD REVOLUTION ORACLE’S ARUN KHEHAR AND ABDUL RAHMAN AL THEHAIBAN ON HOW THE IT LEADER IS DRIVING INNOVATION IN THE MENA CLOUD MARKET

PUBLICATION LICENSED BY DUBAI PRODUCTION CITY, DCCA

HPE’S CHIEF SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER 2020 TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS SERCO’S CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER

Top 10 Strategic Technology

Trends for 2020 People-centric

Smart spaces

Hyperautomation

Multiexperience

The empowered edge

The distributed cloud

Transparency and traceability

Human augmentation

Autonomous things

Practical blockchain

Democratization

AI security

Join us at Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo 2020 to learn about Gartner’s technology trends, if they will work for you and how to implement them.

© 2019 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

2 – 4 March 2020 | Dubai, UAE gartner.com/me/symposium

EDITORIAL

NEW YEAR, NEW LOOK!

Our events

D

eputy Editor Giorgia Guantario has used her Italian flair to give CNME a little bit of a makeover for 2020. The changes are far from wholesale, but we felt the time was right to give CNME a little bit

of a facelift as we embark on a new year.

We’re continuously striving to ensure that we provide the most engaging content for our readers and clients, but we also want to have a product that is aesthetically pleasing.

Talk to us: E-mail: mark.forker@ cpimediagroup.com

We hope you like the changes, although granted they are quite subtle.

2020 is now upon us, and it promises to be a truly historic year for the United Arab Emirates. The countdown to EXPO 2020 is now underway with the futuristic six-month festival

FUTURE NETWORK AWARDS

kicking off on October 20th.

H.H. Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, VicePresident and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai has claimed that Dubai EXPO 2020 will surpass anything ever seen before and said the symposium will ‘astonish’ the world.

It’s going to be epic!

The first front cover interview of 2020 is with Oracle’s Arun Khehar and Abdul Rahman Al Thehaiban, who outlined to Deputy Editor Giorgia Guantario how the US technology company is really leading the cloud revolution. In addition to this, they discussed the company’s strategy in terms of driving innovation in the MENA cloud market.

In GovTech we attempt to find out what we can actually

Our online platforms

tahawultech.com

2020 is now upon us, and it promises to be a truly historic year for the United Arab Emirates."

expect when EXPO 2020 eventually opens its doors later this year - and examine what impact the event will have in terms of Dubai’s standing on a global scale.

Another new feature in this year’s CNME is our special ‘Women in Tech’ spotlight interviews - which aims to highlight the role women are playing in reshaping the IT ecosystem all over the Middle East. The IT industry has traditionally been male-dominated, but these new leaders are paving a new path for women in the IT sphere all over the region.

Giorgia spoke to Tatiana Labaki, Senior Manager – Revenue

Our social media

& Analytics at Emaar Hospitality Group who documented her experiences during her career in the IT industry.

In December, I was invited by HPE to attend their ‘Discover

facebook.com/tahawultech

More’ event in Munich as the company outlined how its new offering from GreenLake would unify their customers digital experiences across public and private cloud.

twitter.com/tahawultech

Finally, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a very happy and successful 2020!

Mark Forker

linkedin.com/in/tahawultech

Editor

Advanced Computing Partner

CONTENTS

22

Oracle

10 6

20

8

NCC

16

31

GOVTECH: EXPO 2020

News CNME rounds up the biggest regional and global developments in enterprise technology, including ADDA’s Digital Next Summit and Google’s new smartphone interpreter mode.

Life on the edge CNME attended HPE’s two-day event ‘Discover More’, where the company outlined how the new offering from GreenLake will provide customers with a unified, digital experience.

HOT 50 AWARDS

26 Bringing crypto into the mainstream

Mohit Davar, Co-Founder of Huobi MENA, tells us more about Huobi’s growth, the need for regulations in the industry and why Facebook’s Libra is actually a great idea.

48 Back to the future

IT leaders and experts share their thoughts on trends and predictions that will take centre stage in the upcoming year.

50 Technological

Women in tech: Emaar’s Tatiana Labaki

intersections

Deputy Editor Giorgia Guantario spoke to Khaled Charif, Director of Technology and Innovation at NXN, who shares his predictions and NXN’s plans for 2020.

In a new monthly feature, CNME talks to some of the best and brightest women in ICT to find out how they’ve reached success in this industry.

FOUNDER, CPI MEDIA GROUP Dominic De Sousa (1959-2015)

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Printed by Al Ghurair Printing and Publishing © Copyright 2020 CPI All rights reserved While the publishers have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information in this magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors therein.

NEWS

Google releases new interpreter mode to smartphones

Cisco announces ‘Internet for the Future’ strategy Cisco unveiled further details behind

and announced new purchasing options

its technology strategy for building

that enable customers to consume

a new internet — one designed to

the company’s technology through

push digital innovation beyond the

disaggregated business models.

performance, economic and power

investment, the right team and a culture

infrastructure. Described as a multi-

that values imagination,” said Chuck

year approach that is defining the

Robbins, chairman and CEO of Cisco.

Internet for decades to come, Cisco’s

“We are dedicated to transforming the

strategy is already delivering technology

industry to build a new internet for the

breakthroughs to pave the way for

5G era. Our latest solutions in silicon,

the world’s developers to create

optics and software represent the

applications and services they have only

continued innovation we’re driving that

begun to imagine.

helps our customers stay ahead of the

Cisco introduced its latest innovation

Google announced its Assistant’s real-time translation feature, interpreter mode, has started rolling out on Assistant-enabled Android

“Innovation requires focused

consumption limitations of current

curve and create new, ground-breaking

including Cisco Silicon OneTM;

experiences for their customers and

released the new Cisco 8000 Series;

end-users for decades to come.”

Majid Al Futtaim and Dreamscape Immersive bring ‘Future of Entertainment’ to the UAE

and iOS phones worldwide.

6

In a blog post on their website, Lilian Rincon, Senior Director of Product Management, Google Assistant, explained, “Using your phone, you can have a back and forth conversation with someone speaking a foreign language. To get started, just say ‘Hey Google, be my German translator’ or ‘Hey Google, help me speak Spanish’ and you’ll see and hear the translated conversation on your phone. After each translation, the Assistant may present Smart Replies, giving you suggestions that let you quickly respond without speaking—which can make your

Majid Al Futtaim and Dreamscape

human interaction through fulfilling,

conversations faster and even more

Immersive, the US location-based

meaningful and memorable experiences.

seamless.”

VR entertainment company, backed

Dreamscape achieves this by blurring

by some of Hollywood’s heaviest

the lines between the physical and the

hitters, announced the opening of

virtual, fully immersing its users with

Dreamscape’s first international

other participants who can all influence

location at Mall of the Emirates on 19

the experience together. We are proud

December 2019.

to partner with Dreamscape, as we

Using your phone, you can have a back and forth conversation with someone speaking a foreign language.

JANUARY 2020

Speaking on the announcement, Alain

bring another first for Majid Al Futtaim

Bejjani, Chief Executive Officer at Majid

and the region. The Dreamscape

Al Futtaim – Holding, said, “The future

experience will delight customers in a

of the entertainment industry lies in

way that has never been seen in this

the hands of those who can enable

part of the world.”

www.tahawultech.com

Digital Next Summit spotlights UAE’s drive towards digitisation digital ecosystem across multiple sectors. It

technology is allowing us to do more than

also examines how digital transformation

ever before.”

can enable governments and enterprises to pursue and achieve excellence,” she said.

Al Saadi also noted how the UAE capital

He added, “The rise of new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), fintech and quantum computing is paving the way

plays a key role in the UAE’s digital future

towards a new era of transformation and

by supporting the nation’s strategy for the

the UAE is taking several strides to be at

Fourth Industrial Revolution.

the forefront of change.”

The strategy, according to Al Saadi,

Following Al Sayegh, UAE’s Minister of

focuses on enabling the world’s best

State for Artificial Intelligence Omar bin

intelligent, seamless and customer-

Sultan Al Olama, in his presentation, shed

centric government services that enhance

light on how the world is witnessing a shift

happiness and well-being.

and how AI is being used across all social

Al Saadi also introduced ADDA’s new

spheres.

The Abu Dhabi Digital Authority (ADDA)

mandate that marks the organisation’s role

has last month hosted the first-ever

in driving the digital future of Abu Dhabi.

“AI increasingly transforming every walk

Digital Next Summit, which shed light

The directive focuses on four key areas,

of life. It is creating new opportunities for

on the increasing importance of digital

which include government services, shared

organisations and individuals alike. It is

transformation in redefining governments,

government solutions, data and applied

being applied in national security, finance,

businesses and individuals in the region.

intelligence, cybersecurity and governance.

healthcare, education, criminal justice,

The ADDA director-general emphasised

transportation, smart cities, and more.

Held at the Jumeirah Etihad Towers

“There is a new world order,” he said.

in Abu Dhabi, the event was attended by

that the expanded portfolio enables

government and IT leaders, advisors and

them to fully support the Abu Dhabi

will be part of the new world order,”

experts who shared insights into how

government’s provisioning of integrated

explained Al Olama.

emerging technologies can accelerate

service experiences, create digital

He then urged governments to adapt to

economic competitiveness, quality of life,

solutions to challenges and foster

new technologies as fast as possible to cope

business and personal growth.

innovation among others.

with the changing world.

The event kicked off with a keynote

Ahmad Ali Al Sayegh, UAE Minister

“What we do with AI will decide if we

The two-day Digital Next Summit also

address from ADDA director-general Dr

of State and chairman of Abu Dhabi

saw keynote presentations from Juri Luik,

Rauda Al Saadi who highlighted how the

Global Market’s (ADGM), discussed how

Minister of Defence, Republic, Estonia;

Digital Next Summit presents a perfect

the digital revolution is enabling UAE’s

Peng Xiao, Chief Executive Officer, G42;

platform for knowledge exchange on the

economic diversification.

Jack Dangermond, Founder and President,

opportunities that advanced technologies

“Today, the question is not about

Esri; Hayden Stafford, Corporate Vice

whether a change is coming or when it’s

President of WW Business Applications,

“Digital Next provides a platform for

coming but instead it’s about whether we

Microsoft; Nigel Vaz, Chief Executive

the convergence of ideas that will bring

are ready for it,” said Al Sayegh. “Change

Officer, Publicis Sapient and more.

unprecedented opportunities to unite the

is happening at the speed of light and

Ericsson highlights technology’s positive societal impact

broad themes of climate change and

will bring to regional organisations.

reducing inequalities.

As per the report, a 10 percent increase in the mobile broadband adoption ratio causes a 0.8 percent increase in Gross Domestic Product on average. Mobile

Ericsson presented its first Technology

broadband enables internet access and

for Good Impact Report at AfricaCom

the delivery of digital services to meet a

2019 to highlight the positive societal

wide range of societal needs, including

impact enabled by the company and its

access to education and health services,

partners. The report highlights cases where

financial inclusion, entrepreneurship and

Ericsson’s technology and expertise are

humanitarian response, while helping to

helping to solve global challenges, across

reduce inequalities.

www.tahawultech.com

More on the Digital Next Summit at page 40.

10% percent increase in the mobile broadband adoption ratio causes a 0.8 percent increase in Gross Domestic Product on average.

JANUARY 2020

7

EVENT

HPE

LIFE ON THE EDGE

CNME Editor Mark Forker attended HPE’s two-day event Discover More, in which the company outlined how the new offering from GreenLake will provide customers with a simple, unified, digital experience across public and private clouds.

8

U

S enterprise

is to deliver its entire edge-to-

have become more complex,

technology behemoth

cloud portfolio as-a-service.

costly and slow-moving,

HPE solidified its status as a real

The official unveiling of HPE

most of today’s applications

transformative force in Hybrid IT

by the company’s dynamic and

and data remains within the

with the launch of HPE GreenLake

visionary CEO, Antonio Neri, who

compounds of a data centre

Central at its Discover More Press

articulated how the advanced

and are growing exponentially

& Analyst summit which was held

software platform empowered

at the edge. This has resulted

in Munich, Germany.

customers with a consistent

in enterprises being forced to

cloud experience for all their

deal with siloed, inconsistent

applications and data, through

experiences right across their

an operational console that runs,

hybrid estate.

The announcement is part of HPE’s overall strategy which

manages and optimises their entire hybrid IT estate.

HPE’s new platform promises

HPE GreenLake Central is a transformative platform that changes the game in hybrid IT.”

JANUARY 2020

Analysts have pointed out that

GreenLake Central was made

However, HPE’s new GreenLake Central enables customers to overcome these

to accelerate business outcomes

complexities by delivering a

for customers by lowering risks

single, integrated management

and providing greater choice,

control plane for their entire

flexibility and autonomy.

hybrid IT estate, and one

Despite the promise of the

operational console from which

cloud to speed delivery of new

to direct and drive all digital

applications, organisations

transformation initiatives – all

digital transformation efforts

delivered as-a-service.

www.tahawultech.com

enhance the way CIOs, CFOs and Developers do their jobs.

Neri said, “A CIO can regain control of their organisation’s hybrid IT estate through a unified dashboard and operational console that positions them as service brokers to the rest of the business.”

In addition to this it was also highlighted how CIOs can monitor and implement action on a range of KPIs, including security, capacity, cost, compliance, and

Antonio Neri President and CEO of HPE

resource utilisation.

On the role HPE’s GreenLake

environments. HPE GreenLake

Central platform would play for

Central also provides finance

developers, Neri said it would

with unprecedented visibility to

enable developers to access a

control costs and ensure projects

wide array of tools and services

remain on budget.

from HPE and its partners

The announcement builds

through a marketplace giving

on the momentum for HPE

them what he described as a

GreenLake, and HPE’s

‘workbench’ – from which to

commitment to offer its entire

CEO of HPE expressed his delight

design and create applications at

portfolio as-a-Service by 2022.

at the new platform when

high-speed.

HPE pioneered the modern IT on

Antonio Neri, President and

addressing attendees at the official announcement in Munich.

“Developers gain access to a

premises as-a-Service model,

simple 'point, click, get' pay-

and while traditional IT vendors

per-use platform that allows

try to emulate the offering, HPE

a transformative platform that

developers to write, release, and

GreenLake’s unique metering,

changes the game in hybrid IT.

deploy code quickly, without

cost control, software IP, and

With this offering, every user in a

having to worry about underlying

backing from HPE Financial

company gains access to a unique

infrastructure,” said Neri.

Services provide a differentiated

“HPE GreenLake Central is

console from which to run

Some IT commentators have

solution that many competitors

their organisation and achieve

suggested that CFOs are now the

powerful business outcomes.

primary powerbrokers in terms

Now the CIO can operate as

of decision-making at major

the fastest-growing businesses

a strategic service broker,

enterprises and HPE’s GreenLake

in HPE, with more than 740

and everyone benefits from a

Central Platform also empowers

customers worldwide, including

consistent cloud experience,

them. CFOs can now obtain a

160 new customer logo wins

resulting in lower costs and

real-time view of technology

this year. Additionally, HPE has

risks, and greater choice, control,

spend across the hybrid IT

uniquely enabled its world-class

simplicity, and speed.”

estate, to understand spend by

partner community to deliver the

users, teams, and business units,

offering – in 2019 the channel

also outlined in detail how

and within public and private

generated over 200 percent order

the platform would ultimately

cloud, data center and edge

growth for HPE GreenLake.

In addition to this, Neri

www.tahawultech.com

cannot match.

HPE GreenLake is now one of

JANUARY 2020

9

EVENT

HOT 50 AWARDS

10

ICT’S BEST AND BRIGHTEST In the eighth edition of TahawulTech.com’s Hot 50 Awards, players across vendors, distributors and systems integrators, were applauded for their dedication, leadership and innovation in driving the success of the regional IT industry.

T JANUARY 2020

he eighth annual Hot

With over 150 attendees, the

50 Awards honoured

exclusive event served as a platform

top players in both ICT

for industry stakeholders to network

enterprise and channel

and celebrate the successes of the

segments. Held on 9th December

year. Players that are committed to the

2019 at The Terrace, The Loft,

enterprise IT and channel businesses

Dubai Opera, the Hot 50 Awards

and have catered to the evolving

recognised organisations and

customer demands innovatively

individuals who have demonstrated

were recognised as part of the elite

commitment to developing the

Hot 50 club. Chosen carefully by the

regional technology landscape by

TahawulTech.com team, the winners

creating value for clients, partners

have developed and shaped the regional

and themselves.

IT business over the last year.

www.tahawultech.com

11

www.tahawultech.com

JANUARY 2020

EVENT

12

JANUARY 2020

www.tahawultech.com

13

www.tahawultech.com

JANUARY 2020

PRODUCT LAUNCH

R&M

FUTURE-PROOF SOLUTIONS At an exclusive launch event in Dubai, R&M’s presented its latest copper and optical cabling solutions in the Middle East, including its new Cat 8.1.

14

Michel Riva, CEO, R&M

T

expected to increase 24 percent

importance for cloud

yearly on average to reach

Tharwat, Head of Training

adoption in the Middle

approximately US$5 billion by

& Data Center Consultancy,

East – IT behemoths,

2022.

R&M MEA & Turkey introduced

the like of AWS, Oracle and

With data centres come high

attendees to the company’s

Microsoft, are laying brick and

cabling requirements, and Swiss

new Cat 8.1 cabling system with

mortar in the region in the form

ICT company R&M is well aware

his presentation titled “Next

of data centres to leverage the

of the opportunities this market

Generation Components for LAN

enormous opportunities the cloud

has to offer. At a premier event

and Data Center”. R&M new

market has to offer.

held in Dubai, R&M unveiled

cabling solution supports up to

its new Cat 8.1, Netscale 72 and

40 Gigabit/s Ethernet (GbE) –

MENA region is worth US$2.2

inteliPhy net network cabling

the fastest data transmission

billion to cloud vendors, a figure

solutions in the Middle East.

rate that local networks with

In fact, IDC estimates that the

JANUARY 2020

At the launch, Alfred

he past year was of great

www.tahawultech.com

structured copper cabling can

72 we have shifted the balance

achieve today. In line with

further towards intelligence,

the specifications of the ISO/

monitoring and automation.”

The event also saw Emrah

IEC and TIA standards, the company guarantees 40GbE performance for 24-meter permanent links and the up to 30-meter channel depending on the patch cords used.

The design is based on R&M’s iF award-winning Cat 6A, and

Cat 8.1 is the final piece of this puzzle; we see it in small buildings as well as data centres – it’s a truly future-proof solution.”

Bayarçelik, Deputy General Manager of Istanbul Airport (IGA) give a compelling testimonial on their relationship with R&M. The Swiss company’s cabling connects the airport’s ICT systems for customs, security

features an installer friendly

staff and the police force, as well as 9,000 surveillance Emrah Bayarçelik, Deputy General Manager, IGA

solutions and possibilities. Cat 8.1

cameras, 3,000 card readers

is the final piece of this puzzle;

and 5,000 Wi-Fi access points,

we see it in small buildings as

giving the airport a full-

well as data centres – it’s a truly

coverage WLAN.

future-proof solution.

IGA is the first airport globally

“We have always worked

to be fully digitised, and this

extensively in LAN, but every

couldn’t have been possible

year this environment is

without the support of R&M,

becoming more and more

said Bayarçelik.

stagnant. Data centres are

“When choosing our partners,

the future, and this is why we

we don't just look at the

are investing in this sector

technology they have to offer

– particularly in the Middle

– we look at how many years

East, the data centre market

they’ve been in this business,

is growing substantially,

what’s their experience,

and becoming increasingly

what industry they focus on,

important.”

what their team is like. R&M

At the event, R&M also

specialises in digitalisation,

launched Netscale 72 and

meaning smart cities business,

inteliPhy net network cabling

IoT, data centres, cloud

solutions. Netscale 72 features

infrastructure – their vision is a

the simplicity of only one

perfect match for ours.

platform for two bases, Base-

“We didn’t just want to be

12 and Base-8, creating a top

the biggest airport in the world,

setup. Cat 8 offers four times

of the notch modern solution

we wanted to be the biggest

the bandwidth of Category 6A

for different applications.

digital building in the world.

cabling, but due to its maximum

The double feature allows for

We are implementing mobile

length being limited to 30

rescaling, but also saves valuable

apps, robots, AR, AI. Behind

meters, compared to CAT 6A’s

rack space.

these technologies you need

100 meters, it is mostly used in

Dr Thomas Wellinger, Market

some powerful infrastructure,

data centres or small enterprise

Manager Data Centre at R&M,

fibre cabling, data centre

LANs in commercial buildings.

said, “To date, R&M’s fibre

technology, amongst other

Talking about the new cabling

optic solutions have represented

things. R&M is supporting us in

system, Michel Riva, CEO at R&M

a perfect balance between

all these areas and more – they

said, “Although Cat 6A is still

high performance, flexible

are very customer oriented and

our bread and butter, we want

configuration and state-of-the-

that’s what we like the most

to offer our clients all type of

art port density. With Netscale

about them.”

www.tahawultech.com

JANUARY 2020

15

FEATURE

WOMEN IN TECH

THE UNCOMFORTABLE ROAD In its first edition of Women in Tech, CNME spoke to Tatiana Labaki, Senior Manager - Revenue & Analytics at Emaar, who opened up about the challenges she faced as a woman in STEM and the importance of change to achieve gender equality in the workplace.

O

n a Friday evening in London, Tatiana Labaki, now Senior Manager - Revenue & Analytics at Emaar, but at the time a MA student in bioinformatics at Imperial College London, realised that the road to success in her field wasn’t going to be easy, but it was one she was determined to pursue.

Labaki was one of only 35 percent of women globally in a STEM subject in higher education, according to stats by UNESCO – a number that is far from equality.

16

Change is not going to be comfortable – it will shift all those hardwired perceptions we have been raised with.”

JANUARY 2020

A high performer at school, she was encouraged by her school’s counselling to pursue a career in biology and subsequentially medicine, but 18 months into her undergraduate studies in biology and psychology, she realised she wanted more.

“Although I liked biology, it wasn’t enough, there was no real analysis coming into it – I felt the need to experiment more, so I started doing my own research and found bioinformatics, which is pretty much a mix of biology and some coding, engineering and data science. It’s the best of both worlds. Without telling anyone I applied for my masters at Imperial College London and got accepted for two degrees, one in biotechnology and applied biosciences, and the other in bioinformatics,” Labaki explained.

The course was heavily male-dominated, with many already in their late-twenties

and thirties and with an extensive background in software development – it is no surprise Labaki, 20 at the time and with a background in biology, felt out of place in that environment.

“I had zero knowledge of coding, and I remember very well this one day I had an exam and didn’t even know where to start. The professor came over and genuinely asked me ‘Are you sure you’re in the right class?’ – that was my big wake up call. For as long as I could remember I was the best achiever in my class, and all of a sudden, I just didn’t fit in. It was my ‘life crossroad’, either I gave up on the course altogether, or I pushed through. Although it wasn’t easy, I ended up graduating top of my course.”

The problem for women, as Labaki tells me and as it shows from her experience, is that it’s very hard to feel a sense of belonging when surrounded by men, especially in the case

www.tahawultech.com

Tatiana Labaki, Senior Manager - Revenue & Analytics at Emaar

of STEM fields, where an historical unconscious bias associates these roles with a more masculine attitude.

Labaki has been at Emaar for over three years now, but the beginning of her career was just as difficult as her studies.

“I ticked all the wrong boxes basically – I was a very young woman in a much older, male-dominated environment.

At the beginning it was a struggle to even get a response by email, but a few months into it, once I was able to show my skills, it all changed.

Before I joined, they had to manually look at data line by

www.tahawultech.com

line, but by just developing a few lines of code in Python, I was able to make everything accessible immediately. Once they started to see the value and how much more efficient operations had become, that’s when they started valuing me as a resource and they stopped looking at it as a gender issue,” told me Labaki.

“The problem is that when you come in and say, ‘I do this’, and they see you’re a woman, it just doesn’t add up in their mind. All the big global digital projects were created by men – take Facebook, or Twitter or Instagram. It’s hard

to understand that women are just as capable as men when the examples point to a different conclusion. I don’t believe it’s been all men because they’re better in this field, I think more men than women are equipped with the skillset necessary though, and this goes back to our education system.”

Going back to the numbers shared by UNESCO is the answer to the problem – more men than women study STEM subjects in higher education, creating a biased chain that is hard to break. Change according to Labaki is not a comfortable process, but a necessary one.

“Unfortunately, since we’re children, women are brought up to be a lot more courteous and less pompous than men.

We find it harder to accept compliments, to ask for a raise, to boost our achievements – men on the other hand, especially in more patriarchal societies, are taught to speak up and get what they want.

Women seek validation and feel the need to constantly prove themselves, especially in historically male-dominated environments,” Labaki explained. “However, if we want to see change, we need to start changing the way we think about ourselves. We need to start understanding our own value and stop being afraid of showing it. Change is not going to be comfortable – it will shift all those hardwired perceptions we have been raised with, but it will allow women to set foot into the decision-making process which will eventually start a new type of positive chain.”

JANUARY 2020

17

INTERVIEW

SERCO

THE RIGHT MINDSET Deputy Editor Giorgia Guantario spoke to Serco Middle East’s newly appointed Chief Digital Officer, Paul Bogan, to understand more about his new role, the importance of having a chief digital officer within an organisation and the need for a mindset change to drive business value.

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Paul Bogan, Chief Digital Officer, Serco Middle East

JANUARY 2020

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ou have been in your role at Serco for a few months now, what do you hope to achieve as Chief Digital Officer moving forward?

Certainly, a short-term goal is the finalisation of our digital strategy on three core pillars. First of all, electronic workforce management – we manage thousands of people and multiple contracts, but as of now we do that using Excel.

I am working on bringing in more consistency that will drive value in the long term.

Then there’s the data piece, which has its own independent strategy – that looks at the data we have from physical assets we currently manage and how we can start using machine learning for its maintenance. We just want our clients to extend the economic life of their assets, because we all know there isn’t as much free cash going around.

The wraparound is something I am very excited about and that’s hot off the press – we will be launching something called “Experience Labs.”

I’ve been very focused on data, and most of our services are on the front line, like the airport or universities.

The problem is that as powerful as data is, we are not really leveraging the latest behavioural science techniques that would take it to the next level. What this new project essentially entails it that we will find demographic profiles to bring into a laboratory and we will observe them through a one-way looking glass. With

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the help of facial recognition experts and Google goggles we will be able to understand what works and what doesn’t for them, in things like an app for example. We will then take that back to our clients to improve their customer experience. It’s something we can visually show clients to understand their customers better and deliver a better experience for them, especially as a lot of preferences come down to culture and behaviour.

Digital transformation is not a destination, it’s a journey."

In 2012, Gartner predicted that the chief digital officer would be the most exciting executive role in the decade ahead. How would you say this role has changed in this decade and what do you think it will entail in the next?

I don't think I even heard the term CDO back in 2012. I think from where it comes from and where it's going forward, the main difference is that the role is way more acknowledged than it used to be. This is now a specific role that has to be completely separate and it has to sit at the top of the organisation to drive a digital and data strategy that has to be interlinked with your

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overall critic strategy for that particular market. It’s really about how resonant it is now compared to where it was maybe back in 2012, but it's still slightly undefined and there are still a lot of skeptics.

I was curious and had a look at some reports – 76 percent of executive committees now believe the role is more relevant compared to when it was first created. This shows that it's more just to do with confidence and acceptance and having that right mindset to understand change is coming. I think digital transformation is not a destination, it’s a journey - the quicker you get on that and start moving with a CDO at the top of the organisation, the sooner you’ll be able to see real value in the way you do business.

You have mentioned a shift in the organisation’s mindset to achieve real business value.

What are the challenges organisations need to address to embrace change within the organisation?

Nowadays all C-level executives want to implement a new digital strategy and embrace change, but it takes time and a really open company to make sure this is welcomed by the whole organisation. For example, our new CEO, Phil Malem, has opened up many different ways of creating a dialogue with four and a half thousand people – we do podcasts now, so people can listen to them in their own time; we do “open minds” so anyone can

log in and ask us questions, challenge what we do.

Essentially, it's how we are communicating with them, and that for us is a far more supportive way of getting everyone on board with that mindset change. The other thing that’s also paramount, besides the right mindset, it’s cost that comes with change. It's very hard not to be embroiled into cutting costs, but with change you need to bring in new roles, like data scientists and data analysts. The problem is that people sometimes don't quite understand this, which makes it very difficult to move forward.

What other challenges do you think organisations face nowadays when it comes to digital transformation?

I think one of the biggest challenges and risks is that organisations too often try to do everything just for the sake of it. Take as an example Artificial Intelligence – that’s a very nuanced concept in itself and people use it quite flippantly, without really understanding what AI is in a practical sense and how we can use it to leverage value across the supply chain. There’s also a lot of misunderstanding around Internet of Things – this is looking at separate systems and looking for correlation that can drive value. That’s something that I think it’s really missing here in the market and that could be elevated by applying IoT.

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INTERVIEW

NCC

LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE Deputy Editor Giorgia Guantario sat down with Kristina Tantsyura, Chief Operating Officer, and Marco Del Piero Piccozzi, Chief Strategy Officer at NCC to understand how the Russian company is planning to drive innovation for organisations in the Middle East.

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his past week you have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with EVOTEQ to introduce smart city solutions. How are you planning to drive innovation across public services through this partnership?

KT: This agreement with EVOTEQ is the first significant step towards building a strategic partner with EVOTEQ, Sharjah and the UAE overall.

There will be three main areas of cooperation – smart parking, electronic public services and e-government system, and smart and safe city. The first project, the smart parking, has already begun and it’s based on our Moscow system, which is one of the smartest and most innovative systems on the market, it is used in more than 30 cities and towns around the world. The system has a lot of functionalities and capabilities, including a mobile application, cameras with sensors, or just GPS. In mid-January we will start testing in a small area in Sharjah. To do so we will bring cameras produced in

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Russia – these are based on new technology and provide high-resolution images that can extend to 360° shots. We are also currently preparing the mobile app, which is just in English for now, but it will be in Arabic and many other languages as well. The second project will see us providing a series of workshop for Sharjah government about e-government and electronic public services – they won’t just cover the technical side of the project, but also how it was done in terms of government regulations. Moreover, after the first stage of the parking project, we will start the safe and smart city project for Sharjah.

One of your main differentiators is the flexibility of your solutions. How do you provide such flexibility? Is it in your technology or in the way you provide it?

MDPP: I’d say both actually.

Just to give you an example, one of the constraints organisations have is to enhance their legacy technology – our model is

not based on introducing technology just for the sake of it. We take an agnostic approach where we actually build abstraction layers to what is already in place, augmenting and enhancing the infrastructure with our own technology. This way we can really deliver on the customer’s objectives. NCC not only has the ability to offer first-rate technologies, but we are also an agile, healthy organisation that can invest with customers and deliver KPIs and solutions from day one in an effective way.

Your customers base features an array of different organisations, including both public and private sector.

Besides your flexibility, what other aspects differentiate you from your competitors?

MDPP: One of the things we advocate is vertical solutions – that is solutions that are very specialised to address specific use cases on a SaaS model. We really respect the knowledge and expertise of our partners, and by understanding the customer’s use cases

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Marco Del Piero Piccozzi, Chief Strategy Officer, and Kristina Tantsyura, Chief Operating Officer, NCC

and verticals, we can offer platforms, solutions and technology that are surgically tailored to them. We’ve been doing this for the past 15 years on a large scale and with large organisations. We have definitely made mistakes over these years, but we learned from them and that’s what actually differentiates us.

KT: Our owner and shareholder always used to say that during our years of experience in Russia, we made all possible mistakes, and from them we have grown and now we do everything possible not to repeat them. Our platform is ready, and it works very well – thanks to this, we can significantly minimise the time of implementation for our Middle Eastern customers and customise it based on their requirements. Last but not least, we are open to sharing our knowledge, we take a journey with our clients from

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the very start, explaining to them why one solution would be better suited than another for their requirements. Then during the implementation, we try to educate them and teach them how to use the system, as well as managing the system and operating the system, and planning for their future. We invest with each of our clients – we invest our time and knowledge, but mostly we invest in each relationship.

How are you planning on enabling innovation for organisations in the Middle East in 2020?

KT: We are ready to consult and share our knowledge with organisations in the Middle East.

As we said, it’s not just about the technology, it’s about sharing how we use our technology and how it can help them drive innovation. We know that investing time and knowledge in this region will be a better

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NCC not only has the ability to offer first-rate technologies, but we are also an agile, healthy organisation that can invest with customers”

approach than just selling the technology for the sake of it.

MDPP: We are focusing and will continue to focus on the public sector. The public sector here is very demanding and very advanced, they are leading all digital transformation and innovation programs, while the private sector usually just follows – we are focusing on enabling and demonstrating how our technologies can work for the public sector to take their digital transformation to the next level.

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COVER FEATURE

ORACLE

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Arun Khehar, SVP - Business Applications, Middle East, Africa and India, and Abdul Rahman Al Thehaiban, SVP - Technology, Middle East, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, Oracle

JANUARY 2020

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LEADING THE CLOUD REVOLUTION Deputy Editor Giorgia Guantario spoke with Arun Khehar, SVP - Business Applications, Middle East, Africa and India and Abdul Rahman Al Thehaiban, SVP - Technology, Middle East, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe at Oracle to understand how the IT leader is driving innovation in the MENA cloud market.

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here is no doubt

huge opportunities it brings,

and India at Oracle explained

that businesses are

including higher ROI, better

that Oracle’s growth can be

moving quicker than

customer experience and saving

attributed to the unique solution

ever before to stay

costs, amongst others.

they provide to their customers

ahead of the curve. Technology

The Middle East has proven

and that sets them apart from

has been the main driver behind

itself to be one of the most

this race, and a key talking point

exciting areas of growth for

in the past years has been the

cloud – Gartner revealed that

in the UAE and Middle East is

adoption and move to the cloud.

cloud spending in the MENA

driven by the success of our

Whilst many organisations are

region has increased by 22

customers and this growth has

still sceptical of this technology,

percent in the last year, and it’s

now been further enhanced

many other are realising the

expected to reach US $2 billion

by the rapid adoption of our

by the end of 2020.

cloud solutions. We have built

One of the protagonists of

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“Oracle’s consistent growth

something our competitors

this growth is Oracle, a global

can’t, and our customers are

leader in the cloud market. The

able to do things they’ve never

IT behemoth recently unveiled its

been able to do before.”

plans to move all of its 4000 on-

We have built something our competitors can’t, and our customers are able to do things they’ve never been able to do before.”

their competitors.

Oracle’s clientele features

premise Middle East and Africa

some of the biggest and most

customers to the cloud within two

successful organisations in the

years and opened a data centre in

region, including Emaar Group,

Abu Dhabi back in February, with

Abu Dhabi Department of Finance

plans to build more in the UAE

– General Administration of

and Saudi Arabia.

Customs, Landmark Group and

Arun Khehar, Senior

Emirates NBD. Although all very

Vice President - Business

different organisations with

Applications, Middle East, Africa

different business objectives,

JANUARY 2020

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COVER FEATURE

KHEHAR ON CONNECTIVITY

Oracle has found that the

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key to success is giving their customers all they need to build their own cloud journey.

“At Oracle, we give every customer the ability to design their own map to cloud success—not just one map, not just our map, but almost limitless paths and roadways they can draw, then shape, then redraw again in new, powerful ways as their businesses grow and change.

We built a cloud future that’s less about restrictions and more about re-imagining people, processes, and progress.

“The journey to Cloud isn’t a single path—and

At Oracle, we give every customer the ability to design their own map to cloud success.”

each company’s journey is unique. We address the distinct business and IT requirements of each customer by giving them unparalleled choice,” said Abdul Rahman Al Thehaiban, Senior Vice President - Technology,

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The importance of connectivity in the current experience economy is intrinsically linked with bringing customer experiences to life. In our current landscape, customers are the true innovators, constantly pushing brands based on their expectations.

It’s an urgent challenge, but one that can be readily met if businesses connect their data, intelligence and experience on one platform, integrating all core processes together.

Siloes can’t exist in this environment.

Customers don’t see your business as a set of different departments, they just see one company and want one seamless experience as promised.

The great thing is, anyone can become connected – it just requires the right applications and mind-set to bring everything together. The key to making the most of being connected is to use your information to understand what the customer wants and then work back from that to meet their needs. All businesses need to adapt to succeed and, in the experience economy, that evolution means becoming connected – and soon.

Middle East, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe at Oracle.

The rise of cloud adoption is however not without challenges – despite growing at an unprecedented rate, the MENA region cloud adoption is undoubtably lagging behind the United States, and it’s not expected to reach the level of cloud usage the US had in 2017 until the end of 2022, according to Gartner.

The reality of the facts is that many organisations still resist the change to cloud, and do not feel ready to take this, however necessary, leap in their digital transformation journey. The time is ticking though, explained Al Thehaiban.

“Businesses can’t afford to wait for too long as they otherwise run the risk of being outpaced by the competition very soon.

At Oracle, we are focused on helping organisations overcome challenges such as availability of skilled resources or hesitation to adopt this technology, in order to initiate their business’ transformation journey.

“In the UAE, we launched a first of its kind innovation hub dedicated to the implementation of Artificial Intelligence. Over the past year, hundreds of UAE and international government and private sector executives have attended trainings and joint use-case development sessions in this hub. Oracle has also trained 500 Higher Colleges

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of Technology (HCT) students

“Businesses are in a sense

from the UAE in emerging

able to visualise the future

technologies including AI,

of their enterprise in a Cloud

Blockchain and Machine

environment and explore

Learning, in the hopes of

growth opportunities that

preparing the next-gen

haven’t been thought of yet.

Emirati workforce for a digital

Dubai and Johannesburg are

future,” said Al Thehaiban.

the two cities where we have

Oracle also established

established these labs. The

‘Future Ready’ labs in the

response from customers has

region to support the transition

been overwhelming and we

of customers that are currently

plan to take this initiative to

on an on-premises model to a

other key markets in the region

Cloud ecosystem. The initiative

as well,” explained Khehar.

sees on-premise customers

Oracle’s success is

exploring the potential of Cloud

transparent from Khehar and

technology to address the

Thehaiban’s words, but this

current and future challenges

does not mean the IT leader

they face, in collaboration with

is resting on its laurels. Al

Oracle experts.

Thehaiban explained that the

AL THEHAIBAN ON DATA Accessed and used correctly, data holds all the information you need to meet and achieve your organizational objectives. It can allow you to make improved, datadriven decisions across every business function.

It can enable you to understand what your customers need, want, and may desire in the future.

Data can help you deliver smarter products and services, tailored to individual requirements. It can enable you to streamline business processes and operations. Data on its own, though, is fairly useless.

It’s how you can understand it and use it where you can have an impact.

In the big data era, it isn’t necessarily the biggest or the wealthiest companies that will survive. It will be those with the ability – and the willingness – to adapt, transform and innovate.

This demands the ability to access, understand, and use data. A data strategy is vital for readiness now, and preparedness for the future.

UAE is a priority market for Oracle, and their plans show that they are not planning on becoming complacent due to their success.

“We have made significant investments to enhance our infrastructure, physical presence, human resources and other support capabilities in the country.

Oracle is accelerating the pace in bringing our Cloud infrastructure to customers globally. We have announced plans to launch 20 new Oracle Cloud regions by the end of 2020, for a total of 36 Oracle Cloud Infrastructure regions. We in fact expect to open an average of one region every 23 days over the next 15 months, starting September 2019, for a total of 20 additional regions.

“This expansion includes the UAE and Saudi Arabia where we will establish two new Cloud data centre regions each to facilitate in-country or in-jurisdiction disaster recovery capabilities. We are a true market leader and our commitment to the Middle East region is strong.

With the rapid rate of cloud adoption in the Middle East and our unique ability to offer completely integrated solutions across all layers of the Cloud –SaaS, PaaS, IaaS– Oracle will become even better positioned to serve our customers locally and globally as they grow,” said Al Thehaiban.

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INTERVIEW

HUOBI

BRINGING CRYPTO INTO THE MAINSTREAM Deputy Editor Giorgia Guantario sat down with Mohit Davar, MENA Director and Co-Founder at Huobi who explained Huobi’s growth, the need for regulations in the industry and why Facebook’s Libra is actually a great idea.

Mohit Davar MENA Director and CoFounder, Huobi

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F

irst of all, can you give us an overview of Huobi?

Huobi was set up about six years ago by our founder Leon Li in Beijing. At the core, it's a global trading platform; we have offices in Beijing, Singapore, Japan, Korea, US and now Dubai. We have 250 tokens to trade, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple etc. If we take a wider look though, Huobi is much more than just that.

Everything is geared towards raising Blockchain awareness – we have a research institute, a university, a capital fund which invests in other Blockchain companies, and we just launched our public chain.

We set up the Huobi MENA office in Dubai late last year to promote our business in the MENA region. At the moment we have about ten people in our Dubai office, we are licensed by DMCC and we are applying for a few other licenses. At the core we’re a token to token platform, but we want to get regulated and open bank accounts to enable people to buy fiat to token. I think what really differentiate us is the local approach we have adopted – no other exchange has the presence we have in the Middle East, we are the only ones who are getting closer to the customer.

Last month Huobi announced it had open-sourced the development of its Huobi Chain blockchain. What does Huobi hope to achieve from this?

Houbi Chain aims to enable enterprises, financial institutions, and exchanges to deploy their own blockchains, tokenised assets, and decentralised financial (DeFi)

JANUARY 2020

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services. By using our chaintechnology, we are going to connect our business partner, customers together tightly, making an open finance market.

Huobi has recently entered the Turkish market, and at the time you emphasised the importance of operating in compliance with local regulations. Why is this aspect so important?

I think regulations are fundamental to both to give us a framework as an operator, and to give consumers faith in the institution. Turkey is a very interesting market – there aren't regulations in place yet, but they have come out with an aggressive Blockchain agenda for government services. The interesting thing is that about 20 percent of Turkish population has access to crypto. We started in Turkey in mid-2019 and we are about to launch our fiat, which will mean we’ll have a bank account to basically transfer Turkish lira and buy crypto. Our main goal is to work with stakeholders in the market – I strongly believe that regulation is what the industry really needs to give it the credibility that it deserves, as well as promoting innovation.

The problem is that when there’s no regulation, people are left to their own risk appetite and view about the industry.

Whereas if a central bank comes up with a framework, it brings that level of comfort to actually provide banking services – and we really need banking services to make crypto accessible to everybody.

According to Statista, Turkey is one of the main adopters of cryptocurrencies in the world,

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however other Middle Eastern countries don’t see such high adoption. What do you think is the current state of the cryptocurrency market in the Middle East?

It’s definitely evolving, and we always try to understand why some countries see higher adoption than others. Taking Turkey as an example: the population is very young and the Turkish lira is very volatile, so they feel more comfortable edging themselves against that – we even joke sometimes saying that Turkish lira makes the Bitcoin look quite stable.

Moreover, the Blockchain community is very active, which is also promoting this higher adoption. In the rest of the Middle East this is still evolving, but many countries have taken a very proactive approach towards Blockchain – the UAE for example has a huge Blockchain agenda with Dubai Blockchain Centre and the government’s own agenda; the Central Bank of Bahrain has actually come up with regulations to license exchanges, becoming the only country in the Middle East where a central bank has come up with regulations; Oman came out with a crowdfunding platform on Blockchain. I believe we are going to slowly see more regulators engaging with crypto, meaning people will be more comfortable with it – the future looks very encouraging.

Cryptocurrencies have gained new momentum this year with Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg announcing Libra this past June. However, he has faced increasing pressure and challenges from US regulators, who even called it a “powerful

I strongly believe that regulation is what the industry really needs to give it the credibility that it deserves, as well as promoting innovation.”

burglary tool”. What are your thoughts on the matter? Do you think Zuckerberg’s idea to create a “stablecoin” would actually work?

I was a huge fan of Libra, I thought it was a fantastic idea.

I don’t think it was anything unique in terms of stablecoin, but it was in terms of the people that sat around its table – Visa, Mastercard, Paypal, to name a few. They have obviously all ran away now, but to see them engage with it was very exciting.

I believe there are two reasons it went wrong. One was bad timing - Facebook was and is still considerate toxic. The second problem was that it wasn’t a regulated entity – maybe if Visa or Mastercard came up with it, they would’ve had a different feedback. But as I said, I really liked the idea. Anything that promotes financial inclusion and drives the cost of cross border remittances down is a fantastic thing. The buzz and awareness it created is also very encouraging. It’s all part of the journey to bring crypto into the mainstream. The goal is to have mainstream retail transactions, but to that we’ll have to come up with some form of stablecoin – the volatility of the current crypto market doesn’t lend itself to buying goods.

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FEATURE

HPE

THE POWER OF SUSTAINABILITY Christopher Wellise, Chief Sustainability Officer at HPE, explains why sustainability is no longer a nice to have, but a must have to drive innovation and business value.

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S

ince its inception in the 1930’s, HPE has always been a pioneer of new technologies and cutting-edge innovations as part of its effort to deliver bestin-class products and services for its global customer-base.

The IT industry is extremely energy-intensive and accounts for 10 percent of the world’s electricity consumption, but HPE has firmly established itself as a real leader in terms of championing sustainability programs and initiatives.

The man tasked with the role of spearheading that campaign on behalf of the US company is Christopher Wellise, Chief Sustainability Officer at HPE. Wellise is responsible for driving and developing Environment, Social and Government (ESG) strategy for HPE, and it sees him work directly with a multitude of stakeholders, investors and customers. His aim is to successfully integrate and embed their sustainability strategy across the value chain of the entire organisation.

However, there is a growing concern globally regarding climate change, and more and more governments and major companies are coming under increasing pressure to ‘do more’ to alleviate these issues.

According to Wellise, there has been a shift in mindset and sustainability is no longer an afterthought, it is now a necessity.

“Sustainability has evolved over time. It had roots in compliance a few years ago, but it has now really evolved from a nice to have, to a must have.

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It has become a real driver in innovation and business value,” said Wellise.

He added, “HPE identified early on that it was imperative that we integrated our sustainability strategy throughout the organisation, and it is ultimately my responsibility along my team to achieve this. In addition to this, we also work with customers to better understand what their needs are and linking what we do from a sustainability perspective to helping them to meet their goals and objectives.”

HPE’s Chief Sustainability Officer also concedes that other industries look to the IT ecosystem for inspiration, so therefore it is critically important that major IT players known for their innovation show leadership in this area, but does he think they need to do more?

“I think the IT recognises that it has to show leadership, and in many cases a lot of companies are, but there is always more than can be done,” said Wellise.

He added, “I think the industry is ripe for huge disruption, and I believe one of those disruptions is going to be borne out of the fact that by 2025, most of the data will no longer be generated in the data centre. It will instead be generated in what we call the edge, which is everything outside of the data centre.”

Welliseis clearly passionate and driven to ensure HPE has sustainability at the core of its overall strategy, and he pointed out that powering the

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intelligent edge will result in a huge reduction in energy consumption.

He said, “By 2025, it has been projected that 75 percent of all the world’s data will be created at the edge. From an energy standpoint it requires an order of magnitude of more energy to transfer data that it does to process it.

“If you’re able to bring computing to where the data is, as oppose to moving data to where the computing happens, then you’ve got huge energy savings implications, and your correcting for things like latency.”

The HPE executive also highlighted that if you’re on a smart factory floor where split second millisecond decisions need to be made because of the speed or level of production, then you need that intelligence there at the edge in order to do that, and that is also heavily behind their strategy as they move into the era of Industry 4.0.

The accumulation of data is skyrocketing and is expected to grow exponentially over the next few years as more and more devices become connected.

As a result, and with Moore’s Law going to be obsolete by 2025, the Chief Sustainability Officer at HPE says we have to rethink our compute architecture to be able to cope with this explosion in data.

“If you examine the proliferation of data, the numbers are just astronomical.

The latest statistic I read is that 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are now generated daily. In the past two years, 90 percent of all

By 2025, it has been projected that 75 percent of all the world’s data will be created at the edge.”

the data generated throughout history has been created, and it is just growing at a phenomenal scale,” said Wellise.

He added, “Part of that is obviously being fueled by the fact that every device is now connected. People are connected to people, and devices are connected to people and this is generating mass volumes of data. The need for sustainable IT is more important than ever, so how do you rethink sustainable IT infrastructure to handle this deluge of data at a time when Moore’s Law is coming to an end?”

The answer according to Wellise and HPE is a concept they’re calling memorydriven computing.

“We achieved all our advances through miniaturisation essentially until now, but with that coming to an end we really need to rethink compute architecture - and the scientists and engineers within Hewlett Packard Enterprise labs are doing that and they’ve come up with a concept called memorydriven computing,” said Wellise.

He went on to explain that memory-driven computing is basically pools of memory and agnostic chips and involves the process of moving from copper to fibre.

He concluded, “Pushing electrons through copper generates massive amounts of heat which requires cooling which consumes huge amounts of energy. One of the ways we’re looking to address this is the edge, that involves moving compute to where the data is, and the other is rethinking compute architecture.”

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JANUARY 2020 TAHAWULTECH.COM

A LOOK INTO ‫نظرة على‬ THE FUTURE ‫المستقبل‬

PUBLICATION LICENSED BY DUBAI PRODUCTION CITY, DCCA

GOVTECH

EXPO 2020

A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE With less than a year to go, GovTech takes a closer look at EXPO 2020 to understand what we can expect when the world’s biggest symposium opens its door in October.

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JANUARY 2020

www.tahawultech.com

H

.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid AlMaktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai has said that EXPO 2020 will ‘astonish the world’.

Some onlookers may interpret that as overconfidence, but few would bet against Dubai’s pedigree to pull off the spectacular when EXPO 2020 officially opens later this year on October 20th.

Dubai’s transformation over the last 20 years has been nothing short of phenomenal.

A perfect illustration of this is its dazzling skyline that is dotted with incredible architectural masterpieces, including the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, which quietly keeps watch over this wonderful city.

In November 2013, the general assembly of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) met in Paris and selected Dubai as the location for EXPO 2020 – ever since that decision was taken the Dubai leadership has been focused on ensuring it

EXPO 2020 Dubai will be the first ever hosted in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, and is expected to welcome more than 200 international participants, including a record 192 countries.” www.tahawultech.com

delivers on its objectives which is to put on an EXPO the likes of which the world has never seen before.

EXPO 2020 is now just 9 months away, and with all attention and focus now turning to the event, we decided that it would be a good opportunity in this edition of GovTech to explore what exactly we can expect when the world’s biggest symposium opens its door.

EXPO 2020 Dubai will be the first ever hosted in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, and is expected to welcome more than 200 international participants, including a record 192 countries. It will connect nations, multinational corporations, non-government organisations and millions of visitors from all over the world, providing an opportunity to see future innovations, marvel at unique architecture, experience diverse cultures, taste cuisines from all over the world, and enjoy live performances, art and other entertainment.

Theme: The theme of Dubai’s EXPO 2020 is “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”. This aims to provide a platform which infuses creativity, innovation and collaboration globally. It is based on the belief from the UAE leadership that sharing innovative ideas and building partnerships will inspire the way we shape our future.

In addition to this, EXPO 2020 will also explore the areas of Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability - which make up the three key sub-themes of the symposium.

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GOVTECH

Opportunity: EXPO 2020 will work towards enabling new ‘opportunities’ for individuals and communities in an effort to help theme achieve their needs and inspire them to pursue their future aspirations which is aligned closely to the global vision of the UN SDGs. Mobility: Dubai’s EXPO 2020 will also enhance its focus to providing easier access to knowledge, markets and innovation by working on solutions and technologies that ultimately facilitate the movement (mobility) of people, goods and ideas.

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Sustainability: In terms of sustainability EXPO 2020 will strive to protect and preserve the environment for future generations, especially in light of growing concerns over climate change by sharing sustainable solutions and practices that are not only scalable but also can be adapted globally.

Initiatives: In the run-up to the opening of Expo 2020 Dubai, a number of initiatives are being organised to promote the development of the theme of the Expo and to encourage broad participation in the event.

EXPO Live: EXPO Live is an innovation and partnership programme launched by Expo 2020 Dubai to fund, accelerate and promote creative solutions that improve lives while preserving the planet.

With an allocation of USD 100 million, Expo Live

JANUARY 2020

harnesses the convening power of a World Expo to demonstrate how innovations coming from all places and people can advance the pace of progress and inspire a more inclusive and prosperous future.

In the build-up to Expo 2020 Dubai, Expo Live is deploying a combination of grants, challenge prizes and knowledge-sharing events focused on the universal drivers of progress: Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability.

Global Best Practice Programme: A feature of every Expo since 2010, a series of Best Practices from around the world have been selected to be showcased at Expo 2020 Dubai. Addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Expo 2020’s Global Best Practice Programme spotlights tangible solutions that can be replicated, adapted and scaled for greater global impact.

A total of 25 Best Practices in five different categories have been selected by an international jury, jointly chaired by the Secretary General of the BIE, and will be showcased in Expo 2020 Dubai’s Sustainability Pavilion.

Expo School Programme: In the run up to the opening of Expo 2020 Dubai, organisers are engaging youth through EXPO School Programme.

Offering fun, engaging initiatives and resources for schools in the UAE, the programme also includes a dedicated visitor centre on the Expo site, offering hands-on experiences for young people to explore Expo 2020 Dubai and its theme.

H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, visits the EXPO 2020 site

World Majlis: The World Majilis series is a thematic dialogue programme aimed at facilitating global conversation and creating connections between people and ideas. Bringing together thought leaders from various government, professional, academics and cultural backgrounds, World Majlis is rooted in the Emirati and Arab tradition of majlis- a meeting space where people share informed opinions to help shape decision for communities.

District 2020/Legacy: April 2021, will mark the end of EXPO 2020, but more than 80 per cent of the EXPO-built structures will be retained and repurposed for District 2020.

District 2020 will see the urbanisation of the EXPO 2020 site into a smart and sustainable micro city-within-a-city that www.tahawultech.com

aims to provide an innovationdriven business ecosystem, while being a diverse and thriving urban community.

District 2020 is curating a diverse mix of tenants that include global corporations, SMEs, and startups, as well as enablers and social and educational platforms. Two of EXPO’s Official Premier Partners, Accenture and Siemens, have already committed to establishing a permanent presence in District 2020. Siemens will establish its global headquarters for airports, cargo and ports logistics at the site, while Accenture will open a digital hub.

Global company Merck KGaA announced it will establish a Sustainability Centre, and Shanghai-based Atlas Capital Holding will create a worldleading blockchain campus at District 2020. Expo 2020’s www.tahawultech.com

Sustainability Pavilion will become a Children and Science Centre. Many other major structures, including Al Wasl Plaza and the Mobility Pavilion, will remain as permanent fixtures in District 2020.

Vision of UAE Leadership: H.H. Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, VicePresident and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai has stressed that 2020 will be the year of making great strides in the economic sector, in education, in infrastructure, in the health sector and in the media.

“We will convey the UAE story to the world. In 2020, we will build the future of the UAE, working as one team in the spirit of the union, in the spirit of Zayed and with a spirit that loves top positions and renaissance”.

2020 promises to be a historic year and with the 50th anniversary of the UAE being celebrated in 2021, Al Maktoum declared that 2020 will be the year in which the UAE maps out its blueprint for the next fifty years.

H.H. Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum said, “In 2020, we will work together, Emiratis and residents, in all sectors. We are united and we can change the equations.

We can raise expectations...

We want 2020’s atmosphere to be similar to that of in 1970 when our founding fathers and their teams were preparing to embark on a new stage and new life.”

The Ruler of Dubai added, “I was there in 1970, the year of creating the union and will also be there in 2020, overseeing the team shaping the next fifty. There will be two committees. The first one will be chaired by Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed and will be tasked with mapping out the development plan of the next 50 years. The other committee will include Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed and Sheikha Mariam Bint Mohamed Bin Zayed to oversee the celebratory activities of the country’s Golden Jubilee.”

His Highness Al Maktoum also said, “Dubai has a strong track record of hosting major international events, and we want to take that to the next level for Dubai Expo 2020. Our aim is to attract 25m visitors, with 17m of those coming from overseas, making the expo a true global event, and one that will generate significant worldwide exposure for participants.”

JANUARY 2020

35

‫قال‬

‫سمو الشيخ محمد بن‬ ‫راشد آل مكتوم‪ ،‬نائب‬ ‫رئيس الدولة رئيس مجلس الوزراء‬ ‫حاكم دبي‪" ،‬إن معرض إكسبو‬ ‫‪ 2020‬سوف يدهش العالم"‪.‬‬

‫قد يفسر بعض املراقبني ذلك‬ ‫عىل أنه ثقة مفرطة‪ ،‬لكن القليل‬ ‫منهم قد يراهن عىل قدرة دبي عىل‬ ‫تحقيق أكرث من ما هو "مذهل"‬ ‫عندما يفتح معرض إكسبو ‪2020‬‬ ‫رسميًا يف وقت الحق من هذا العام‬ ‫يف ‪ 20‬أكتوبر‪.‬‬ ‫لم يكن تحول دبي عىل مدى‬ ‫السنوات العشرين املاضية مجرد‬ ‫يشء غري عادي‪ .‬ومن األمثلة‬ ‫الواضحة عىل ذلك أفقها املذهل‬ ‫امليلء بالروائع املعمارية املعاصرة‪،‬‬ ‫منها أطول برج يف العالم‪ ،‬برج‬ ‫خليفة‪ ،‬الذي يراقب بهدوء هذه‬ ‫املدينة الرائعة‪.‬‬

‫سيكون إكسبو ‪ 2020‬دبي المعرض‬ ‫األول من نوعه الذي تستضيفه‬ ‫منطقة الشرق األوسط وأفريقيا‬ ‫ومن ‪ (MEASA) ،‬وجنوب آسيا‬ ‫المتوقع الترحيب بأكثر من ‪200‬‬ ‫مشارك دولي‪ ،‬بما في ذلك ‪192‬‬ ‫دولة‪ ،‬والذي يعتبر رقم قياسيا‬ ‫مقارنة بعدد الدول المشاركة في‬ ‫نفس المعرض في مناسبات مضت‬

‫يف نوفمرب ‪ ،2013‬اجتمعت‬ ‫الجمعية العامة ملكتب املعارض‬ ‫الدولية (‪ )BIE‬يف باريس واختارت‬ ‫دبي كموقع ملعرض إكسبو ‪2020‬‬ ‫ ومنذ اتخاذ هذا القرار تركز قيادة‬‫دبي عىل ضمان تحقيقها ألهدافها‬ ‫التي تركز عىل تنظيم وإدارة معرض‬ ‫إكسبو‪ ،‬كما لم يسبق أن شاهده‬ ‫العالم من قبل‪.‬‬ ‫يفصل بيننا وبني معرض إكسبو‬ ‫‪2020‬اآلن ‪ 11‬شهراً فقط‪ ،‬ومع كل‬ ‫االهتمام والرتكيز املنصب اآلن عىل‬ ‫الحدث ‪ -‬قررنا أن هذه ستكون‬ ‫فرصة جيدة يف هذا العدد من‬ ‫مجلة ‪ ،GovTech‬الستكشاف‬ ‫ما يمكن أن نتوقعه بالضبط عند‬ ‫افتتاح أكرب ندوة يف العالم‪.‬‬ ‫ستكون هي األوىل من نوعها عىل‬ ‫اإلطالق يف منطقة الشرق األوسط‬ ‫وأفريقيا وجنوب آسيا (‪،)MEASA‬‬ ‫ومن املتوقع أن ترحب دبي بأكرث‬ ‫من ‪ 200‬مشارك دويل‪ ،‬بما يف‬ ‫ذلك ‪ 192‬دولة‪ .‬وستوفر الندوة‬ ‫فرص كبرية أمام الدول والشركات‬ ‫متعددة الجنسيات واملنظمات غري‬ ‫الحكومية وماليني الزوار من جميع‬ ‫أنحاء العالم‪ ،‬لرؤية االبتكارات‬ ‫املستقبلية‪ ،‬والهندسة املعمارية‬ ‫الفريدة‪ ،‬وتجربة الثقافات املتنوعة‪،‬‬ ‫وتذوق املأكوالت من جميع أنحاء‬ ‫العالم‪ ،‬باإلضافة إىل االستمتاع‬ ‫املباشر بالعروض الفنية وغريها من‬ ‫وسائل الرتفيه‪.‬‬

‫الشعار‪:‬‬

‫شعار معرض إكسبو ‪ 2020‬يف دبي‬ ‫هو "التواصل بني العقول وابتكار‬ ‫املستقبل"‪ .‬يهدف هذا إىل توفري منرب‬ ‫ينشر اإلبداع واالبتكار والتعاون عىل‬ ‫مستوى العالم‪ .‬يعتمد هذا عىل‬ ‫إيمان القيادة اإلماراتية بأن تبادل‬ ‫األفكار املبتكرة وبناء الشراكات‬ ‫سوف يلهمنا إىل لطريقة الصحيح‬ ‫التي نشكل بها مستقبلنا‪.‬‬ ‫باإلضافة إىل ذلك‪ ،‬سيقوم إكسبو‬

‫‪www.tahawultech.com‬‬

‫‪JANUARY 2020‬‬

‫‪36‬‬

‫جوف تك‬

‫إكسبو ‪2020‬‬

‫نظرة على‬ ‫المستقبل‬ ‫بقي عىل إنطالق إكسبو ‪ 2020‬يف دبي‪ ،‬أقل من عام‪ ،‬لذلك قامت مجلة‬ ‫‪ GovTech‬بإلقاء نظرة فاحصة عىل إكسبو ‪ 2020‬لفهم ما يمكن أن‬ ‫نتوقعه عندما تفتح أكرب ندوة يف العالم بابها يف أكتوبر املقبل‪.‬‬

‫‪37‬‬

‫‪JANUARY 2020‬‬

‫‪www.tahawultech.com‬‬

‫داخل املدينة تهدف إىل توفري نظام‬ ‫بيئي لألعمال يحركه االبتكار‪ ،‬كونه‬ ‫مجتمع حضري متنوع ومزدهر‪.‬‬

‫قام صاحب السمو الشيخ‬ ‫محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم‬ ‫نائب رئيس الدولة رئيس‬ ‫مجلس الوزراء حاكم دبي‬ ‫بزيارة موقع إكسبو ‪2020‬‬

‫‪ 2020 Dubai‬وشعاره‪.‬‬

‫مجلس العالم‪:‬‬

‫سلسلة ‪ World Majilis‬عبارة‬ ‫عن برنامج حوار مواضيعي يهدف‬ ‫إىل تسهيل املحادثة العاملية وخلق‬ ‫روابط بني الناس واألفكار‪ .‬يجمع‬ ‫املجلس زعماء العالم من قادة‬ ‫الفكر من مختلف الخلفيات‬ ‫الحكومية واملهنية واألكاديمية‬ ‫والثقافية‪ ،‬وهو متجذر يف التقاليد‬ ‫اإلماراتية والعربية للمجالس ‪-‬‬ ‫حيث يجتمع الناس بآراء مستنرية‬ ‫للمساعدة يف تشكيل القرار‬ ‫للمجتمعات‪.‬‬

‫المنطقة ‪ / 2020‬التراث‪:‬‬

‫سيصادف شهر أبريل من عام ‪2021‬‬ ‫نهاية ‪ ،EXPO 2020‬ولكن سيتم‬ ‫االحتفاظ بأكرث من ‪ 80‬يف املائة من‬ ‫املباين املبنية عىل ‪ EXPO‬وإعادة‬ ‫تهيئتها يف منطقة ‪.2020‬‬ ‫ستشهد منطقة ‪ 2020‬التوسع‬ ‫الحضري ملوقع ‪ EXPO 2020‬يف‬ ‫مدينة صغرية ذكية ومستدامة‬ ‫‪www.tahawultech.com‬‬

‫تعمل املنطقة ‪ 2020‬عىل تنسيق‬ ‫مجموعة متنوعة من املستأجرين‬ ‫التي تشمل الشركات العاملية‬ ‫والشركات الصغرية واملتوسطة‬ ‫والشركات الناشئة‪ ،‬باإلضافة‬ ‫إىل العوامل التمكينية واملنصات‬ ‫االجتماعية والتعليمية‪ .‬حيث التزم‬ ‫اثنان من شركاء ‪ EXPO‬الرسميني‬ ‫الرئيسيني‪ ،‬بتأسيس وجود دائم‬ ‫يف ‪ .District 2020‬كما ستنئش‬ ‫‪ Siemens‬مقرها العاملي للمطارات‬ ‫والشحن واللوجستيات يف املوقع‪،‬‬ ‫يف حني ستقوم ‪ Accenture‬بفتح‬ ‫مركز رقمي‪.‬‬ ‫أعلنت شركة ‪Merck KGaA‬‬ ‫ً‬ ‫مركزا‬ ‫العاملية أنها ستنئش‬ ‫لالستدامة‪ ،‬وستقوم شركة ‪Atlas‬‬ ‫‪ Capital Holding‬أيضاً والتي‬ ‫تتخذ من شانغهاي مقراً لها‬ ‫بإنشاء حرم جامعي عاملي رائد‬ ‫يف منطقة ‪ .2020‬وسيصبح جناح‬ ‫االستدامة الخاص بمعرض إكسبو‬ ‫ً‬ ‫مركزا لألطفال والعلوم‪.‬‬ ‫‪2020‬‬ ‫بينما ستظل العديد من الهياكل‬ ‫الرئيسية األخرى‪ ،‬بما يف ذلك‬ ‫الوصل بالزا وجناح التنقل‪ ،‬بمثابة‬ ‫تجهيزات دائمة يف املنطقة ‪.2020‬‬

‫رؤية القيادة اإلماراتية‪:‬‬

‫أكد صاحب السمو الشيخ محمد‬ ‫بن راشد آل مكتوم‪ ،‬نائب رئيس‬ ‫الدولة رئيس مجلس الوزراء حاكم‬ ‫دبي‪ ،‬عىل أن عام ‪ 2020‬سيكون‬ ‫ً‬ ‫عاما لتحقيق خطوات كبرية يف‬ ‫القطاع االقتصادي والتعليم والبنية‬ ‫التحتية والقطاع الصحي والقطاع‬ ‫اإلعالمي‪.‬‬ ‫"سننقل قصة اإلمارات إىل العالم‪.‬‬ ‫وسنبني يف العام ‪ ،2020‬مستقبل‬ ‫دولة اإلمارات العربية املتحدة‪،‬‬ ‫نحن نعمل كفريق واحد بروح‬ ‫االتحاد‪ ،‬بروح زايد وبروح تهوى‬

‫املناصب العليا والنهضة "‪.‬‬ ‫من املتوقع أن يكون العام ‪2020‬‬ ‫ً‬ ‫عاما تاريخيًا‪ ،‬ومع االحتفال‬ ‫بالذكرى السنوية الخمسني لدولة‬ ‫اإلمارات العربية املتحدة يف عام‬ ‫‪ ،2021‬أعلن سمو الشيخ محمد آل‬ ‫مكتوم أن عام ‪ 2020‬سيكون العام‬ ‫الذي تحدد فيه دولة اإلمارات‬ ‫العربية املتحدة مخططها لألعوام‬ ‫الخمسني القادمة‪.‬‬ ‫قال سمو الشيخ محمد بن راشد‬ ‫آل مكتوم‪" :‬يف عام ‪ ،2020‬سنعمل‬ ‫ً‬ ‫معا‪ ،‬اإلماراتيني واملقيمني‪ ،‬يف‬ ‫جميع القطاعات‪ .‬نحن متحدون‬ ‫ويمكننا تغيري املعادالت‪ .‬وقال‬ ‫سموه‪" :‬يمكننا رفع التوقعات ‪...‬‬ ‫ً‬ ‫مشابها‬ ‫نريد أن يكون جو عام ‪2020‬‬ ‫ملا كان عليه عام ‪ 1970‬عندما كان‬ ‫آباؤنا املؤسسون وفرقهم يستعدون‬ ‫لبدء مرحلة جديدة وحياة جديدة"‪.‬‬ ‫وأضاف سموه‪" :‬لقد كنت هناك‬ ‫يف العام ‪ ،1970‬عام إنشاء االتحاد‬ ‫وسأكون هناك ً‬ ‫أيضا يف عام ‪،2020‬‬ ‫وسأشرف عىل الفريق الذي سيشكل‬ ‫الخمسني ً‬ ‫عاما املقبلة‪ .‬ستكون‬ ‫هناك لجنتان‪ .‬يرأس الشيخ منصور‬ ‫بن زايد األوىل‪ ،‬وسيتم تكليفه‬ ‫بتحديد خطة التطوير للسنوات‬ ‫الخمسني القادمة‪ .‬وستضم اللجنة‬ ‫األخرى الشيخ عبد الله بن زايد‬ ‫والشيخة مريم بنت محمد بن زايد‬ ‫لإلشراف عىل األنشطة االحتفالية‬ ‫لليوبيل الذهبي يف البالد "‪.‬‬ ‫كما قال سمو الشيخ محمد بن‬ ‫راشد آل مكتوم‪" :‬تتمتع دبي‬ ‫بسجل حافل يف استضافة األحداث‬ ‫الدولية الكربى‪ ،‬ونريد أن نرتقي‬ ‫بذلك إىل املستوى التايل ملعرض دبي‬ ‫إكسبو ‪ .2020‬هدفنا هو جذب ‪25‬‬ ‫مليون زائر‪ ،‬منهم ‪ 17‬مليون زائر‬ ‫من الخارج‪ ،‬املعرض هو حدث عاملي‬ ‫حقيقي‪ ،‬وهو الحدث الذي من‬ ‫شأنه أن يولد تواصل حقيقي بني‬ ‫املشاركني من حول العالم‪" .‬‬ ‫‪JANUARY 2020‬‬

‫‪38‬‬

‫جوف تك‬

‫ً‬ ‫‪2020‬أيضا باستكشاف مجاالت‬ ‫الفرص والتنقل واالستدامة‪ ،‬والتي‬ ‫تشكل املوضوعات الفرعية الرئيسية‬ ‫الثالثة للندوة‪.‬‬

‫فرصة‪:‬‬

‫سيعمل إكسبو ‪2020‬عىل توفري‬ ‫"فرص" جديدة لألفراد واملجتمعات‬ ‫يف محاولة للمساعدة عىل تحقيق‬ ‫احتياجاتهم وإلهامهم ملتابعة‬ ‫تطلعاتهم املستقبلية التي تتماىش‬ ‫بشكل وثيق مع الرؤية العاملية‬ ‫ألهداف التنمية املستدامة لألمم‬ ‫املتحدة‪.‬‬

‫إمكانية التنقل‪:‬‬

‫‪39‬‬

‫سيعزز معرض إكسبو ‪ 2020‬يف دبي‬ ‫تركيزه عىل توفري وصول أسهل إىل‬ ‫املعلومات واألسواق واالبتكارات من‬ ‫خالل توفري حلول وتقنيات تسهل‬ ‫يف النهاية حركة (تنقل) األشخاص‬ ‫والسلع واألفكار‪.‬‬

‫االستدامة‪:‬‬

‫فيما يتعلق باالستدامة‪ ،‬سوف‬ ‫يسعى إكسبو ‪ 2020‬إىل حماية‬ ‫البيئة والحفاظ عليها من أجل‬ ‫األجيال القادمة‪ ،‬خاصة يف ظل‬ ‫املخاوف املتزايدة بشأن تغري املناخ‪.‬‬ ‫وسيتم ذلك من خالل تبادل‬ ‫الحلول واملمارسات املستدامة التي‬ ‫ال يمكن التوسع فيها فحسب بل‬ ‫يمكن تكييفها عامليًا‪.‬‬

‫المبادرات‪:‬‬

‫يف الفرتة التي تسبق افتتاح معرض‬ ‫إكسبو ‪ 2020‬يف دبي‪ ،‬يتم تنظيم‬ ‫عدد من املبادرات لتعزيز تطوير‬ ‫شعار املعرض وتشجيع املشاركة‬ ‫الواسعة يف هذا الحدث‪.‬‬

‫اكسبو اليف‪:‬‬

‫‪ EXPO Live‬هو برنامج لالبتكار‬ ‫والشراكة أطلقته ‪Expo 2020‬‬ ‫‪ Dubai‬لتمويل وتسريع وتعزيز‬ ‫الحلول اإلبداعية التي تعمل عىل‬ ‫‪JANUARY 2020‬‬

‫تحسني الحياة مع الحفاظ عىل‬ ‫الكوكب‪.‬‬ ‫ومن خالل تخصيص ‪ 100‬مليون‬ ‫دوالر أمرييك‪ ،‬يستفيد ‪Expo‬‬ ‫‪ Live‬من قوة عقد معرض‬ ‫‪ World Expo‬إلظهار كيف يمكن‬ ‫لالبتكارات القادمة من جميع‬ ‫األماكن ومختلف الناس التقدم‬ ‫بخطى ثابتة وإلهام لتقيق مستقبل‬ ‫ً‬ ‫شمول وازدهارًا‪.‬‬ ‫أكرث‬ ‫يف الفرتة التي تسبق معرض إكسبو‬ ‫‪ 2020‬يف دبي‪ ،‬تنشر ‪Expo Live‬‬ ‫مجموعة من املنح والجوائز وندوات‬ ‫لتبادل املعرفة التي تركز عىل‬ ‫الدوافع العاملية للتقدم‪ :‬الفرص‪،‬‬ ‫والتنقل‪ ،‬واالستدامة‪.‬‬

‫برنامج أفضل‬ ‫الممارسات العالمية‪:‬‬

‫تم اختيار سلسلة من أفضل‬ ‫املمارسات من جميع أنحاء العالم‬ ‫لعرضها يف معرض إكسبو ‪2020‬‬ ‫بدبي‪ ،‬وهي إحدى ميزات كل‬ ‫معرض منذ العام ‪ .2010‬ومن‬

‫خالل معالجة أهداف التنمية‬ ‫املستدامة (‪ ،)SDGs‬يسلط برنامج‬ ‫‪ Expo 2020‬العاملي ألفضل‬ ‫املمارسات الضوء عىل حلول‬ ‫ملموسة يمكن تكرارها وتكييفها‬ ‫وتوسيع نطاقها لتحقيق تأثري عاملي‬ ‫أكرب‪.‬‬ ‫تم اختيار ما مجموعه ‪ 25‬من أفضل‬ ‫املمارسات يف خمس فئات مختلفة‬ ‫من قبل لجنة تحكيم دولية‪،‬‬ ‫برئاسة مشرتكة من األمني العام‬ ‫للـ ‪ ،BIE‬وسيتم عرضها يف جناح‬ ‫‪ Expo 2020 Dubai‬لالستدامة‪.‬‬

‫برنامج مدرسة إكسبو‪:‬‬

‫يف الفرتة التي تسبق افتتاح معرض‬ ‫إكسبو ‪ 2020‬يف دبي‪ ،‬يقوم‬ ‫املنظمون بإشراك الشباب من‬ ‫خالل برنامج مدرسة إكسبو‪ .‬يقدم‬ ‫الربنامج مبادرات وموارد جذابة‬ ‫وممتعة للمدارس يف دولة اإلمارات‬ ‫العربية املتحدة‪ ،‬كما يشتمل‬ ‫الربنامج عىل مركز زوار مخصص‬ ‫عىل موقع ‪ ،Expo‬يقدم تجارب‬ ‫عملية للشباب الستكشاف ‪Expo‬‬ ‫‪www.tahawultech.com‬‬

GOVTECH

DIGITAL NEXT SUMMIT

EXPLORING THE DIGITAL FUTURE CNME attended the first Digital Next Summit, hosted by Abu Dhabi Digital Authority (ADDA) and organised by Messe Frankfurt Middle East, where government and IT leaders highlighted how important digital transformation is now to economic competitiveness, quality of life, business and personal growth.

G

overnment and IT leaders, advisors and experts came together in Abu

Dhabi to examine the digital revolution and explore the potential opportunities presented by emerging technologies and how it can reinvent processes and reshape experiences for stakeholders.

The inaugural Digital Next Summit, running from 8-9 December at Jumeriah Hotel, Etihad Towers, Abu Dhabi, brought together 34 speakers from the public and private sectors. It delved into how digital transformation can enable governments, businesses and individuals achieve excellence through technology.

40

Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh, Minister of State and Executive Chairman, Abu Dhabi Global Markets

The summit, hosted by Abu Dhabi Digital Authority (ADDA) and organised by Messe Frankfurt Middle East, highlighted how important digital transformation is now to economic competitiveness, quality of life, business and personal growth.

In her keynote address, Dr Rauda Al Saadi, Director General, ADDA said that annual spending on digital transformation is set to exceed US$ 40 billion by 2022, and highlighted focal points for government including the integration of government entities and provision of omnichannel customer services, through to digital infrastructure, and innovation through the analysis of big-data via artificial intelligence.

Abu Dhabi already plays a central role in the UAE’s digital future and supports the nation’s strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This strategy

JANUARY 2020

www.tahawultech.com

outlines intelligent government services as a key focus area in efforts to deliver the world’s

Dr Rauda Al Saadi, Director General, ADDA

best intelligent, seamless and customer-centric government services that enhance happiness and wellbeing.

In his speech, Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh, Minister of State and Executive Chairman, Abu Dhabi Global Markets highlighted the rapid pace of change in technology which offers governments and businesses alike the ability to do more than ever before. He said: “As leaders we must take calculated risks that make us more resilient in the future.” He ended his session by saying, “As we approach a new decade, we cannot afford to not be digital anymore.”

41

Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence said that the UAE’s Artificial Intelligence strategy comes with lessons from the past and visions for the future.

“Today, AI will boost all major sectors including tourism,

policy-making framework and

Luik, Minister of Defence,

infrastructure and real estate. The

the responsible development and

Republic, Estonia, Peng Xiao,

UAE will become an AI leader and

deployment of AI.”

Chief Executive Officer, G42,

will be at the forefront of digital

Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al

transformation in the next decade

Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate

due to its unique characteristics.

Change and Environment

Jack Dangermond, Founder and

As we approach a new decade, we cannot afford to not be digital anymore.”

President, Esri, Hayden Stafford, Corporate Vice President of WW

“We have more than 200

commented on how technology

nationalities, which means we

can be leveraged to reduce the

have the most diverse data set

impact on the environment,

on the planet. For AI to thrive,

pinpointing UAE efforts such

we need volume of data, variety

as the use of AI and drones

of data and velocity of data.

to identify the most suitable

Since 2002, we have undergone

agricultural areas, and a smart

a long process from being a

map of natural capital in the UAE

traditional government to a

which identifies local biologically

smart government. Today, we

rich ecosystems and provides

are a government of the future

data which informs better

and we can lead in the area of AI

decision making on land use and

also included C-suite executives

and technology. Our AI strategy

investment.

of major corporations,

revolves around talent and capacity building; our consultative

www.tahawultech.com

Other key speakers in the morning session were Juri

Business Applications, Microsoft and Nigel Vaz, Chief Executive Officer, Publicis Sapient.

The morning was followed by thought-provoking, innovative tracks on GX Next and Cyber Next featuring powerful speakers from the public and private sectors. The two-day event’s authoritative public and private sector speaker line-up

government ministers and specialists.

JANUARY 2020

‫العلماء‪ ،‬وزير الدولة للذكاء االصطناعي‬ ‫عىل أهمية مواكبة التطور املتسارع‬ ‫للتحوالت الرقمية التي تتبناها دول‬ ‫العالم املتقدمة‪ ،‬مؤكداً عىل قدرة دولة‬ ‫اإلمارات عىل مواصلة رحلتها الريادية يف‬ ‫مجال تسخري التقنيات العلمية ومنها‬ ‫الذكاء االصطناعي‪ ،‬الفتاً إىل النقالت‬ ‫النوعية التي شهدتها حكومة الدولة‬ ‫انطالقاً من كونها حكومة إلكرتونية‪ ،‬ثم‬ ‫رقمية‪ ،‬بفضل الرؤية املستقبلية للقيادة‬ ‫الرشيدة الرامية إىل توظيف تقنيات‬ ‫الذكاء االصطناعي بما يسهم يف تعزيز‬ ‫مستقبل الدولة‬ ‫وسلط بن سلطان الضوء عىل‬ ‫اسرتاتيجية الدولة للذكاء االصطناعي‬ ‫التي أطلقتها القيادة الرشيدة عام‬ ‫‪ 2017‬والتي تسعى من خاللها الحكومة‬ ‫إىل إيجاد ممارسات ونماذج عمل غري‬ ‫مسبوقة عىل املستويات اإلقليمية‬ ‫والعاملية‪ ،‬وذلك باالستفادة مما‬ ‫تمتلكه الدولة من مقومات النجاح‪،‬‬ ‫وعىل رأسها البيانات الضخمة التي من‬ ‫الجهات الحكومية وشبه الحكومية‪.‬‬ ‫ويف السياق ذاته‪ ،‬أكد بن سلطان‬ ‫عىل حرص القيادة الرشيدة عىل بناء‬ ‫الكفاءات والقدرات وتمكينها من‬ ‫التعامل مع تكنولوجيا املستقبل‪،‬‬ ‫باإلضافة إىل اجتذاب أملع العقول من‬ ‫حول العالم وتوفري البيئة املحفزة‬ ‫لالبتكار واالستفادة من الفرص املثالية‬ ‫التي توفرها اإلمارات نظراً ملا تمتلكه من‬ ‫مزايا كالقوانني التشريعية والتنظيمية‬ ‫التي يتم استحداثها بناء عىل دراسات‬ ‫وأبحاث معمقة تجريها بالتعاون مع‬ ‫طيف واسع من الشركاء االسرتاتيجيني‬ ‫يف القطاعات البحثية واألكاديمية‪ ،‬مما‬ ‫يضمن بناء مستقبل أفضل لألجيال‬ ‫القادمة‪.‬‬ ‫وخالل كلمته‪ ،‬قال أحمد عيل الصايغ‪،‬‬ ‫وزير دولة ورئيس مجلس إدارة سوق‬ ‫أبوظبي العاملي‪“ :‬تشهد مختلف‬ ‫ً‬ ‫مدفوعة‬ ‫القطاعات تغريات متسارعة‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ويعد التحول‬ ‫بالتطورات التقنية‪،‬‬ ‫الرقمي اآلن شرطاً أساسياً لتحقيق‬ ‫القدرة التنافسية االقتصادية‪ ،‬من أجل‬ ‫‪www.tahawultech.com‬‬

‫سعادة الدكتورة روضة السعدي‪،‬‬ ‫مدير عام هيئة أبوظبي الرقمية‬

‫تحسني جودة حياة الفرد ومضاعفة‬ ‫فرص العمل والنمو”‪.‬‬

‫وريادتها وقدرتها عىل استقطاب‬ ‫الكفاءات املتميزة يف هذا املجال‪.‬‬

‫كما شدد معاليه عىل أهمية استكشاف‬ ‫املمارسات والتطبيقات املختلفة من‬ ‫أجل الوصول إىل أفضل نماذج العمل‬ ‫والتعرف عىل أبرز التحديات واالستعداد‬ ‫ملواجهتها‪ .‬واختتم معاليه حديثة‬ ‫بالقول‪“ :‬مع اقرتابنا من عقد جديد‪ ،‬ال‬ ‫يمكننا أن نكون غري رقميني بعد اآلن”‪.‬‬

‫وشارك يف الجلسات الحوارية خالل‬ ‫اليوم األول من القمة مجموعة رفيعة‬ ‫من املسؤولني واملتحدثني الدوليني‬ ‫ويف مقدمتهم بنغ شياو الرئيس‬ ‫التنفيذي لدى “جي ‪ ،”42‬باإلضافة‬ ‫إىل جاك دانجرموند‪ ،‬مؤسس ورئيس‬ ‫معهد بحوث النظم البيئية الدويل‬ ‫“إزري”‪ ،‬الشركة األمريكية املوردة‬ ‫لربمجيات نظم املعلومات الجغرافية‪،‬‬ ‫وهايدن ستافورد‪ ،‬نائب رئيس شركة‬ ‫مايكروسوفت لحلول األعمال التجارية‪،‬‬ ‫ونايجل فاز‪ ،‬الرئيس التنفيذي لشركة‬ ‫بوبليسيس سابينت‪.‬‬

‫من جانبها أوضحت سعادة الدكتورة‬ ‫روضة السعدي‪ ،‬مدير عام هيئة أبوظبي‬ ‫الرقمية أن قمة املستقبل الرقمي تعترب‬ ‫األوىل من نوعها التي تنظمها هيئة‬ ‫أبوظبي الرقمية‪ ،‬حيث تمثل القمة‬ ‫منصة مثالية لبحث مختلف األبعاد‬ ‫والجوانب املتعلقة بالتحول الرقمي‪،‬‬ ‫والتعرف عىل دوره يف تمكني حكومة‬ ‫املستقبل‪.‬‬ ‫وأشارت السعدي إىل أن القمة تميزت‬ ‫بمشاركة ‪ 70‬متحدث دويل‪ ،‬وأكرث من‬ ‫‪ 33‬شركة من كربى الشركات العاملية‬ ‫الرائدة يف قطاع تكنولوجيا املعلومات‬ ‫عىل مستوى العالم‪ ،‬الفتة سعادتها إىل‬ ‫أن الحضور الكثيف للقمة والذي تجاوز‬ ‫أكرث من ‪ 1500‬مشارك من ضمنهم‬ ‫وزراء وخرباء دوليني وصناع سياسات‬ ‫وشباب‪ ،‬يعكس مكانة أبوظبي كمركز‬ ‫إقليمي لالبتكار والتحول الرقمي‪،‬‬

‫وتتناول أجندة القمة أربعة مسارات‬ ‫رئيسية تشمل “مستقبل البيانات‪-‬‬ ‫‪ ،”Data Next‬و”مستقبل األمن‬ ‫الرقمي” ‪ ”Cyber Next-‬و “مستقبل‬ ‫التكنولوجيا‪”Technology Next-‬‬ ‫و”ومستقبل التجربة الخدمية يف‬ ‫القطاع الحكومي‪،”GX Next-‬‬ ‫وترتكز عىل دراسة جميع املوضوعات‬ ‫ذات الصلة بدءاً من تكامل الكيانات‬ ‫الحكومية وتوفري خدمات املتعاملني‬ ‫عرب قنوات رقمية متكاملة‪ ،‬إىل تأمني‬ ‫البنية التحتية الرقمية‪ ،‬مروراً بتحليل‬ ‫البيانات الضخمة عرب استخدام الذكاء‬ ‫االصطناعي‪.‬‬ ‫‪JANUARY 2020‬‬

‫‪42‬‬

‫جوف تك‬

‫قمة “المستقبل الرقمي“‬

‫استكشــــــاف‬ ‫المستقبل الرقمي‬

‫حضرت ‪ CNME‬الدورة األوىل لقمة"املستقبل الرقمي" التي استضافتها هيئة أبوظبي الرقمية (‪ ،)ADDA‬ونظمتها مييس‬ ‫فرانكفورت الشرق األوسط ‪ ،‬حيث أكدت الحكومة وقادة تكنولوجيا املعلومات عىل مدى أهمية التحول الرقمي اآلن يف‬ ‫القدرة التنافسية االقتصادية ‪ ،‬وتأثريه عىل كل من جودة الحياة‪ ،‬وفرص العمل‪ ،‬والنمو ‪.‬‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ممثال الحضور الحكومي‬ ‫اإلستوين‬ ‫الدويل‪ ،‬ومعايل عيل راشد الكتبي‪ ،‬عضو‬ ‫مجلس تنفيذي إمارة أبوظبي‪ ،‬رئيس‬ ‫دائرة اإلسناد الحكومي‪ ،‬باإلضافة إىل‬ ‫ممثيل العديد من الجهات الحكومية‬ ‫املحلية واالتحادية ومشاركة نخبة من‬ ‫الخرباء واملستشارين ورواد األعمال من‬ ‫كربى املؤسسات العاملية الرائدة يف مجال‬ ‫التكنولوجيا الرقمية والذكاء االصطناعي‬ ‫وتقنيات املستقبل‪ ،‬حيث سلطوا‬ ‫الضوء عىل التقنيات املبتكرة وناقشوا‬ ‫أهم املستجدات ضمن املحاور الرئيسية‬ ‫للتحول الرقمي‪ ،‬وهي البيانات واألمن‬ ‫السيرباين وتجربة املتعاملني يف الخدمات‬ ‫الحكومية باإلضافة إىل أحدث الحلول‬ ‫التقنية املبتكرة‪..‬‬

‫‪43‬‬

‫أحمد علي الصايغ‬ ‫وزير دولة ورئيس مجلس‬ ‫إدارة سوق أبوظبي العالمي‬

‫انطلقت‬

‫بنجاح أعمال‬ ‫الدورة األوىل‬ ‫لقمة “املستقبل الرقمي ‪ ”2019‬تحت‬ ‫شعار “تمكني حكومة املستقبل”‪ ،‬التي‬ ‫تنظمها هيئة أبوظبي الرقمية بالتعاون‬ ‫مع مييس فرانكفورت الشرق األوسط‪،‬‬ ‫والتي تهدف إىل مناقشة وتحليل االبعاد‬ ‫املختلفة للتحول الرقمي ودوره يف تمكني‬ ‫حكومة املستقبل‪.‬‬

‫وهدفت القمة التي عقدت بحضور اكرث‬ ‫من ‪ 1500‬مشارك من ضمنهم وزراء‬ ‫وصناع سياسات وخرباء دوليني إىل‬ ‫استعراض ومناقشة التحول الرقمي يف‬ ‫‪JANUARY 2020‬‬

‫منظومة العمل بالقطاعني الحكومي‬ ‫والخاص املدفوعة بأحدث ابتكارات‬ ‫الثورة الصناعية الرابعة‪ ،‬والتعرف عىل‬ ‫الفرص املحتملة التي توفرها التقنيات‬ ‫الناشئة ملختلف القطاعات يف املستقبل‪.‬‬ ‫وشهدت الدورة األوىل للقمة حضور‬ ‫كل من معايل الدكتور ثاين بن أحمد‬ ‫الزيودي‪ ،‬وزير التغري املناخي والبيئة‪،‬‬ ‫ومعايل عمر بن سلطان العلماء‪ ،‬وزير‬ ‫الدولة للذكاء االصطناعي‪ ،‬ومعايل‬ ‫أحمد عيل الصايغ‪ ،‬وزير دولة ورئيس‬ ‫مجلس إدارة سوق أبوظبي العاملي‪،‬‬ ‫ومعايل جوري لويك‪ ،‬وزير الدفاع‬

‫ويف كلمته ركز الدكتور ثاين بن أحمد‬ ‫الزيودي‪ ،‬وزير التغري املناخي والبيئة عىل‬ ‫أهمية االستفادة من أحدث االبتكارات‬ ‫التقنية للحد من أثر األعمال عىل البيئة‪،‬‬ ‫مستعرضاً طيفاً واسعاً من التطبيقات‬ ‫الحديثة التي تتبناها الحكومة تحقيقاً‬ ‫لهذه الرؤية‪ ،‬مثل استخدام الذكاء‬ ‫االصطناعي والطائرات بدون طيار‬ ‫لتحديد املناطق الزراعية األكرث مالءمة‪،‬‬ ‫ورسم الخرائط الذكية للرثوات الطبيعية‬ ‫التي تمتلكها الدول‪ ،‬وبالتايل تطوير‬ ‫األنظمة القادرة عىل معالجة البيانات‬ ‫بشكل دقيق يسهم بدعم عمليات اتخاذ‬ ‫القرار بشكل أفضل وآمن للبيئة‪.‬‬ ‫ومن جانبه أكد عمر بن سلطان‬ ‫‪www.tahawultech.com‬‬

COLUMN

MARK FORKER

WILL 2020 FINALLY BE THE YEAR 5G COMES OF AGE? At CES 2017, Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf, predicted that the impact of 5G would be on a similar scale to the introduction of electricity. It was going to be revolutionary and would completely transform the world as we know it.

44

T

hree years have now passed since Qualcomm’s CEO made those comments during his keynote at the flagship technology event in Las Vegas, and we’re still yet to see any real progress when it comes to next-generation networks penetrating the mainstream.

You’d be forgiven for coming to the conclusion that 5G has been overhyped for a long time, and that many in the industry underestimated the scale of the evolution from 4G to 5G. It could well be towards the end of the next decade before the technology really comes to fruition. However, there are many commentators within the ICT space that believe that 2020 will be the year when the technology really moves from concept to reality.

Capabilities: The rollout of 5G networks will pave the way for a new era of connectivity that will enable businesses to flourish in our data-driven world.

The technology will provide incredible data capacity and phenomenal speed that will fundamentally change the way we live, work and play.

In addition to the boost it will provide for mobile phone services, it will also be the fuel that will trigger a whole range of new technologies and services such as billions of connected devices, autonomous cars, smart cities, AI, VR and AR. Early Deployments: There have been some commercial deployments of

JANUARY 2020

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5G networks in the United States, China and South Korea, but they have been relatively limited and haven’t been without their teething problems. The number of deployments is expected to increase significantly in the next 12 months.

The early trials of 5G have been in terms of interactive experiences at major sporting events in the form of AR and VR – with the technology being deployed at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea in 2018. The objective of the 5G trial was to power a series of immersive sporting experiences at the world-famous sporting event.

Other sporting events have since utilised 5G in terms of enhancing the experience for attendees such as the US Open. However, the Olympic Games in Tokyo gets underway later this year, and the event has been tipped as the first major sporting event that will really showcase the revolutionary impact 5G technology can have.

“5G will enable a fullymobile and connected society — unleashing human and technological possibility, and fueling business and financial opportunity,” said Asha Keddy, Vice President in the Technology, Systems Architecture & Client Group and General Manager of Next Generation and Standards at Intel.

“It will erode the boundaries between the physical and the digital to deliver personalised experiences and valuable

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services that will test the limits of our collective imaginations. 5G will take the industry beyond communications, bringing together wireless, computing and the cloud to create a unified technological foundation and a scalable global marketplace.”

Challenges: One of the major challenges for telecommunication operators remains investment in 5G. Telco’s are acutely aware of the fact that 5G is the future, but many failed to yield a ROI in relation to 4G - and are therefore somewhat reluctant to make a huge investment until concrete 5G use-cases have been established. In Europe the main challenge is the issue of spectrum, with many countries having 4 to 5 operators which results in a cannibalisation of both the spectrum and investment made.

In the context of the broader business world it is critical that enterprises are ready and fully prepared to take advantage of the new technology. For 5G to become a reality, businesses need to replace fixed-function equipment with virtualised software-defined networks.

Switching to the cloud will be vital as 5G relies so heavily on virtualisation.

The arrival of 5G will cause mass disruption and businesses must be prepared.

The new technology will enable businesses to unlock the full potential of the cloud,

which will allow them to gain new insights and to introduce new cloud-based applications.

As a result, they’ll be able to provide more reliable services for customers,” said Keddy.

Outlook: In terms of the Middle East, 2020 is set to be a historic year as Dubai hosts the region’s first ever EXPO. The UAE has promised that EXPO 2020 will be the ‘most connected’ place on earth with the futuristic festival lasting for six months from November 2020 until April 2021. Etisalat named EXPO 2020 as its first commercial customer of 5G in 2018, and it has been reported that attendees will be able to enjoy the impact of 5G through a range of interactive experiences that will be available onsite.

Both Etisalat and Ooredoo are already undertaking live 5G trials on speed, equipment, latency and beam steering, with commercial launches expected in 2020. The early launches are expected to be based on 3GPP Release 15 and be deployed in dense urban areas as mobile operators look to offer increased performance and supplement existing mobile broadband capacity.

5G is undoubtedly set to reshape our lives, whilst providing both significant opportunities and challenges for businesses.

While the 5G rollout won’t happen overnight – 2020 should finally represent the beginning of a new technological era.

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JANUARY 2020

COLUMN

GIORGIA GUANTARIO

KNEE-DEEP INTO DEEPFAKES Deputy Editor Giorgia Guantario takes a closer look at deepfakes, a fast-growing phenomenon that could become a threat to society in the new decade.

A

rtificial Intelligence has been the hot topic of 2019 – this vast and game changing technology has opened new doors for what organisations can achieve thanks to technology. However, with all the good, such as facial recognition or automation, also came some bad.

In the decade of fake news and misinformation, there has always been a general understanding that although social media posts, clickbait websites and text content in general were not to be fully trusted, videos and audios were safe from the rise of deception – that is until deepfakes entered the scene.

According to MerriamWebster, the term deepfake is “typically used to refer to a video that has been edited using an algorithm to replace the person in the original video with someone else (especially a public figure) in a way that makes the video look authentic.”

The fake in the word is pretty self-explanatory – these videos are not real. The deep comes from deep learning, a subset of artificial intelligence that utilises

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JANUARY 2020

different layers of artificial neural networks. Specifically, deepfakes employ two sets of algorithms, one to create the video, and the second to determine if it is fake. The first learns from the second to create a perfectly unidentifiable fake video.

Although the technology behind these videos is very fascinating, the improper use of deepfakes has raised questions and concerns, and its newfound mainstream status is not to be underestimated.

The beginning of the new decade saw TikTok’s parent company ByteDance under accusations of developing a feature, referred to as “Face Swap“, using deepfakes technology. ByteDance has denied the accusations, but the possibility still shows that deepfake technology is very likely to soon be available to everyone.

The most famous example is Chinese deepfakes app Zao, which superimposes a photo of the user’s face onto a person in a video or GIF. While Zao’s mainly faced privacy issues –the first version of the user agreement stated that people who uploaded their photos surrendered

intellectual property right to their face– the real concern stems from the use people will actually do of such a controversial technology if it were to become available to a wider audience. At the time, Chinese online payment system Alipay responded to fears over fraudulent use of Zao saying that the current facial swapping technology “cannot deceive [their] payment apps” – but this doesn’t mean that the technology is not evolving and couldn’t pose a threat in the future.

Another social network to make headlines in the first week of 2020 with relation to deepfakes is Snapchat – the company also decided to invest in its own deepfake technology. The social network bought deepfake maker AI Factory for US $166M and the acquisition resulted in a new Snapchat feature called “Cameos” that works in the same way deepfakes videos do – users can use their selfies to become part of a selection of videos and essentially create content that looks real, but that has never happened.

Deepfakes have been around for a while now – the most prevalent use of this technology

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is in pornography, which has seen a growing number of women, especially celebrities, becoming the protagonists of pornographic content without their consent. The trend started on Reddit, where pornographic deepfakes featuring the faces of actress Gal Gadot, singers Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande, amongst others, grew in popularity. Last year, deepfake pornography accounted for 96 percent of the 14678 deepfake videos online, according to a report by Amsterdam-based company Deeptrace.

The remaining four percent, although small, could be just as dangerous, and even change the global political and social landscape.

In response to Facebook’s decision to not take down the “shallowfake” (videos manipulated with basic editing tools or intentionally placed out of context) video of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appearing to be slurring her words, a team which included UK artist Bill Posters posted a deepfake video of Mark Zuckerberg giving an appalling speech that boasted his “total control of billions of people’s stolen data, all their secrets, their lives, their futures.”

The artists aim, they said, was to interrogate the power of new forms of computational propaganda.

Other examples of very credible deepfake videos see Barack Obama deliver a speech on the dangers of false information (the irony!), or in a much more worrying use of the technology, cybercriminals mimicking a CEO’s voice to demand a cash-transfer.

There is clearly a necessity to address deepfakes on a

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number of fronts to avoid them becoming a powerful tool of misinformation.

For starters, although the commodification of this technology can be frightening, it also raises people’s level of awareness, and puts them in a position to question the credibility of the videos and audio they’re watching or listening to. It is up to the watcher to check if videos are real or not, just as it is when it comes to fake news.

Moreover, the same technology that created the issue could be the answer to solving it. Last month, Facebook, in cooperation with Amazon, Microsoft and Partnership on AI, launched a competition called the “Deepfake Detection Challenge” to create automated tools, using AI technology, that can spot deepfakes. At the same time, the AI Foundation also announced they are building a

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The improper use of deepfakes has raised questions and concerns, and its newfound mainstream status is not to be underestimated.” deepfake detection tool for the general public.

Regulators have also started moving in the right direction to avoid the misuse of this technology. US Congress held its first hearing on deepfakes in June 2019, due to growing concerns over the impact deepfake could have on the upcoming US presidential elections; while social media platforms are under more and more pressure to take action against misinformation, which now includes deefake videos and audios.

JANUARY 2020

INSIGHT

BACK TO THE FUTURE API AND YOU KNOW IT

Cybercriminals know this.

More than ever, organisations need to focus on the API layer, particularly in terms of securing access to the business functions they represent.

One of the biggest issues is

Vincent Lavergne, RVP of System Engineering, F5 Networks

The word is out. Application programming interfaces (APIs) can

48

– have a notoriously poor track record of maintaining situational API awareness.

API security can be implemented directly in an application or, even better, in an API gateway.

overly broad permissions, which

An API gateway can further

means attacks through the API can

protect APIs with capabilities like

give bad actors visibility into

rate limiting (to prevent denial of

everything within the application

service attacks) and authorisation.

infrastructure. API calls are also

Authorisation narrows access to APIs

prone to the usual web request

by allowing access to specific API calls

pitfalls such as injections, credential

to only specified clients, usually

brute force, parameter tampering,

identified by tokens or API keys.

and session snooping.

An API gateway can also limit the

Visibility is another major and

HTTP methods used and log attempts

transform business models

pervasive problem. Organisations of

to abuse other methods so you’re

and directly generate revenue.

every stripe – including IT vendors

aware of attempted attacks.

HOW DEEP DOES FAKING NEED TO GET?

all-time low as faking continues

For critical tasks, organisations

to grow. For the last few years, we

have already started to put in

have seen an increase in business

place secondary controls to try and

email compromise (BEC), using

identify and stop fakes, be that

stolen trusted credentials to gain

BEC or other successful methods.

access to systems. As the concept

Yet as this space expands we will

of faking continues to broaden

need to look more broadly across

into video, audio, and other digital

both digital communications and

formats, we are seeing faking

processes as to how we validate to

move from simple spoofing into

reach the degree of trust required,

a complex web of lies that spans

else we become sceptical and work

multiple platforms. We can only

on the basis we simply don’t trust –

expect to see more complex, deeper

and thus limit the associated risks

fakes being created to trick and

and impact. With the scope of faking

The idea of a trusted digital

dupe users into doing things the

looking to show little abatement, we

contact or source is hitting an

adversary wants.

can only expect more of the latter.

YOUR NEXT PERSONAL ASSISTANT MAY BE A BOT

possible to give executives a virtual

Greg Day, VP & CSO, EMEA, Palo Alto Networks

AI-powered chatbots will make it personal assistant, automating time-consuming chores such as

Dave Wright, Chief Innovation Officer, ServiceNow

JANUARY 2020

Over the next year, advances in

booking business travel, scheduling

natural language understanding

meetings, and managing to-do lists.

will help companies to minimise,

Companies that deploy chatbots to

if not entirely eliminate, human

relieve people from these repetitive

involvement in a wide range of

tasks will realise significant

business processes.

productivity gains.

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IT leaders and experts share their thoughts on trends and predictions that will take centre stage in the upcoming year.

THE CLOUD IS COMING TO YOU

As businesses continue to move to

go beyond the marketing hype to

the cloud, a shift is occurring — the

delve into the potential impacts to

cloud is now coming to them. This is

succeed. Identifying the right use

known as distributed cloud, in which

cases, vendors and architectures is

public cloud services will be available

essential, but “Day 2” implications

in different physical locations while

are vitally important, too.

the provider remains responsible for

Ross Winser, Senior Director Analyst, Gartner

cycle of the hardware involved be

and evolution of the services. The

managed? What SLA is required

distributed model is likely to appeal

for the solution, and how can it

to organisations that have been

practically be fulfilled? Answering

constrained by the physical location

these questions will help I&O leaders

of cloud services in the past.

decide if distributed cloud is the right

However, this trend is still in its

choice for their needs as it becomes

early stages, and I&O leaders must

more widely available.

for personal data privacy and

further complexity in protecting personal

protection. What started with the

data as global trends toward stricter or

European Union’s General Data

new data privacy regulations continue

Protection Regulation (GDPR) and

to gain momentum, making it more

is now transcending into other local

difficult for global companies distributed

regulatory frameworks such as the

across multiple markets to navigate.

California Consumer Privacy Act Justin Dustzadeh, Chief Technology Officer, Equinix

For example, how will the life

the operation, governance, updates

In 2020, Equinix predicts IT

(CCPA), among many others, and is

strategies will increasingly focus

putting more pressure on enterprises

on data privacy, with continued

to ensure data compliance. In fact,

application of the secure discovery,

THE RISE OF DATA REGULATIONS

there are 121 countries that have

classification and encryption of

either already announced or are

personally identifiable information

in the process of formulating data

(PII). Equinix believes HSMs will be

Today, many enterprises buy and

sovereignty laws that prevent the

an integral part of a data security

sell data in order to get a competitive

movement of their citizens’ personal

architecture and strategy for encrypting

advantage, but these enterprises must

data outside the country’s boundaries.

PII and providing an exceptionally high

In 2020, Equinix believes we will see

level of security for safeguarding data.

adhere to government regulations

THE RE-EMERGENCE OF OBJECT STORAGE

Assaad El Saadi, Regional Director – Middle East, Pure Storage

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Object Storage has shaken off its

sets. As applications are developed

roots as cheap-and-deep cold

or re-platformed for cloud-friendly

storage and has started to emerge

architectures, Object Storage will

as the new form of primary storage.

become the natural choice for

Originally conceived to support the

enabling applications to decouple

management of extremely large

and disaggregate applications and

datasets (beyond what traditional file

their compute resources from a pool

systems could handle), Object Storage

of shared storage. This pattern has

has become the storage standard

taken hold not only in custom SW

for cloud-native applications - for

development but also with large

its ability to support highly parallel

software vendors such as Splunk and

and distributed access to large data

Vertica.

JANUARY 2020

49

INTERVIEW

NXN

TECHNOLOGICAL INTERSECTIONS Khaled Charif, Director of Technology and Innovation at NXN shares his predictions for the next year and NXN’s plans for 2020.

Khaled Charif, Director of Technology and Innovation, NXN

W

place – in the case of AR, it is the

will take centre

ability to put together contextually

stage in 2020?

relevant data in real time, push it

the concept of ‘Digital Platforms’

There are always

to a single individual, or device, in

for several years, these are the

real-time, and finally visualise it for

platforms that integrate relevant

with a broad array of technology

consumption.

technologies within a customer’s

Once we have that, then we can

environment, inject new functional

dynamic technology landscape;

talk about ‘everything-AR’ – from

capabilities into the mix, tap into

so, of course, we look at the

simple wayfinding applications, to

the cloud when and where it is

Gartner’s and IDC’s here, as well

assisted learning, and all the way to

applicable to do so, and serve

as academic research, and where

decision-support applications.

as a launchpad for digital use-

we talk about hybrid, or even

cases. We combine this concept

distributed clouds (the next era of

How should organisations

of Digital Platforms with our

cloud computing), we also have

transform their strategies to

Master-Planning, Technology,

increasingly more powerful edge-

cope with the new technological

and Data Strategy engagement

computing technologies coming

evolution of the next decade? What

methodologies, to simplify and

into the light.

role can NXN play in this?

accelerate our customer’s Digital

First of all, the ability to incubate

Transformation journeys – from

the intersection of multiple

nascent technologies needs to

planning all the way to execution.

technologies, the new and the

be tackled – incubation for the

relatively new – these intersections

purpose of testing, validation,

What is NXN’s primary business

are even more promising than

and leveraging these technologies

objective for 2020?

looking at individual technologies

within a given context. That needs

From a technology perspective,

in isolation. For example, looking at

to be done in an effective way in

our focus remains around bringing

where and how AI, IoT, and edge-

terms of cost, time, and people

practical Digital Transformation

computing can intersect, essentially

– essentially finding a balance

to Cities & Districts, Governments,

pushing Machine Learning

between over-investing into

and select verticals – the emphasis

capabilities into IoT edge devices,

initiatives that do not materialise

on ‘practical’ here means following

and moving from an internet of

on one side, and falling behind the

a use-case driven approach rather

simple sensors and actuators, to and

curve on the other.

than a pure technology-driven

The actual trend here is exploring

internet of intelligent, autonomous

So what becomes important,

one. The role of technology here is

is being able to introduce new

not undermined, on the contrary,

technologies, integrate them into

it is emphasised, but within the

that are ready to jump from

relevant use-cases, tap into the

context of projecting a multitude

early beginnings into practical

right sources of data, and do all of

of candidate technologies onto a

applications and then further into

that in a gradual fashion – gradual,

given customer’s environment,

mass adoption – an example is how

because within a given organisation,

and coming up with the right mix

Extended Reality, AR, VR becomes

many things have to change around

of technology enablers that are

part of the multi-experience

newly introduced technologies

needed, and when and how they

concept. For these jumps to happen,

in order to help them flourish, in

can be leveraged for impactful

many pieces have to fall into

terms of policies, people, skill-sets,

applications and use-cases.

‘things’ around us.

We also have some technologies

JANUARY 2020

At NXN, we have been advocating

many trends, ever-changing, disciplines, it’s a very busy and

50

day-to-day operation, etc.

hich technologies

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