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Technology Partners
60 Mins Show dates: 20-24 October 2013, Dubai World Trade Centre
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Exhibition hours: 11am -6pm
Hamdan Bin Mohammed eUniversity shares latest ‘smart learning’ technologies at GITEX
WHAT’S INSIDE
Hamdan Bin Mohammed eUniversity (HBMeU) has showcased its latest ‘Smart Learning’ technologies during its participation at GITEX Technology Week 2013. As part of the Dubai Smart Government’s stand at the region’s top ICT event, HBMeU shed light on the high-level academic programs and learning initiatives it provides, including its advanced “virtual classroom”, which enables learners to easily access virtual classrooms from anywhere via their smart phones or tablets. Such approaches reaffirm the University’s efforts to boost the flexibility and quality of e-learning.
Seagate launches Ultra Slim Drives at GITEX 2013
EMC, Computerlinks honour topperforming partners The Fairmont Hotel Dubai this morning played host to an EMC and Computerlinks partner breakfast, at which the pair honoured two of their top-performing partners in the
Middle East. Computerlinks is EMC’s largest distributor in the region, hence the jointly held event, said 4 CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
ICT Fund announces funding of Khalifa University project
Shifra focuses on security and mobility at GITEX
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EMC ... Mohammed Amin, Senior Vice President for Turkey, Africa and the Middle East, EMC, as he delivered a welcome note to the large gathering of partners. A statement by Computerlinks CEO Stefan Link also made a statement thanking partners for their support. Awards were then dished out to two of the region’s topperforming partners. Firstly, Mideast Data Systems (MDS) Oman was called up – the solutions provider had secured the top spot for highest revenue earned this year, and was presented with an award and a gift. “We’ve worked hard to reach this stage, and we’ve shown
“I love that we’ve been awarded for incremental growth – we’re spreading our base, which means ongoing business. Guys who have begun a relationship with us can come back in a year and get upgrades.”
Ajman Mazahreh, Co-Founder and CEO, STS
great commitment to reach this level of growth, and we’re feeling great today because we’re being recognised,” said Said Al-Mandhari, Deputy General Manager, MDS, who accepted the award. Next to be called up was STS, which had been recognised as the Middle East partner that showed the highest level of incremental growth over the past year. The Jordan-based reseller had impressed by securing a large number of new EMC customers, and spreading its widening its customer base across the region. Ajman Mazahreh, Co-Founder and CEO, STS, accepted the award as well as a gift of a Rolex
watch on behalf of his firm. “Though it’s an expensive gift, I think the value behind its sentiment is even better,” he said after receiving the award. “And I love that we’ve been awarded for incremental growth – we’re spreading our base, which means ongoing business. Guys who have begun a relationship with us can come back in a year and get upgrades.” While Jordan is surrounded by a number of politically unstable countries, Mazahreh said that he believed the situation in Jordan was promising. He said that he foresees a bright year ahead for EMC and STS, and that he’d be hoping to come back next year to pick up another Rolex.
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Seagate launches Ultra Slim Drives at GITEX 2013 Seagate, a global storage services provider, is showcasing a range of external and internal storage solutions at GITEX Technology Week 2013, some of which include developments in SSD, SSHD and NAS technologies. The company launched the Seagate Slim drives and business NAS solutions for SMEs, and is also showcasing its Wireless Plus and Seagate Central wireless storage devices. “The challenge now is to add value to technologies without massively increasing costs,” said Sofocles Socratous, Senior Director, EMEA Channel & Emerging Markets, Seagate. “Seagate’s Slim Drives have
advanced to be 5mm broad this year as against the 7mm we presented at the last GITEX. “It is a sign that technology is going to challenge manufacturers’ creativity in the upcoming years.” Automatic backups, Wi-Fi streaming, advanced mobile apps and integration with other media services are amongst the key features that Seagate products offer. “The bring-your-own-device (BYOD) phenomenon has ensured companies now produce technology that can sustain and retain the storage space required in current markets,” Socratous concluded.
Smartworld shouts about airport project Smartworld, a leading systems integrator and next generation ICT service provider in the Middle East, is showcasing its latest range of ICT technology solutions at the ongoing GITEX Technology Week 2013 in Dubai. Hamza Achour, Marketing Executive, Smartworld, said the company has set a four-point objective for its presence at the event. Besides achieving exposure, informing the market about their latest developments and generating more projects, the onsite team also seeks to network with potential clients and create future project opportunities.
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Syed Shabab Ahsan, Systems Engineer, Smartworld, informed the company has completed the installation of their latest Smart Airport System (SAS) at the Al Maktoum International Airport (AMIA) and the Gigabit Passive Optical Network in Dubai World Central. “Besides the UAE market, we are also keen on expanding our product range to the other GCC countries with potential for airport development, and we hope we can continue working with the RTA as we have so far,” Ahsan added. Smartworld is exhibiting at the Huawei stand.
ICT Fund announces funding of Khalifa University project ICT Fund, an initiative by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), which supports the national ICT sector through financing innovative projects in the UAE, today signed an agreement with Khalifa University to fund Dh1,045,000 towards a new R&D project called “reCaptcha”. The project aims to digitise Arabic manuscripts and improve Arabic content on websites used by millions in the Arab region. It will also enable search of Arabic text, including text of manuscripts and books, magazines and newspapers and any material of historic value. “reCaptcha” also aims to facilitate the digitisation process through the participation of Internet users in the Arab world, as well as protection of Arabiclanguage web sites from online threats.
In addition, the project will cover the digitisation of Arabic text from national libraries to preserve old Arabic manuscripts that can be searchable via the Internet. This will also serve as a guide for searching for specific Arabic text or phrases within the scanned images of the manuscripts as they become available online. Commenting on the project, Dr. Abdulqader Al Khayat, Head of the Board of Trustees, ICT Fund, said, “The importance of the strategic partnership that we share with Khalifa University
is in line with the vision outlined by the leadership of the UAE which calls for close partnerships with academic and technical institutions to work together to drive the development of a knowledge economy. This also translates into developing national ICT related projects that highlight the UAEs leading position in the ICT sector while giving students the chance to excel in practical disciplines related to ICT studies.” He added: “One of our main objectives at ICT Fund is to promote and spread technical knowledge amongst the UAEs academic community to further enhance the country’s education system. We do this though partnerships with academic institutions such as Khalifa University by supporting projects that showcase student creativity and innovation which are the
main pillars for research and development. Furthermore, we also hope that through applied research, such projects will lead to the development of new solutions and products that will ultimately benefit the UAE economy.” Projects such as “reCaptcha” are in line with the “Arabic Digital Content” initiative that was launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in line with the UAE Vision 2021. The vision aims to establish the UAE as an Arabic language hub and in order to maintain the Emirati national identity for future generations and to promote and protect Arabic language usage in society. The announcement took place on the sidelines of GITEX Technology Week 2013.
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Shifra focuses on security and mobility at GITEX Study finds that the UAE has some of the highest mobile penetration rates in the world. Middle East enterprises are becoming increasingly aware of the advantage and strategic value of mobility to enhance business. As a result of this interest, UAE-based value added distributor Shifra, is focusing on transitioning organisations to the new era of mobility at GITEX Technology Week 2013. “This year our focus for GITEX is on how organisations can use mobility to its advantage in a highly secure environment,” said Ahmad Elkhatib, Managing Partner, Shifra. “This year we are showcasing different technologies that help enterprises achieve this goal.” At the moment the UAE has some of the highest mobile penetration rates in the world. The UAE Telecoms Regulatory Authority (TRA) in its Annual Sector Review said revenues generated in the Emirates by mobile services reach over AED 20.4 billion. According to IBM Tech Trend Report, 69 percent of companies will invest in mobile over the next two years. “There is widespread interest from enterprises for mobility. Mobile is contributing to channel growth in the region. We are
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“GITEX is the one time in the year where the channel, customers and vendors come together from across the region. It is a great platform to discuss trends, innovations and to interact with customers and industry specialists.”
Ahmad Elkhatib, Managing Partner, Shifra
seeing a rise in awareness in the information security industry as channel partners are looking to bring on security products into their portfolio,” Elkhatib added. Shifra is representing many vendors this year, including Aerohive, a Wireless LAN access provider, Bradford Networks for BYOD and Network Access Control, Centrify for Privileged Access Management, Proofpoint for Email Security and Archiving, Gemalto for Strong Authentication, and Stonesoft for Next Generation Network Security. “GITEX is the one time in the year where the channel, customers and vendors come together from across the region. It is a great platform to discuss trends, innovations and to interact with customers and industry specialists,” Elkhatib said.
Highlights
Publisher Dominic De Sousa, COO Nadeem Hood, Commercial Director Rajashree R Kumar, Group Editor Jeevan Thankappan Editors Ben Rossi, Tom Paye, Janees Reghelini, James Dartnell Circulation Manager Rajeesh M, Production Manager James Tharian, Senior Designers Analou Balbero, Glenn Roxas, Digital Services Manager Tristan Troy Magma Web Coordinator Jarris Pedroso Photographers Jay Colina, Abdul Kader
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