Future It Summit 2017 by GEC Media Group

FUTURE IT

SUMMIT 2017 CATCH THE TREND

A SU PPLE M E NT OF E NTE R PR ISE CHAN N E LS M EA

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FUTURE IT SUMMIT 2017Horizons are broadened! n B Y: A N U S H R E E D I X I T < A N U S H R E E @ G E C M E D I A G R O U P. C O M >

As unique as the towering magnanimity of the Burj Al Arab, the Future IT Summit 2017 made a mark of its own as a niche IT summit to look forward to. The Future IT Summit 2017, held at the Burj Al Arab Hotel on 14th March opened doors to an overwhelming crowd in its third edition. A great line-up of speakers, country driven case studies and presentations, the Titans Badge of Honor and the Catalyst awards summed up to help the Future IT Summit 2017 create a niche

benchmark in the region. The Al Falak Ballroom was abuzz with the innovations, experiences and expertise that bespoke the massive transformation that the region is going through. The expert case studies and presentations truly reflected the adoption and trust of the region in the ‘Cloud’. The Future IT Country landscape presentations from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Sultanate of Oman, Kingdom of Bahrain, Qatar and UAE testified

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the maturity of the region in living up to the emerging reality of digital transformation. Emphasizing on the crucial role played by the CIOs in leading their enterprises to the forefront of innovation, the Titans ‘Badge of Honor’ celebrated the transformative CIOs who walked that extra mile, as a part of the first anniversary of ‘The Titans’— a premium CIOpedia, brought to you by Enterprise Channels MEA. ë

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KSA

FUTURE IT LANDSCAPE_KSA —DR. HANI ALZAID CO-FOUNDER & DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR CYBERSECURITY TECHNOLOGY (C4C) & COUNSELOR AND GENERAL SUPERVISOR OF IT AT SHURA COUNCIL

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MICROSOFT

CLOUD ECONOMICS_A BIRD’S EYE VIEW OF GCC CLOUD READINESS —KEVIN ASHBY APPLICATION PLATFORM MARKETING MANAGER,MICROSOFT GULF

Kevin Ashby’s presentation focused on the cloud platforms for Digital transformation and how cloud can enable in changing core business innovation. He emphasized on the challenges that Cloud innovations brings to IT by highlighting three important questions. How do I integrate with my existing IT investments? What about my heterogeneous, complex IT landscape? What about security and compliance? He also stressed on the fact that three major trends are converging; Big Data &IoT, Cloud and Artificial Intelligence. “We all know there is a lot of data in the world. And the amount is growing exponentially. In fact, there is so much data, it’s virtually impossible to wrap your brain around it. IDC projects that the digital universe will reach 40 zettabytes (ZB) by 2020.” He also drove home the fact that, Data is now the key strategic business asset. Everything that’s happening in the world around us - every purchase, upload, shipment, tweet, keystroke, sensor reading and customer interaction - is producing incredibly rich data that can help us create new experiences, new efficiencies, new business models and even new inventions.

The present and future of ICT in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia looks promising. The National Transformation program 2020 was developed to help fulfill “Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.” It establishes strategic objectives that are based on the Vision and addresses its challenges through 2020. KSA aims to stand at the world stage as it plans to raise its E-Government Index ranking to be among the top five nations. Having already started this journey, the KSA has already linked 140 government entities to GSN (Government Secure Network) and also made 212 government data enquiry services available. KSA has become one of the most connected countries in the world as the internet global connectivity capacity has increased by 114%. According to Dr. Hani Al Zaid, ICT investments in KSA were SAR 17.83 billion and it continues to grow as KSA fulfills its ICT Vision 2030. Dr. Hani ALZaid, has been instrumental in ReDeveloping, approving, updating, and executing the SHURA cybersecurity plan; in which vision, mission, and goals are developed in order to ensure effective secure communication between SHURA and DIWAN in one hand, and between concerned SHURA departments in the other hand.

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The need to deliver 24/7 access to data and applications has never been more critical. Gregg said, Predictions show that there will be almost 21 billion connected devices by the end of 2020. The need to deliver 24/7 access to data and applications has never been more critical. Companies want to ensure business continuity and thus cope with the new demands of their customers and employees to remain competitive today. To meet these parameters, companies are implementing highly virtualized modern data centers by investing in modern technologies such as virtualization, storage and the Cloud.But Veeam Availability Suite isn’t limited to on-prem and the private cloud, of course. Through our Veeam Cloud Connect technology, which I alluded to earlier, Veeam lets you leverage the managed cloud as well, via our VCSP program, which facilitates getting backups and replicas offsite to a service provider, and broadening our solution to embrace the managed cloud as well as the private cloud.

VEEAM

CLOUD BACKUP AND DRAAS —GREGG PETERSEN REGIONAL DIRECTOR, MEA, SAARC AT VEEAM SOFTWARE

Sheikh Salman bin Mohammed Al Khalifa managed the National Government Network and the organisation became the service provider for applications for multiple organisations including E-government and the establishment of the Government CERT. The most significant project was the strategic initiative executed by the organisation is to execute the IT shared services. Its goal was to consolidate and restructure all government IT systems to optimise its performance and efficiency, as well as improve integration between government agencies. He also established the government’s private cloud which is the foundation for the consolidation project in government agencies Bahrain has been one of the fastest growing markets in the region when it comes to the adoption of the latest and newest technologies. The Information &eGovernment Authority portal www.bahrain. bh aims to provide a one-stop shop to facilitate the utilisation and access of various government services available electronically. The new National eGovernment Strategy works on achieving excellence for the next generation of government operations through upgrading and providing high quality services in an effective manner, encouraging the active participation of users in collaboration with all partners and establishing the culture of innovation and initiative.

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BAHRAIN

FUTURE IT LANDSCAPE-BAHRAIN —SHAIKH SALMAN BIN MOHAMED ALKHALIFA GENERAL DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AT INFORMATION AND EGOV AUTHORITY, BAHRAIN

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OMAN

FUTURE IT LANDSCAPE_OMAN —ABDULLAH HAMOOD AL BARWANI DIRECTOR OF INFRASTRUCTURE DIVISION, ITA, OMAN

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HPE

MOBILE ENGAGEMENT —AHMAD EL SOUFI SE MANAGER, ARUBA-HPE

Ahmad’s presentation delved into the Mobile engagement and analytics with special emphasis on Aruba Meridian and ALE. “We spend more than 90% of our time indoors. And 70% of us have smartphones we carry into the venues we visit. Therefore, it’s no surprise public venues such as retailers, hospitals and hotel are looking to engage with these visitors. In 2013 alone, 27% of companies were expected to implement location-based mobile marketing and by 2017 this number will grow to 52%. This trend will only continue to grow. The venues who don’t get started now investigating what kind of mobile engagement is right for them may find themselves left behind. According to him, the key challenges across the verticals that one should take into consideration are; • Avoid shopper abandonment & increase sales per visit • Prevent poor online reviews & improve loyal customer satisfaction • Avoid frustration for wayfinding& increase advertising revenue • Improve patient satisfaction & free up staff for critical needs

ITA works with a vision to transform the Sultanate of Oman into a sustainable Knowledge Society by leveraging Information and Communication Technologies to enhance government services, enrich businesses and empower individuals. The key priorities of e.Oman are creating effective employment opportunities, effective competitive private sector, and a non-oil economy that are reliant on 3 key pillars; Omanization, Privatization and Diversifaction respectively. According to Barwani, the five major developments that will redefine Oman would be Oman Government Network, G-Cloud, Public key infrastructure, Integration platform and ePayment gateway.

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CISCO

CLOUD VIRTUALIZATION â&#x20AC;&#x201D;MAZEN ABOU NAJM DATA CENTER & CLOUD TECHNICAL SALES LEAD CISCO SYSTEMS

Organizations around the world are expected to triple the adoption of modern, automated networks over the next two years. To accelerate the journey to these digital-ready networks, Cisco is introducing new technologies that allow customers to virtualize and secure their networks. MazenAboutNajm is a Data Center & Cloud Technical Sales Lead at Cisco Systems in Dubai working closely with customers and systems integrators in the UAE and the GCC. He specializes in emerging technologies such as Software Defined Networking, HyperConverged and Compute Infrastructures, DC Automation and Orchestration, and Big Data and Analytics. Mazen has been with Cisco since 2010 and holds the DC CCIE certification.

Through various strategic joint-ventures and subsidiaries, Nakilat offers a comprehensive range of maritime services such as ship repair, ship building and offshore fabrication as well as towage, agency and warehousing solutions for vessels in Qatari waters. Hamad talked about how various ICT innovations are penetrating the landscape. Government policies and the registration process, at 20%, is the top inhibitor to growth in the ICT industry cited by survey respondents. Currently, close to 550 companies providing ICT products and services are estimated to be operating in Qatar 58% of the ICT enterprises in Qatar have a presence only in Qatar, while the remaining ICT enterprises have a regional or an international presence ictQATAR is working in collaboration with other government agencies, telecommunications providers, content providers, property developers and consumers to build a high-speed broadband network in the country.

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QATAR

FUTURE IT LANDSCAPE- QATAR â&#x20AC;&#x201D;HAMAD SUWAID INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGER, QATAR GAS TRANSPORTATION COMPANY (NAKILAT)

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UAE

FUTURE IT LANDSCAPE_UAE —ENG. IBRAHIM YAQOB ALI DIRECTOR OF STRATEGY AND EXCELLENCE DEPARTMENT, DUBAI MUNICIPALITY

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CTM360

CLOUD SECURITY —MIRZA ASRAR BAIG FOUNDER AND CEO, CTM360

Cloud Security - A new perspective for Cyber Resilience & Vigilance “Dependable Security as a Service” A cyber Attack is composed of multiple “ATTACK VECTORS” where an attack initiates from the “CLOUD”, will traverse over the “CLOUD”, may reside in the “CLOUD”, may conclude in a day or many years or may just continue……We Don’t need to do more but rather do differently 1. Redefine Security Management 2. Leverage Collaboration Mr. MirzaAsrarBaig is a serial entrepreneur and visionary businessbuilder who is the founder and CEO of CTM360, a Cyber Threat Management company (Bahrain), and IT Matrix, an Information Security company (Saudi Arabia). Furthermore, with his vision of a Cyber Threat Management center in GCC, he has initiated multiple R&D initiatives and regional collaboration efforts that have resulted in a spin-off, CTM360, based out of Bahrain. His team has developed a very comprehensive Cyber Threat Management System that currently services 25 of the top 50 GCC banks. CTM360 manages in excess of 30000 unique cyber incidents. In addition to the banks, CTM360 also caters to: 3 of the largest Oil & Gas / Petrochemical producers, 2 Skytrax #1 rated “Five Star” Airlines, 2 of the region’s largest Sovereign Wealth Funds, leading healthcare clinics, retailers and conglomerates.

According to Ibrahim Yaqoob Ali Naseer, Director for strategy and corporate excellence department, Dubai Municipality – Dubai is one of the seven Emirates that make the United Arab Emirates. And it is the second largest by area, measuring 4114 square kilometres, coming second only to Abu Dhabi. He also added that Vision 2021 is the vision they dare to achieve. The Dubai Municipality vision is focused on providing a happy, sustainable and healthy living environment for the people of the UAE. By 2021,Dubai will become a hub for creative individuals. In 2015, Dubai was ranked 1 st largest in the world in terms of the number of tourists. Transforing Dubai Smartly; The Key takeways were; n Improve services & processes; n 100% Smart Transformation -According to DSG standards; Services are reachable from anywhere, anytime using any device; Enterprise application build focusing on customer needs n G2G services; Due to successful implementation of Complex Engineering Tenders project, many other Government entities seeks cooperation with the Dubai Municipality

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PANEL DISCUSSION The main objective of the panel discussion was to allow participants of diverse verticals, IT expertise and policy experience to share their perspectives on the challenges and actions needed to advance the implementation of cloud with a view to deepen the process of involvement and commitment by all IT vendors, solution providers, distributors and stakeholders. As the more novel 3rd platform technologies creep in, the agility required to enhance core technology service delivery depends on the cloud implementation architecture and the

investment patterns. So is this region strategically sound to be called as a ‘Cloud-ready’ region? Has the implementation of cloud and the investments in line with the conversation that we have in the region? If yes, then how; If no, then why? Themed around this question—the panel discussion addressed the enterprise solutions and operations based on the public, private and

VENKATESH MAHADEVAN, HEAD OF IT AT DUBAI INVESTMENTS AND GM OF TECHSOURCE

THE PANEL WAS MODERATED BY RAJESH PRASAD. Rajesh is a senior Management Consultant, seasoned and honed with more than two decades of experience advising clients across the globe in public and private sector engagements, 18 years of which has encompassed Big 4 roles supporting multinational clients in the Middle East. —RAJESH PRASAD SENIOR MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT

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hybrid cloud that are mandate in today’s business ecosystem to deliver real business outcomes rather than spend time and resources on IT service delivery. As 2020 nears, most continue to accomplish dedicated IT assets and many are leveraging virtualization technology for private cloud platforms. The panel also discussed the best practices and experiences of CIOs and CTOs in migrating to the cloud and the journey in its course. ë

ALIASGAR BOHARI, DIRECTOR IT, ZULEKHA HOSPITALS

ASHITH PIRIYATTIATH, GROUP HEAD OF IT, AL MASAH CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

GREGG PETERSEN, REGIONAL DIRECTOR, MEA AND SAARC, VEEAM SOFTWARE

HUSSAIN AL KHALSAN, COMMERCIAL BANK OF DUBAI, DEPUTY HEAD OF IT RISK & GRC

YEZDI DARA RABAD, REGIONAL CYBER SECURITY ARCHITECT – SOC & GRC, GBM

TITANS BADGE OF HONOR

A year back, that is 2016, when technological advancement was sky high with emerging technologies making their way into mainstream enterprises, Enterprise Channels MEA initiated to carve a niche in the market by introducing ‘The Titans’. The Titans is our CIO/CEO focused magazine, which we fondly address as our premium CIO’pedia. While novel technologies were entering the mainstream business, we built a bridge in the market, between the solution providers and the end-users. We put up a clear picture of where the technology is coming from and where it is going to…. Rather than sticking to mere number games, percentages or reports.

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TOP 10 HAPPIEST IT COMPANIES TO WORK FOR IN THE UAE 2017 ABOUT THE INITIATIVE AND VISION

Introducing for the 1st time in the UAE , “Top Ten Best IT Companies to Work for in 2017” , by Accent Infomedia ( The fastest growing Technology publication and event company) , a one of its kind recognition in the region for the IT Fraternity that would celebrate the ‘Exuberance’ of the people working in an organization. This special recognition felicitates and recognizes both fast-growing & established companies in UAE that offer tremendous career advancement opportunities together with leading-edge employee perks and benefits and most importantly valuable employee engagement. Engagement, Empowerment and Success go hand in hand. Better engagement means better productivity. Companies whose employees are engaged perform better than companies whose employees are not by over 200%. When employees are engaged at work, they feel a connection with the company. They believe that the work they’re doing is important and therefore work harder. By simply changing the employee engagement we can change our IT community, workplace & company result too. Let’s build a better connected community. As modern corporate, we spend a good part of our life at our workplaces. Gone are the days when workplace was just a ‘place’ to go to. Today, your workplace is more of a training and learning stage for you, rather than a mere nest for earning your bread and butter. Its symbiotic! Happy Organizations create Happy Employees!

EVOLUTION OF A YOUNG WORKFORCE It is always good to see a young workforce that is happy in what they are doing. The Top 10 Happiest IT companies to work for brought out a very good graph that showed the involvement of young workforce taking charge of the ‘Happiness’. Needless to say, the Ministry of Happiness also has one of the youngest member on its board.

Age group

Response %

22 - 35

66%

36 - 45

18%

46 - 55

55 - 65

WORK ENGAGEMENT Before you are married to your work, it is of course a mandate that you are â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;engagedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to it. If an employee is not engaged in what he/she is doing; if he doing the work for the sake of doing it; if there are no ideas shared. This aspect of the survey carefully looked into how much an employee is involved in his work model, that simultaneously also showed how much an employer helped him in enjoying what he is doing. 24%

25%

24%

24% 23%

23%

22%

23%

24%

23%

22%

WORK ENGAGEMENT

22% 21% 21%

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CAREER DEVELOPMENT Regardless of how many career trainings or vocational guidance classes that you attend, it is of minimal significance until you are face to face on the grounds of duty. There is always a supportive environment behind making a career-needy person to a careerfocused person. The survey took a close look into how the employees of the companies saw their careers shaping in the years to come and how well defined their career aspirations were in the organization. 14%

13%

12%

12% 10%

11% 9%

12%

12% 10%

11%

10%

8% 6%

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

4% 2% 0%

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RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT This is an era that is defined by ‘Relationships’. As a modern corporate, it is all about how to safeguard your existing relations while reaching out to new or potentials ones. Be it in your workplace, or with a customer or reaching out to emerging markets. The survey identified the mindset of the organizations that nurtured the culture of ‘Relationship management’ amongst the employees and how well they were groomed in the process. 22%

21%

20%

20% 20%

19%

20% RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

19%

19% 18%

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COMPENSATIONS & BENEFITS At the end of the day, it is a known fact that ‘money’ drives the game. How passionately an employee works, the attitude that he has towards his work, the goal that he sets for the years to come and whatever long term vision he carves is dependent on how well taken care of the employee is, financially. The Top 10 IT companies that bagged the title were some of the leaders when it came to employee satisfaction in salaries, basic compensations and other allowances. 25%

21%

20%

23%

22%

21%

20%

22%

23%

19%

22%

15%

COMPENSATIONS & BENEFITS

10% 5% 0%

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‘Enterprise Channels continues to be at its innovative best with the introduction of the ‘Top Ten IT Companies’ award. And it’s a true honor for StorIT to be the recipient of the award!’

-MANJU MATHEW, STORIT

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“As a travel technology company it’s important to build an environment that fosters innovation and creativity, and our growth and prosperity would not be possible without our dedicated team.”This is a wonderful recognition from our employees, and also from Enterprise Channels MEA.”

“GBM is honored to be recognized as one of the top employers in the region and will continue to advance its agenda to be an employer of choice in the coming years”

“Sophos has a vision to support its 21st century workforce with leading-edge HR initiatives. This award is a testimony of our world class HR that nurtures a superior level of employee satisfaction and engagement.”

-MAMOUN HMEDAN, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF WEGO MIDDLE EAST, NORTH AFRICA AND INDIA.

-SHAWKI HUSSAIN, VP –HR, GBM

-HARISH CHIB, VP MEA, SOPHOS.

WORK ENVIRONMENT Fancy furniture, attractive wallpapers and tip top floors can definitely draw a candidate to the office environment. That of course goes into the bigger picture. But how well an employee gels and attaches himself to the organization is based on the environment that nurtures him; that makes him a team member from an employee; that makes him a thinker rather than a target-chaser. 26% 25%

25%

24%

24% 23%

23%

24% 23%

23%

WORK ENVIRONMENT

22% 22% 21%

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STRIKING THE PERFECT GENDER BALANCE This is definitely not a judgment! But the polls definitely raise an alarm on the modern workforce. Of late, we have seen many organizations take up the initiative of promoting a ‘female workforce’. This of course is not demeaning the male workforce, but about creating equal opportunities for talents to grow and thrive.

18% Female 73

56% Male 227

“To succeed we believe in happy employees It’s not just a company, its family and its hours of work invested But we always manage to do it with a smile.”

“We are proud to be recognized by Enterprise Channels MEA as one of the Top 10 IT Companies to work for in 2017. Inspired and satisfied employees make our customers and partners around the world successful “

“We truly believe that creating an atmosphere where employees are genuinely happy and excited about where they work and what they do is our initial target as a management. Please be happy! It is the year of Given “

“This award is a testament to our people-centric workplace practices. At Spire Solutions, we set the bar high for our employees and give them a rewarding culture that actively encourages creativity and promotes innovation.”

“We will continue our mission of educating enterprises in the Middle East about the criticality of making ‘Availability’ the starting point of their digital transformation strategy so that they become ‘AlwaysOn’ enterprises.”

-OMAR SOUDODI, CEO , PAYFORT

- FADI KANAFANI, REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA AT NETAPP.

- ASMA MOHAMED AHMAD, CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES & ADMINISTRATION OFFICER, TECHSOURCE

- SAVITA RAJAN, HR MANAGER AT SPIRE SOLUTIONS

-GREGG PETERSEN, REGIONAL DIRECTOR, SAARC AND MEA, VEEAM

JASSIM HAJI, GULF AIR

“Another successful and memorable event with Future IT Summit. It was certainly a pleasure to participate and attend such a unique event. Networking and sharing with other IT executives is priceless and help to shape the IT realm of this region.”

MARIO FOSTER, AL NABOODAH GROUP ENTERPRISE

“Once again, the organizers of the Future IT Summit has proven their ability to keep the event subjects and discussions at the cutting edge of technology in a nice and short way without having the event going on for multiple days”

ALI ASGAR BOHARI,

SUREN VEDANTHAM,

“Learned speakers and excellent presentation combined with ideal atmosphere for business networking and award ceremony makes it a memorable event.”

“I would like to congratulate Enterprise Channels on hosting another successful event which brings the IT fraternity together for a fabulous evening to share ideas with domain experts and celebrate the achievements of the industry.”

ASHITH PIRIYATTIATH,

SHYAM KESARWANI,

ZULEKHA HOSPITALS

AL MASAH CAPITAL

“One of the best events to Cherish forever…. Thanks to the organizing team to provide the wonderful opportunity to Meet the peers, Techno crats and for the visionary analysis of different countries in the region.”

RAK BANK

YAVUZ KAYA,

HAMAD SUWAID,

IT SERVICES MANAGER / DHL

“Future IT Summit 2017 was a great opportunity to get and share information and catching the trends such as IoT, Cloud computing, and so forth. It was for sure worthwhile attending the summit along with full of networking opportunities”

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STORIT

“It was good initiative from the organizers to bring IT experts from the region under single platform and talk about innovation and technological advancement. Look forward to more such events in future.”

NAKILAT

“The event served as a good platform to interact with industry peers and share ideas on cloud implementation within organizations. It not only value-adds to the digital transformation efforts of companies, but also recognizes them for their advancements in the field.”

THE CRITICAL

INFRASTRUCTURE FORUM 2017 DEC 2017

THE NEXUS OF GCC COUNTRIES FOR FUTURE ECONOMY Unveiling the investments, roadmap, technolgies and key infrastructure pillars that put GCC on the map of global competitiveness

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