The Titans March 2019 by GEC Media Group

MARCH 2018 | VOL 3 ISSUE 5

2019 THE CHANGE-SPOTTERS AND CHANGE-MAKERS

SH. KHALID BIN HAMAD AL-KHALIFA, CIO, KING HAMAD UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

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EDITORIAL

3 YEARS OF THE TITANS

ANUSHREE DIXIT EDITOR anushree@gecmediagroup.com

CIO! Thirty years ago, a new term was coined— ‘Technocrat’— and emerged the most dynamic role that the future would see. The Titans was launched at a time when CIOs were on the verge of a major transformation. We saw CIOs taking a big leap from their pre-set role of managing information and optimizing costs to taking bigger business decisions. The Titans was launched with this particular vision of highlighting those critical leaps and decisions that a CIO took in order to lead his business on the path of competitiveness. Times have changed and the market can see a gradual shift in the title and capacity of a CIO. New titles have emerged all of which are an extension of the transformative role of the technocrat. And here we are, in the third year of The Titans. The UAE government has been taking some great strides in further propelling the role of these technology masters. Recently the UAE Government Accelerator announced the launch of Think AI roundtables that will further propel AI developments. Read our special story on that in this issue. The roundtable meetings organized by “Think AI” at the UAE Government Accelerator situated at Emirates Towers in Dubai aim to develop comprehensive dialogs and ideas that support the UAE’s efforts towards accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence in various key sectors such as Infrastructure, governance and legal legislation, the development of appropriate infrastructure, and the strengthening the countries position as a global hub for artificial intelligence. In our special government report, we dive deep into KSA’s VAT roadmap and how the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has laid out the foundations for making this transformation simple. That and many more in the March issue of Titans where our CIOs are ‘March’ing ahead with their new projects and promises. Having said that, we are all set to unveil the World CIO 200 in our First-in-the-region CIO Yearbook ‘The BOTS’ (Book of Titans) in the Future IT Summit 2019. The wait has been immense and its time to reap the pleasure! Join us at The Future IT Summit 2019!

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MARCH 2019

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CONTENT

The UAE Government 22 launches “Think AI” initiative

CASE STUDY

TOP CIO IN MENA

SMOOTH AND EFFICIENT PROCESS

TOWARDS WIDER HORIZONS

THE VISIONARY CIO

PROVIDING BEST IN CLASS TECHNOLOGY PLATFORMS

MARCH 2019

THE TITANS

E INDUSTRY

N WS Emirates NBD strengthens Treasury proposition with roll out of state-of-the-art enterprise platform Emirates NBD, a leading financial institution in the Middle East is pleased to announce that it has partnered with Calypso Technology Inc., the standard for treasury and capital markets software, to deliver one of the world’s most comprehensive implementations of its flagship Calypso treasury platform to date. This is a key milestone in Emirates NBD’s delivery of its multi-year digital transformation journey, part of the Group’s AED 1 billion investment towards digitising operations, products and services to enhance proposition to corporate clients and retail customers. As an existing Calypso client, the end-to-end upgrade to Calypso Version 15 ensures that Emirates NBD’s enterprise treasury solution will continue keeping pace with the increasingly sophisticated needs of its growing Treasury client-

base. Commenting on the achievement, Abdulla Qassem, Group Chief Operating Officer, Emirates NBD said: “As we progressively deliver our AED 1 billion digital transformation, it is critical to support the continued growth of our Treasury business with a sophisticated and scalable enterprise platform. Aligned with this objective, we are very pleased to have completed the Calypso Version 15 upgrade as one of the most comprehensive Calypso implementations of its kind worldwide. With a fully centralised, upgraded treasury enterprise solution in place for all international markets, that also delivers full resilience, availability and real-time monitoring, we look forward to continuing our decade-long partnership with Calypso.”

BENEFIT launches the first eKYC Project in the Arab World

BENEFIT, the leading electronic financial transactions network, announced at a press conference held yesterday at Wyndham Grand Hotel, the launch of the new national Electronic Know

THE TITANS

Your Client (eKYC) Project, which is the first of its kind in the Arab World, targeting retail banks, financial services providers and money exchange networks. BENEFIT will implement the eKYC Project in the

MARCH 2019

second quarter of this year in collaboration with the Information and eGovernment Authority (IGA) under the supervision of the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB). The Project is intended to provide an advanced state of the art electronic platform and a database for financial institutions to authenticate the identities of their clients and validate their information before granting financial services.

The Project also aspires to help financial technology (FinTech) companies offering financial and banking products using online applications, and facilitate the launch of their products and services. This is in compliance with CBB’s instructions to the financial sector to use financial services technology. It is also in line with the guidance of the Economic Development Board (EDB) to promote FinTech as a promising economic sector.

LinkedIn: Transparency, Openness and Trust Are the New Imperatives in the Workplace

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, has released the 2019 Global Talent Trends report, revealing the top trends shaping today’s relationship between employers and employees. The report explores a number of the latest trends shaping this relationship: soft skills, work flexibility, and pay transparency. Ali Matar, Head of LinkedIn Middle East and Africa, said: “Every year, LinkedIn releases top trends to watch out for. We talk to thousands of hiring professionals and analyse our data to understand the latest trends, challenges and solutions. This year, our goal was to help companies recognize the evolution of the employee-employer dynamic as it moves to a more transparent, trusting and reciprocal relationship.” While everyone agrees soft skills are extremely valuable, most companies still struggle to assess them accurately. The report revealed that only 41 percent of companies globally even have a formal process in place to assess them. And in fact, 68 percent of talent professionals globally said that they assess soft skills by picking up on social cues in interviews. Identifying poor soft skills during an interview is challenging, which is why they’re often discovered too later, usually after a hire has been made. According to LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends report, a bad hire is almost never a matter of hard skills alone with 89 percent of talent professionals globally reported that bad hires typically lack soft skills.

Emirates Post supports the UAE National Innovation Strategy

Emirates Post, the leading postal and express delivery provider in the region, hosted a series of events in February to celebrate Innovation Month, demonstrating its commitment to the progressive culture of innovation present within the UAE. The line-up of events included several discussions on topics such as Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, The Role of Post in E-Commerce and The Future of Stamps. In addition, the organization held several brainstorming sessions across their offices in the UAE, which gathered students from different educational institutions and members of the Emirates Philately Association to generate ideas and find better solutions to various challenges. Rashed Al Huraiz, Chief Innovation Officer, Emirates Post Group commented, “In line with the UAE’s 2021 Vision, Innovation Month represents the country’s commitment towards enhancing its global competitiveness and economic prosperity. We are proud to support the UAE government’s drive on innovation by organizing a host of creative events. At Emirates Post, we are committed to improving our existing services and developing new products and services to enhance the experience for customers. and innovation is a key component of this. Innovation Month is one of the largest innovation festivals in the world and involves competitions, workshops and exhibitions that are dedicated to celebrating innovation in the UAE whilst strengthening the country’s position as a global hub for innovation. The festival is a consolidated effort by government, the private sector and individuals to help create a widespread culture of innovation in the UAE.

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THE TITANS

INDUSTRY NEWS

Zain Iraq, CMC and Ericsson launch the first IoT competition for university students

Zain Iraq and Ericsson have announced an IoT Competition for Universities for students in Iraq. The first-of-its-kind competition will run for six weeks during which the students are invited to presentusecasestoaddressthepossibilitiesof5G-IoTandindustry digitalization and ultimately capture their full business potential. The competition is supported by the Communication and Media Commission (CMC) in Iraq as part of its initiative (Du3M 2025) with an aim to engage millennials from top Iraqi universities in identifying innovations that will transform the way they live, work and learn. Dr. Ali N. Al-Khwilidi, Chief Executive Officer of CMC says: “IoT is being widely embraced with the number of connected devices growing rapidly. The IoT competition for universities allows students to unleash their potential in the IoT domain and actively involve talented Iraqi youth in the country’s evolution towards a connected society.” Around 29 billion connected devices are forecast by 2022, of which around 18 billion will be related to IoT. Connected IoT devices include connected cars, machines, meters, sensors, point-of-sales terminals, consumer electronics and wearables. Between 2016 and 2022, IoT devices are expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21%, driven by new use cases. Ali Al Zahid, Chief Executive Officer at Zain Iraq, says: “IoT supports digital transformation and development of new business models and offerings. This competition will enable the Iraqi youth to share their technology innovations and act as a platform to facilitate the country’s digital transformation.”

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GESS 2019 - More Gulf institutions turning to education technology Technology is playing a key role in transforming the learning process in the Gulf region as educational institutions are investing heavily to shift from lecturestyle classrooms to active-learning environments, say experts. According to Patrick Hayes, Director at British Educational Suppliers Association, “The strategy not only enhances the knowledge of the students via increased engagement but also improves retention and recruitment rates at the end of their studies.” “Technology benefits schools and students many ways. Some of the technology may not directly drive education but reduces the workload of teachers. If we have happy teachers it’s all about benefiting children. Technology benefits schools that’s the reason UK educators spend half a billion pounds per annum on technology,” said Hayes, who was attending the Global Educational Supplies & Solutions (GESS) exhibition in Dubai. Stressing on the importance of the role of technology in boosting the learning experience in the classrooms, Venkatasubramanian Hariharan, Business Unit Director B2C, Canon Middle East, said, “It has been reported that by 2020 there will be 175,000 class spaces coming up in the UAE. At Canon, we believe four walls of the classroom is not just education, it’s beyond the four walls. The way technology is moving you see right from education intelligence to big data and interactive displays, there are multiple things coming more and more in the schools.” Highlighting the benefits of technology in the classrooms, Duncan Kemp, International Business Development Manager, pi-top, said, “Technology, used correctly, makes lessons and learning better. By correctly I mean teachers and educators who have the confidence and skills to coach and mentor students and bring different subjects to life through technology. Technology has allowed educators to access new ways of teaching that weren’t possible previously. It allows students to become more creative, whereby they can create products or use code to solve the real world problems that matter to them.”

CASE STUDY

SMOOTH AND EFFICIENT PROCESS

“We have chosen industry best systems to enhance our Guest Happiness & experience; and to increase efficiency and productivity of our front/ back office employees by streamlining/ integrating sales, purchases, inventory management, and reservations systems.”

was set by our Chairman and we have gone live in less than 2 months and achieved the hotel opening date with the help of my team and Hotels GM support. We have implemented Oracle Property management system with interface with Infor Finance system along with other integrated business applications in record time. Team worked Smartly, efficiently and relentlessly round the clock to achieve this business objective of RDK Group. BENEFITS OF THE PROJECT:

MOHAMMAD SHAHZAD , CIO, RDK GROUP NAME OF THE ORGANIZATION:

WHY THE PROJECT WAS NEEDED

RDK Group

We have chosen industry best systems to enhance our Guest Happiness & experience; and to increase efficiency and productivity of our front/ back office employees by streamlining/ integrating sales, purchases, inventory management, and reservations systems. This enables us in smooth and efficiently running of newly opened Hotel.

BRIEF ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION: RDK Group operates significant interests in the sectors of real estate development, tourism and hospitality, construction, transport, commercial investments and consultancy amongst others, and holds a number of exclusive distribution agencies and joint ventures with internationally recognized multi-disciplinary companies.

NAME OF THE VENDOR: Key Information Technology (KIT) and F1 Infotech

NAME OF THE PROJECT: Oracle and Infor systems deployment at Maisan Hotel

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IMPLEMENTATION: This was one of the fastest deployment we have ever done, Hotel opening deadline

n Increased overall efficiency by smooth Integration of Oracle Opera with Infor Financial system. n Improved productivity of front and back office employees. n Enhanced Guest Experience n Business intelligence insights to revenue management and marketing teams n Analysis of guest requirements and stay trends generate information to enhance guest experience, repeat visits and improve direct bookings. n Strengthen our customer service levels, and to promote our projects for greater returns and value creation. n Unified ledger empowers to make better decisions and gain actionable insight n Integrated financial and operational data to provide a consistent and auditable solution for accurate reporting and budgeting across the business. n Fast reporting will be achieved in coming month: Ad hoc or period end reporting can be completed on same day. n By integrating all ledger data, System enables you to close your books faster lowering costs and improving efficiency in the process. n Operations being streamlined by integrating sales, purchases, inventory management, and reservations systems.

TOP CIO IN MENA

TOWARDS WIDER HORIZONS

“Given our ambitious growth plans, we expect suppliers to be agile, deploy solutions quickly, but perhaps more importantly to help us ensure their technologies are embedded and adopted by our organisation along with meeting the benefits and return on investment”

than ever, respect, empathy and care – for ourselves, our colleagues and our clients and partners – are central to everything we do. Given the nature of our work and the environments we work in, employee safety is the top priority.

Tell us about your role and responsibilities in the organization. My role is Group IT Director overseeing all aspects of technology across the group. This includes developing the IT and Digital Strategy, and it’s implementation.

What plans do you have for the company? What technologies have you introduced or plan to introduce?

DAMIAN O’GARA, GROUP IT DIRECTOR, KENTECH GROUP Tell us more about Kentech Group. When was the company established and what are its key projects? Kentech Group is an Oil and Energy engineering services provider headquartered in Dubai and operates globally. Our core capabilities in the sector are construction, commissioning and maintenance across a multi-discipline range of services. We have 3500 employees, 40 nationalities, and 15 Global locations. 2018 was our strongest year to date, when we expanded into Canada, USA, and Egypt and launched our “Engine for Growth” with a plan to be a $1Bn company by 2025 and grow to 10,000 employees. People have always been at the heart of our business and today, more

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MARCH 2019

In 2019 we will be modernising and digitising our systems portfolio to give us a reliable, integrated and scalable platform to support our growth ambitions. Cloud computing will be a central theme of our transformation. Our approach will be very much cloud first, SaaS first. We currently have specialist point systems with some limited integration. We want to deploy a new holistic ERP as quickly as possible that will cover our global footprint.

Are you looking into any key project implementations? If yes, what do you expect from the vendors? Yes, we will be exploring a new cloud based ERP. Given our ambitious growth plans, we expect suppliers to be agile, deploy solutions quickly, but perhaps more importantly to help us ensure their technologies are embedded and adopted by our organisation along with meeting the benefits and return on investment. We expect our vendors to become tightly integrated with us, understand our business, and become a true partner: Our success is their success.

As you have a cross industry background covering various sectors, in what area do you think technology has made the biggest impact? My career has spanned Healthcare, Retail, Defence, Media and now Oil and Energy. I think the biggest impact from technology has been in the Media sector. The introduction of OTT (Over the Top) has really disrupted the industry against traditional broadcasting. I also have seen very positive impact in Healthcare with the advent of electronic patient records giving clinicians access to real time insights on patients, which has saved lives. The Oil and Energy Services sector has definitely lagged behind other industries in this regard but with the advent of Industry 4.0, it is also the one of the fastest growing in terms of technology spend so it is a very exciting industry to be a part of. There are actually many parallels that can be drawn across industry and the IT skill, process and technologies are definitely transferable between domains.

As a Group IT Director for the company, what are your top 3 priorities for this year? Building a modern, scalable, agile, corporate IT platform that will support challenging growth targets. We want to get this in place as soon as possible. Digitise our systems to support the mobile worker. The nature of our business means we have many employees out in the field. We want to ensure they have access to the right tools and information to hand wherever they are globally. We will also want to digitise our Health and Safety management, using tech to keep our employees safe. Standardise our infrastructure platform globally. We have many servers and IT management software in our infrastructure. We will be looking to standardise and centralise our global footprint.

TOP CIO IN MENA

REDEFINING

HEALTHCARE

“The advances in big data has risen major advances in Genome sequencing, precision medicine and Health data analytics. Blockchain is widely being applied to address the protection of health data and patient confidentiality” receptive of the major breakthroughs in the digital world. The advances in big data has risen major advances in Genome sequencing, precision medicine and Health data analytics. Blockchain is widely being applied to address the protection of health data and patient confidentiality. Certified Medical IoT devices have become widely available and proven to have significant improvement in the care process. Other digital advances in the healthcare sector include Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Virtual reality. Digitization in the healthcare sector is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years.

What are the new technologies that you have introduced? Tell us about your e-services.

SH. KHALID BIN HAMAD AL-KHALIFA, CIO, KING HAMAD UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

How was the year 2018 for King Hamad University Hospital from a business point of view? In 2018, King Hamad University Hospital has completed a 120 bed expansion to the Hospital forming the new Bahrain Oncology Center. The new Center is equipped with the latest cancer detection and treatment equipment. The Center is expected to serve the entire population of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

What are the digital trends reshaping the healthcare sector? The health sector has been extremely

The main advances we have done in the last year have been in mobility solutions and e-services. We have focused on patient experience by providing facility navigation option which we plan to link with location based messaging very soon. The new App is also capable of receiving notifications with regards to any changes to the appointment or the status of care. We have also utilized the same platform to manage our assets within the facility. The other e-service we introduced is the supplier portal aimed to streamline the communication between the Hospital and its suppliers including both financial and supply chain transactions. The new service deployed initially to the main suppliers has reduced the delays in supplying process as well as the payment clearance.

Are you looking into any new project implementations? If yes, what do you expect from the vendors? For the coming year, the hospital is looking to align with the major healthcare reforms in the kingdom of Bahrain. Integration with the national health insurance system as well

as the national health record will positively impact the healthcare service. The Hospital is also investing in a full pharmacy automation and drug management solution. The hospital will also invest in robotic surgery as well as expand the services of the new Oncology Center. Vendors can also play a major role in complementing these major projects by providing functional solutions in AI, Bots or IoT.

What are the biggest challenges faced by a CIO? The main challenge for CIOs is certainly getting the clear project buy-in from CEOs and CFOs. CIOs need to be able to create convincing project proposals with evident ROIs and the overall business impact. Many business do not reach the innovation stage because they refuse to invest in leading and breakthrough technologies due to the high failure risk. CIOs need to be able to have top management support and confidence to introduce innovation into the organization. CIOs need to be bold and identify sustainable solutions to adopt into the organizations. CIOs are constantly faced with technology evolution and the challenge of constant technology refreshment. CIOs need to be constantly aware of the expected financial impact on the organization and avoid any surprising surges keeping in mind the dynamic digital world.

As a CIO, what are your top 3 priorities for this year? With so much advances happening in the healthcare sector, it’s very difficult to single out three priorities. However, we are looking at the cloud adoption strategy as well as the evaluating the on-premise data center. We are also reviewing our data retention policy and data backup solution. Finally, we continue to look at the data security by evaluating our data encryption and data protection requirements.

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THE TITANS

TOP CIO IN MENA

THE VISIONARY CIO “We are proud to be the first bank in the region who integrated Emirates ID with our systems to enable customers to use our channels through the national identification document” We are proudly the first Islamic bank in the world to use Blockchain for the resale and settlement of an Islamic Sukkuk.

SYED MOHAMMED NAQVI, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR,MIS & DATA GOVERNANCE, AL HILAL BANK

IT plays a significant role in banking these days. How does Al Hilal Bank make sure to stay aligned with the changing IT developments? Leveraging technology for competitive advantage, through better services and operational efficiency is at the heart of our IT strategy. We are mindful that banking industry in the region have certainly seen their share of technology driven disruption over the last few years — from online banking to peer-to-peer lending to blockchain - based payments and money transfers to new evolving trends. With rapid technological advancements, customer behaviours and demands are changing and ever-growing. This storm of transformation in the MiddleEast banking is in the making not just from within due to natural competitors, but also because of other industries leading the 14

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curve with disruptive approaches, which can rightly be perceived as a new generation of disruptors. Moreover, new entrants are also impacting the banking value chain and as we observe the patterns they can quintessentially be distinguished into three classifications; some are aggregators who are emerging with a layer of apps and portals to amalgamate financial offerings from different providers resulting into a one-stop-shop for banking customers. Some can be considered as innovators such as PayPal and Apple Pay who are questioning the fundamentals of traditional banking services such as payments and are introducing cutting edge platforms enabling customers to be more self-reliant to experience convenience in mundane banking services. Some entrants are eager to change the

game and drastically transform the banking by providing peer-to-peer platforms, innovative products and value added services on digital channels to extend their reach to a greater market place with competitive pricing to emerge as disruptors. We along with our peers are all going through the same journey and are striving to lead the curve by launching introducing video based interactive teller machines (Branch in a BOX), We are proud to be the first bank in the region who integrated Emirates ID with our systems to enable customers to use our channels through the national identification document. We are proudly the first Islamic bank in the world to use Blockchain for the resale and settlement of an Islamic Sukkuk. We are amongst the first few banks in the region who have launched an Integrated Data Warehouse and have adapted latest technologies for Risk and Finance integration to comply with recent regulations such as IFRS9. Recently, as part of our Digital and Operations transformation programme, we introduced our Payments STP (straightthrough-processing) initiative. With STP, online (internet banking/ mobile banking) fund transfers in AED and inward fund transfers are now carried out almost instantly, adding speed and efficiency to the process.

According to you, what challenges would the traditional banks face with the new emerging financial technologies? By far the biggest challenge that traditional banks are facing is that the pace at which they are trying to adapt new technologies is drastically slower compared to the pace at which demands of the new generation of customers mainly millennial are increasing or the pace at which non-banking companies are adapting technology to question or rather disrupt the fundamentals of traditional banking.

TOP CIO IN MENA

It is also imperative to appreciate that host of different factors are intersecting to finely but uniquely change the way the banking industry will operate in foreseeable future. Demographic shifts in the customer base are paving way for new expectations, which are in turn creating an opportunity for other nonbanking players like Telecommunications and FinTechs. Industry experts also predict that soon, the biggest bank will be a technology firm. There are opinions in the market with respect to how banks are responding to the challenges they are up against, whether through investment, data management or new strategies to engage with customers. But with every step, there are obstacles. Even as customers primarily conduct transactions over mobile, banks are discovering they still expect branch service to be an option. Traditionally banks could easily get away with simple apologies for service interruptions, this may not work well with the new customer base which expects efficient service and is potentially able to choose technology firm offerings as an alternative. The outsider challenge is by far the real challenge as young consumers are open to change in financial services. That’s creating opportunities for tech firms to consider entering the industry. Google, Amazon or even Facebook are already contemplating to offer banking services to consumers. While big tech firms explore the possibility, FinTechs start-ups are already trying to take advantage of this sentiment, by developing new offerings that can convert personal finance management and investing accounts into checking and savings customers. More customers are now using their phones for transactions and mobile is the only channel that has seen increased engagement in the last five years. But consumers still expect in-person options for service too or at least they wouldn’t feel comfortable to open an account with a bank that didn’t have at least one local branch, it is considered important. Even tech-savvy millennial want a virtual experience with tangible offerings and it matters in their decision on where to bank. Millennials are setting their own expectations for how quickly they should be receiving services such as opening an account or even getting a mortgage. Banks also face a challenge to respond to competition from big techs by adopting open banking strategies, beginning with

open application programming interfaces for secure data exchange, banks need be on the leading edge through filling service gaps or enhancing their offering by embedding third party services into their platform. Customer information is one advantage that banks have over FinTech competitors, but they have grappled with how to utilize their data assets effectively. Leading banks should leverage data to improve their customer relationships and work with customers on how to make their services more relevant. Data management investments will improve how they share data and help build closer relationships. One of the challenge is that there are a variety of technologies that banks are considering in their effort to adapt digital technologies. Which one to adapt first is an important question to ask considering the ROI potential and the immediate impact it brings. Mobile Banking, biometrics software and Cloud have been the leading technology investment areas for banks so far. Despite industry-wide discussion over the potential of blockchain technology for example not many banks have plans to invest in blockchain at least for the next three years. Artificial intelligence has emerged as another tool to help banks with digital demands, however early adoption has its own challenges. The decision to either build or buy technology has always been an enduring debate in financial services, however it has recently started again in the digital banking era. Despite outsourced tech options some banks globally still expect to develop technologies in-house. Which option is more viable for a bank is an important strategic question given its size and other factors.

With the ever-changing technology disruptions, what is the future of banking services? Over the past few years, traditional financial institutions and non-traditional FinTechs firms have begun to understand that collaboration may be the best path to longterm growth. The rationale for collaboration is the ability to bring strengths of both banks and FinTechs firms together to create a stronger entity than either unit could bring on their own. For most FinTechs organizations, the primary advantages are an innovation mind set, agility (speed to adjust), consumer-centric perspective, and an infrastructure built for

digital. These are advantages that most legacy financial institutions don’t possess. Alternatively, most banking institutions have scale, a stronger brand recognition and established trust. They also have adequate capital, knowledge of regulatory compliance and an established distribution network. Traditional financial institutions have a vast customer base and deep pockets, but with legacy systems holding them back. The challenge will be the ability to establish an environment where collaboration can flourish as opposed to stifling the beneficiary attributes of either partner.

What would be your advice for the next generation professionals aspiring to be IT leaders? To share from what I have learnt from my career, I can look back and see all the dots I created along my career pathway. These dots never lie in a straight line. They go zigzag and in all possible combinations. I took advantage of opportunities to accept assignments outside of my comfort zone. I looked for and implemented new ways of doing things within my areas of responsibility. I looked at problems in new ways, and found new solutions. I stepped out and did new and different things. I took risks. Sometimes I failed, but I never let that stop me from moving forward. It is said that those who never fail never do anything. Failure is painful when it occurs, but it develops resiliency and helps in tackling larger challenges in the future.

As an IT Leader, what are your top 3 priorities for this year? This year our top three focus areas are as follows: A) The launch of our next generation mobile application with great customer experience in the form of latest UX designs and also via seamless processing of services with high performance B) We are also looking forward to enhance our capabilities in the area of Enterprise Fraud Management whereby the idea is to leverage Advanced Analytics and Artificial Intelligence to predict fraudulent patterns in the transactional behaviour of our customers and also be able to analyse network linkages between customers. C) We are also eager to launch Data Transformation Phase II whereby the focus will be to leverage data in our data warehouse to perform predictive modelling, advanced analytics as well as forecasting for our business end users to be able to reach out to our customers with better value proposition.

MARCH 2019

THE TITANS

TOP CIO IN MENA

PROVIDING BEST IN CLASS TECHNOLOGY PLATFORMS

“As I look into business solutions involving IoT, artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, I am looking to work closely with vendors to co-innovate on solutions that will make Bloom Holding businesses a leader in the region in its use technology for its products and services”

Tell us about Bloom Holding. When was the company established? What are its key projects? Bloom Holding is a group that has a number of different businesses in different verticals including property, hospitality, education, facilities management.

Tell us about your role and responsibilities in Bloom Holding. I am the Director of IT so have overall responsibility for the IT and Telecoms infrastructure for all businesses within the group.

What plans do you have for the company and what are the new technologies that you have introduced? I plan to use technology to enhance the business offerings for our group as well as providing best in class technology platforms and solutions for businesses within the group.

Are you looking for any new project implementations? If yes, what do you expect from the vendors? As I look into business solutions involving IoT, artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, I am looking to work closely with vendors to co-innovate on solutions that will make Bloom Holding businesses a leader in the region in its use technology for its products and services.

How is the UAE IT landscape different from the rest of the GCC countries? UAE is a technology leader and actively encourages technology innovation and entrepreneurship.

As a CIO, what are your top 3 priorities for the year 2019?

MUBARIK HUSSAIN, IT DIRECTOR, BLOOM HOLDING

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MARCH 2019

l Enhance business products and services through the use of technology. l Explore and innovate with partners with new technologies and solutions. l Increase the effectiveness, efficiency and security of our company IT landscape.

TOP CIO IN MENA

ENSURING

COMPREHENSIVE SECURITY “As a technology leader in Jazan Gas, my key focus is to have an efficient technological investment across the organization covering the increasing demand and dependency on technology, building a state of art information technology platforms”

Tell us about your role and responsibilities in Jazan Gas. What are the key projects that you are handling? As a technology leader in Jazan Gas, my key focus is to have an efficient technological investment across the organization covering the increasing demand and dependency on technology, building a state of art information technology platforms. This includes translating the board of directors’ requirement into a mixture of different solutions that are integrated and securely working together for delivering business needs. implementing secured hybrid coverage systems, cloud business solutions, smart infrastructure, cybersecurity practices and enterprise content management are some examples of these projects.

What plans do you have for the company? What technologies have you introduced or plan to introduce?

HAMDI ALJADANI, CIO, JAZAN GAS

In addition to above examples we have, we are also focusing on integrating the plants operations with the latest business analytical solutions and performance management system to have an efficient operation. Also, leveraging existing similar working environment and utilizing other automation tools that covers internal demands from our international partner.

Today, public perception is that oil and gas industry are not keeping up with the times. From robotics to

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MARCH 2019

artificial intelligence, organizations across verticals recognize that in order to stay relevant among consumers, they have to change with times. Why is the oil and gas industry lagging behind? Cybersecurity is a major concern for such kind of business, and this drive the changes to slow down. The amount of preliminary work needs to be done before adapting such technologies is huge and taking its own time until rolling it out to production stage. It is a matter of time until we see a wider adaption for such changes in all kind of business.

Do you think drones can power the offshore oil and gas operations? Drones are very useful tools that provide the oil & gas business with a wide range of possibilities that were difficult to achieve in the past. For example, accelerated inspections, safe and efficient maintenance, enhance emergency response and recovery and real-time visibility

As a CIO for the company, what are your top 3 priorities for this year? Our first priority for this year is to complete the cybersecurity implementation project to ensure a comprehensive security framework is on place for business investment protection. The second priority is integrating the plant operations with analytical solution for maximizing the operations efficiency. Finally, to continue rolling out the cloud business solution to all functions and integrate their operations.

GUEST ARTICLE

A ZONE TO MEET, INTERCONNECT & REACH Batelco Launches the Global Zone, a Carrier Neutral Digital Platform

ADEL AL DAYLAMI, BATELCO CHIEF GLOBAL BUSINESS OFFICER

Batelco, the leading digital solutions provider in the Kingdom of Bahrain, has announced the launch of Global Zone, a carrier neutral digital business platform based on a highlysecuredTier III Data Centre,which helps customers to operate their digital business in a secured environment. Global Zone has been designed to support the development of the digital economy in the near future and attract leading players in the ICT industry, byproviding themwith opportunities to meet and exchange data. The platform will facilitate traffic growth by serving both regionaland internationalpartners with the aim of creating a global data exchange that will act as a regional gateway to other parts of the world. This new concept will offer connectivity by serving as the regional carrierneutraldatatransit-and-hubfortheever-growing data movement demands and allow service providers to meet in a robust ecosystem. GlobalZone is also the idealecosystem to attract carriers as well as cloud and content providers, due to its efficient access to state-of-the-art infrastructure, offering customers rapid access to interconnected partners, both regionally and globally, to meet and exchange data. Batelco Chief Global Business Officer, Adel Al Daylamicommented,“GlobalZoneprovidesdata centrefacilitiesandcolocationservicesthatserve as growth accelerators for digital businesses in the region and across the globe, enabling access to Batelco’s robust global network with widely distributed Points-of-Presence.” “Global Zone will create a robust ecosystem in which it uses a secure and diverse network connection that will ultimately improve IP network resiliency and reliability and establish a dynamic “meet and exchange” data service platform,” added Mr. Al Daylami. The platform offers resilient digital services for business applications and meets the requirementsofbusinesseswithmission-critical data.Furthermore,Batelco’scompetitive pricing structure and capability to deliver a one-stopshop service, provides relevant and in demand benefits for its customers and partners.

MARCH 2019

THE TITANS

TOP CIO IN MENA

ENHANCING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

In an exclusive interview with Abideen Sulaiman, IT Head of Arabia Holdings on his role in the company, new project implementations and top priorities for the year.

Tell us about Arabia Holdings and your role in it. Arabia holdings is a group established in UAE which encompasses diverse business activities including but not limited to Taxi Transportation, Limousine Service, Logistics, Automobile Garages, Auto Trade, Auto Spare Parts Trading, Minerals Trade, Agro Trade, General Trade, Landscape and Irrigation, Foods & Beverages, Advertisement and IT Solutions etc. As an IT Head, I lead my team which is responsible for centrally managing the IT needs across various locations. It involves planning infrastructure for data centers, development and deployment of business applications, IP Telephony for call centers, Disaster Recovery Management and so on.

ABIDEEN SULAIMAN, IT HEAD, ARABIA HOLDINGS

How is technology reshaping the transportation and logistics sector? Technology has always made people’s life easier. We could even say that it has revolutionised the sector. We use technology to enhance customer satisfaction and thereby the business. For instance, we provide mobile applications for our taxi booking and free wifi for our taxi and bus riders.

What are the new technologies that you have introduced in the company? n Introduced digitalization of document approvals. n Taxi Booking Mobile Application for Ras Al Khaimah, Arabia and Hamra

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MARCH 2019

Taxis. n Enhanced our in-house ERP Application to support our Logistics sector and other divisions.

Are you looking into any new project implementations? If yes, what do you expect from the vendors? Yes, I am looking into couple of new projects in warehouse and stores management and in hospitality sector using ANPR and BEACON technology. I always look for a long term strategic partnership with my vendor. My other expectations would be aftersale support and pricing along with suitable solutions with value.

What are the biggest challenges faced by a CIO? As a CIO, IT security is always a challenge. Added to that Budgets and controlling cost, Resource management with respect to staffing and skills and bridging the gap between IT and business are the biggest challenges.

As a CIO, what are your top 3 priorities for this year? My top priorities for this year would be n Turning IT as a Profit center rather than a cost center n Diving into new technologies in the hospitality sector and Public Transportation. n Implementing electronic approval system with complex matrix structure for all our group division.

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SPECIAL REPORT

H.E. OMAR BIN SULTAN AL OLAMA, MINISTER OF STATE FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

The UAE Government launches “Think AI” initiative His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, highlighted the importance and active role the UAE government is taking to realize the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai towards accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence and its uses in various key strategic sectors in the UAE. This came during an MOU signing in

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MARCH 2019

the presence of H.E Omar Sultan Al Olama and Waseem Khan, MENA’s Advisory Leader at EY and to launch “Think AI”, a series of roundtables, workshops and panel discussions which will see the participation of more than 100 government officials, representatives from the private sector and experts from local and international organizations. His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial

Intelligence highlighted that global governments realize the importance of deploying artificial intelligence and its positive implications towards revolutionizing government services as well as its effects towards enhancing key strategic sectors that will ultimately reinforce its position on the global map. The UAE government is very much working towards accelerating the pace of AI adoption through strategic partnerships with both the public and

SPECIAL REPORT

‘KEY HIGHLIGHTS’ Directives of Mohammed bin Rashid to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence

The artificial intelligence industry is growing globally by 38% over the next seven years

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5 Roundtables to Accelerate the adoption of AI across the UAE

private sectors. In line with the growth of the artificial intelligence industry, with value estimated to reach 300 billion dollars by the year 2026, and an industry growth of 38.8% in the next seven years; his Excellency highlighted that the UAE government aims to be one of the most advanced countries in the adoption and deployment such technology, realizing its positive revolutionary change. GLOBAL CENTRE FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE The roundtable meetings organized by “Think AI” at the UAE Government Accelerator situated at Emirates Towers in Dubai aim to develop comprehensive dialogs and ideas that support the UAE’s efforts towards accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence in various key sectors such as Infrastructure, governance and legal legislation, the development of appropriate infrastructure, and the strengthening the countries position as a global hub for artificial intelligence. NEW MODEL OF COLLABORATION

Wasim Khan, MENA Advisory Leader, EY, sayid: “EY is very proud to be working with His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama, the Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence to accelerate the adoption of AI across the UAE and further benefit the region. A.I is amongst the most transformative technology of our time with rapid developments across machine learning, data mining, and cognitive computing. Harnessing the power of AI will be a game-changer for both governments and businesses alike. The A.I roundtables we will cohost with the Government Accelerators would be the first of its kind in Dubai; with the objective of identifying mechanisms for government, private sector, and tech startups to seamlessly collaborate around the A.I agenda. We will explore these concepts using our leading hedge innovation hub – Wavespace – in order to facilitate the rapid development of differentiating prototypes towards achieving the objectives of the UAE Centennial 2071 Plan. We are excited to be part of this journey.”

Attracting and fostering talents The first roundtable will focus on developing national talents and attracting talented artificial intelligence experts, to reach new solutions and ideas in collaboration with technology educators, curriculum designers, consumers of AI talents and education pioneers. ENHANCE THE ADOPTION OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE The second roundtable will discuss the mechanism of infrastructure development and availability that supports the adoption of artificial intelligence in the UAE and provides the tools necessary to benefit from 4IR solutions providers, data architects, AI thought leaders and technology analysts. REGULATION AND GOVERNANCE The third roundtable highlights how to improve trustability and acceptance of AI, as well as speared awareness of its uses. It also looks into how to regulate and design policies for such technology across vital sectors in collaboration with regulation and policy makers. SUITABLE INFRASTRUCTURE The fourth roundtable looks into what could a best-in-class AI infrastructure looks like?. It focuses on preparing the appropriate infrastructure for the development of artificial intelligence applications and practices in partnership with start-ups, business incubators and accelerators using the expertise of technology pioneers, end-users, groups and educational institutions. NATIONAL STANDERS The fifth roundtable discusses the plans to develop and issue UAE national standards for artificial intelligence technology, which defines the most important uses and functions in cooperation with specialists, government, private sector and the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology.

MARCH 2019

THE TITANS

TOP CIO IN MENA

PREMIUM HEALTHCARE “AI powered technologies will drive meaningful change across the entire patient journey. I am sure this technology will change the look and feel of healthcare industry in the next decade”

Northern Emirate. We have 2,50,000 people in Ras Al Khaimah. Even though we are an ISO certified hospital, people from Dubai/ Abu Dhabi seldom travel to RAK hospital for treatment. Majority of our patients are local or international countries. We have satellite offices in Nairobi and few other Western African countries. As they do not have good medical facilities available there, we do tele-interview with our doctors/ consultants there, then get the patient to RAK hospital for treatment for a much lesser cost. Our prime intention is that the people of Ras Al Khaimah should get the right and the best healthcare support.

How has the year 2019 started for you?

UNNI MENON, IT MANAGER, RAK HOSPITAL

Fromabusinesspointof view,how was the year 2018 for RAK Hospital? It was quite a good year for us. RAK hospital has been designed as a premium healthcare and hospitalitycomplex and achieved accreditation from the Joint Commission International (JCI). The hospital has been garnered with an array of renowned healthcare and brand awards. In 2017, we rolled-out the Hospital Information System (HIS), but as it takes a year and a half, it was completed in mid2018. In the Ras Al Khaimah, we are the only hospital in the private sector, other than the Al Qassimi hospital in the government sector. Unlike Dubai which is a healthcare destination, things are not too fast in the

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MARCH 2019

This year started on a very good note. We will be launching our Mobile App soon which is under final testing. Now-a-days, online services are very useful. Mobile App is a great tool to improve healthcare efficiency and they serve as a great management system. Mobile service is a great means to deal with medical records of a particular patient. Having such functionality health apps become so handy for both doctors and patients. Patients can also store all test results in one place. It is easy to keep data safe and to search for it whenever you need it. It is easy for patients to book an appointment with their doctors and don’t need to wait in long queues. The mobile app provides patients with all important information on specialists in a particular medical establishment - doctors’ names, working hours, etc.

22 years ago. I started working in American Hospital which was one of the big hospitals during that time. Since then I have seen the healthcare evolution in this country. At that time, the American Hospital was one of the first hospitals which used bar code system and it was the first JCI accredited hospital in the Middle East. Today, around 80 – 85 hospitals in the country are JCI accredited. In such hospitals, patient confidentiality is highly maintained. Now UAE especially Dubai has become a hub for healthcare. In the last 10-15 years, many huge hospitals have been constructed. UAE is turning into a medical tourism hub. Artificial Intelligence is also transforming the healthcare sector. AI in healthcare has immense potential to improve costs. AI powered technologies will drive meaningful change across the entire patient journey. I am sure this technology will change the look and feel of healthcare industry in the next decade.

What are the challenges faced by a CIO in the healthcare sector? We still have many challenges as the government is not completely open to some of the emerging technologies. For example, the government has approved digitization of files which is only more than 5 years old. And some of the new rules that are not implemented across UAE. We also face challenges in finding the right resources who are highly skilled in new technologies. Budgeting is one of the other big challenge in healthcare. It becomes huge challenge to get our budgets approved by the management.

How do you think the Healthcare industry has evolved? The healthcare industry has been doing good unlike other industries which are facing some issues. I came to UAE around

What are your top 3 priorities for this year? n n n

Mobile App Will look into telemedicine Complete digitization of our process

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GUEST ARTICLE

EMIRATES

NBD CHOOSES INTELLECT Emirates NBD selects Intellect for end-to-end digital transformation of its transaction banking business.

Emirates NBD has embarked on a planned endto-end digital transformation of its Transaction Banking platform. The transformation is part of the banking group’s AED 1 billion commitment to digitise operations, products and services, enhancing its proposition to corporate clients and retail customers. Supported by transaction banking and technology specialist Intellect Design Arena Limited’s Intellect Global Transaction Banking (iGTB), the planned project is aimed at strengthening Emirates NBD Transaction Banking’s market leadership and will cover the bank’s operations across trade corridors in the UAE, KSA, Egypt, India, Singapore and the United Kingdom. Commenting on the planned transformation, Sumit Aggarwal, EVP and Group Head, Transaction Banking Services, Emirates NBD, said: “ iGTB’s in-depth domain knowledge and expertise made it ourpartnerofchoice to create a best-in-classdigitalTransactionBankingplatform

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MARCH 2019

that will strengthen our capability to respond to evolvingbusinessneeds.Clientsareatthecentre of our digital transformation journey and we believethisplatformwillenhanceourproposition and enable us to deliver seamless user journeys and access to all aspects of working capital management with enhanced visibility and data analytics.” Emirates NBD’s investment in a new digital platform will strengthen the bank’s position as the country’s market leader in Transaction Banking. The project integrates iGTB’s Digital Transaction Banking (DTB) platform powered by an integrated front-end omnichannel (CBX) portal to deliver a seamless user experience to Emirates NBD’s corporate clients. The new platform will offer clients the ability to view, monitor and control their working capital needs across cash management, trade and FX enabling easy, informed and on-the-go decision making with one-click efficiency in addition to fully

integrated back-end product processors across all lines of business. Manish Maakan, CEO, iGTB, said: “This significant deal, with our 29th DTB client, reiterates our market leadership in the Middle East, with iGTB being the preferred go-to digital transformation partner for the transaction banking space. Our unwavering design-driven culture puts banks and businesses at the centre of everything we do. This not only creates desire and establishes trust with banks, but also results in a distinct advantage for them. We are delighted to support Emirates NBD’s digital transformation journey, especially given the Middle East’s strong position as a hub for global trade.” K Srinivasan, President, APAC, South Asia, Middle East & Africa, Intellect Design Arena Ltd., added: “Transaction banking has been an industry dominated by global banks. Intellect has been empowering banks in the Middle East to launch and commercialise the transaction banking business in an integrated way and to gain significant market share. This is highlighted by this announcement of another signature deal.” The UAE’s leading position as the vital hub connecting Asia and Africa with the west combined with a reported increase in trade volumes by UAE businesses this year have led to a significant growth in the country’s transaction banking sector. Emirates NBD is the only UAE-based bank with physical presence across important trade corridors from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) across to Asia and the United Kingdom (UK) making it the bank the bank of choice for corporates looking to invest and do business in the MENA region. The planned platform will enable Emirates NBD Transaction Banking clients anywhere in the world cross-channel accessibility, irrespective of the country they operate in.

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GOVERNMENT STORY

MOHAMMED MAHNASHI, ICT ADVISOR, MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

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MARCH 2019

GOVERNMENT STORY

VAT COMPLEXITIES AT BAY Mr. Mohammed Mahnashi, ICT Advisor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of KSA on Saudi’s investment in technology and recent VAT automation systems and business procedures.

What kind of technological investments do you see in the Kingdom? I believe that the future invesments in Saudi Arabia will be on these sectors: n IOT n 3D printing n e-Transformation and digitazation, especially at government sector n R&D on (automation)

What does Vision 2030 mean for the ICT sector? Vision 2030 relay on ICT as the main player to achieve it goals. If we look at the National Transformation Program (NTP 2020) which is the first program at Vision 2030 we found that the NTP is pure ICT dependent program. IT is the main asset and enabler at vision 2030 from my point of view.

Tell us about any recent projects in MOFA As part of Vision 2030 aimed at achieving budgetary balance, KSA launched VAT on 1st January 2018. The VAT program is a fundamental pillar for the economic sustainability of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The objectives of the project align closely with the aspirations stated in the National Transformation Program including “Achieving budgetary balance”, “strengthening financial governance”, “increasing non-oil revenues” and “improving spending on programs and projects.” The program of work is complex and ambitious, requiring multiple topics to be covered in parallel (law and regulation, processes and systems, communications,

and training, etc.) and delivery of a significant amount of work beyond MOFA direct control. Diplomatic, Consular Missions, Organizations, International Regional Organizations, and offices accredited to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are entitled to benefit from tax concessions in certain cases under the Value Added Tax Law (through VAT refund). The request of refund of tax shall be consistent with the provisions of any international treaty or convention of a different kind related to tax obligations to missions, diplomatic bodies, and international organizations accredited to KSA and exercising its activities in accordance with the provisions of relevant international convention. Applications for tax refund may be made in respect of the activities of the diplomatic missions, consular offices, international and regional organizations.

What is the ease that you have woven into the systems? When Eligible Persons (EPs) log in with their credentials for registration, mission information is then retrieved by MOFA database such as mission name and its ID number. They are set to be filled at the backend to assure its accurate and easiness for applicants. EP should initiate filing the application form by filling the variable fields listed in registration form for the diplomatic mission and its representative information. Representative shall claim for all refund requests regarding the diplomatic mission or diplomatic members. There will be automatic validation to ensure

all mandatory fields are completed before proceeding. MOFA then shall review and validate the submitted forms. Submitted forms could be rejected or have comments by MOFA. If approved by MOFA, the submitted form will be then sent to General Authority of Zakat and Tax (GAZT). GAZT will review the form approve, reject, or request for additional information. Application status will change according to the action taken. All notifications will be pushed to the EP, MOFA, and GAZT through VAT system.

What is the Business Process for VAT Refund? The EP can request for refund when receiving VAT account number assigned to the Diplomatic Entity after registration approval. Applicant could request for refund based on its preferred refund period selected in registration form. Filing will be required annually or quarterly. Our expectation is that quarter submission of VAT returns could be applicable to large taxpayers and annually submission of VAT returns to small and medium taxpayers. n File diplomatic mission purchases as well as diplomatic members. n MOFA then starts processing received applications. n Capture and validate the refund form and push to GAZT. n GAZT IT systems check that all received fields matches the business rules. n GAZT will also send VAT total amount directly to Diplomatic Mission IBAN account.

MARCH 2019

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CORPORATE STORY

THINKING BEYOND BOUNDARIES Corporations should harness the power of digitalisation to continuously improve their service delivery via people, process and technology – they should be committed to providing efficient and effective solutions to enhance the overall customer experience.

purchasing, stores and inventory control and management reporting. “Giving visibility to your business and contracts based on committed and actual costs, makes the decision-making process for project managers much easier and company level financial reports give a 360-degree view, affording management timely budget control. “I find IoT - Internet of Things, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Online Dashboards and Cloud Architecture fascinating, so much so they inspired me to think beyond the traditional boundaries on how these advancements can be utilised to benefit commercial operations and bring efficiencies as well as competitiveness. “I like to adopt an inclusive approach with my team and last year I helped to design and deliver an in-house award-winning Smart Watch which is being used in various projects across the UAE.” THE PROJECT DETAILS

JAVERIA AIJAZ,

IT DIRECTOR, FARNEK SERVICES

Farnek Services, under the guidance of its Director of IT Javeria Aijaz, has been pushing technical boundaries to try and create the ultimate seamless operation. In an exclusive interview, Javeria talks about the benefits of an IS system, which after successful deployment, is helping departmental heads to manage their projects more efficiently and more effectively. Javeria has successfully delivered traditional ERP and IS systems at various companies throughout her career, which are being used for accounting and financial management, CRM, project and job costing, HRMS,

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MARCH 2019

The Smart Watch is an Android watch that works with a GSM sim, providing information about time attendance, (which can be linked to the payroll and a customer’s invoices) and its App which can be integrated with HR, HSEQ, auditing, training and development and communications systems. It is a robust communication solution that allows supervisors to reach the nearest available resource by using a tracking device imbedded in the App. It was designed in-house, from operational concept and software integration all the way to reporting. It involved research of the best watches available on the market, trials with HRMS integration, and training for the thousands of employees that are now using it. ERP brings better planning, which often results in generating higher revenue and improving profit margins. Overall it allows organisations to experience greater ROI with much leaner & better managed processes

and information transparency. With access to historical and categorical data analysis, it offers a comparison of actual versus budgeted costs, which helps commercial departments to calculate the appropriate rates when completing a tender as well as providing the most competitive price, which is critical for contract success, especially when meeting contractual obligations as well as matching the expectations of the customer. With information transparency, delegation of authority is a straightforward process, because project managers and departmental heads can see how their decisions are steering any given project in the right direction. This makes financial and management reports the ultimate tools to ensure business success. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS? The Smartwatch reduces the time required to complete timesheets by 70%, makes planning 200% more efficient, has brought H&S response times down to under three minutes; incident reporting has improved from 60 to just 10 minutes and administration-related work is now 80% more efficient. The latest projections estimate that the Farnek App will now save over AED 800,000 in its first year alone. Through automation it’ll save over 350 man-hours and 36,780 reams of paper per annum, significantly reducing H&S response and incident reporting times. Managed correctly, technology will continue to improve service delivery, providing an effective and efficient solution to enhance any customer outcome. Embracing this brave new corporate world strategically, will inevitably separate progressive and innovative organisations from more traditional ones. Indeed, those companies that will thrive and those that ultimately won’t.

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