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n today’s digital world, redefining customer experience is the only headturner that sets a company apart from its competitors. Innovation is at the core of this transformation and customer engagement revolves around the orbit. As mobile service providers are striving to bring in revolutionary approaches to retain and accelerate their customer database, Ogloba has its target set on redefiing the way GSM mobile operators and large retail organizations look into their financial and logistics platform. Through its innovative solutions, the company enables the providers to have a single managing console and user dashboard for their gift cards, top-up cards and money transfer operations. “We have been in the region for the past fifteen years, mainly in the prepaid space. Our clients are the large telecom operators and the large retailers,” says Arnaud de Harenne, General Manager at Ogloba . Our software solution can sit on any machine. The solution includes the issuing of both B2C and B2B cards, as well as the acquiring of the online transactions coming from the integrated cash registers – a kind of small ERP SAP-like system dedicated to your closed loop gift card program. The platform is as easy to use for you, as it is for all participants in your organization,
from CFO to marketing intern. You can easily and effectively manage your gift card program from a single dashboard, as well as design cards, manage your inventory and orders, and B2B invoices and payments. You can also produce reports and analyze the system’s data. With these partnerships and our unique technology, we are able to reinvent the digital payments. Our integration with the telco service providers and retailers directly helps the retailer to process the prepaid transactions on time to let their customer redeem their points and spend them wisely. Our solutions allow you to create your own mobile transactions ecosystem. Ogloba provides the ability to instantaneously and easily send gifts to friends and family via Facebook, to their mobile phone, or by email. You will no longer hear from your sister, “Thanks for the gift card, but my birthday was yesterday”. We are interested to expand these offerings to further customers in the region. Having a good prepaid solution is good for the cashflow as a gift card adds up to 5% of the overall sales.” Ogloba has joined hands with some of the big names in the region like STC pay, Majid Al Futtaim etc and has its eye on wider horizons. As the company website states, Ogloba is the partner that gives you the freedom and flexibility you need to create Digital Miracles. By “Digital Miracles”, we mean those outstanding customer experiences that differentiate you from your competitors.
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GITEX 2019
MERCEDES-BENZ EQ SILVER ARROW ON DISPLAY HIGHLIGHTS SAP’S LEADERSHIP IN TRANSFORMATION
STEADFAST TO MARKET In what can be stated as the first media appearance of Basil Ayass since he joined Nutanix, the Regional Director of Middle East talks at length about his new visions,goals and ambitions for a #Hungry #Honest and #Humble Nutanix. (Excerpts) According to Basil, these three keywords are what attracted him to Nutanix. “The ethos of the company is built around these three words,” says Basil. “We are hungry for business, hungry to delight our customers, hungry to ensure that our products and solutions offer supreme customer experiences. Hunger also means that we do not sit on our laurels. In today’s market it is a David fighting a Goliath, hence companies need to be one step ahead in the game and think outside the box. Being humble is all bout having our feet firm on the ground, no matter how successful we are. This is an attribute that I have seen in the air of Nutanix— in our office culture, our partner engagements or even internal communications. Honesty in Nutanix means being direct and knowing our strength. We will always undercommit but over-deliver.” Talking about the Nutanix competency, Basil says that in the digital era today, technology is no more an enabler but a driver of transformation. “Technology not only needs to be agile, but also flexible and simple. We are very excited as we are embarking on a new journey to provide subscription-based services to our customers. This is like subscribing to a Netflix service or any services as such.Ifyou do not like it, you can unsubscribe in one click. We are so confident of our solutions and customer satisfaction that we are moving our licenses to subscription model and this is valid for any hardware, hypervisor or cloud. Nutanix was born with the concept of helping consumers bring great simplicity into the enterprise.”
The most exciting centerpiece at the SAP Gitex stand, is the Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 01, one of the latest additions to the ABB FIA Formula E Championship line-up. The brand-new all-electric replica racing car is on display, ahead of The Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team that will debut at the Saudi Diriyah E-Prix in November 2019. “We are seeing strong Gitex turnout to our customer experience booth, The City of Possibilities, with visitors experiencing how digital transformation is enabling customer experience innovations across the economy, society, and environment,” remarked Mohamed Khan, MENA Channel Head, SAP Global Partner Organisation. Alongside customer experience, many customers are highlighting their move to the cloud. Amongst IT decision-makers in the region, 88% in the UAE and 59% in Saudi Arabia plan to increase cloud spend in 2019, according to recent YouGov surveys. Gitex is a key platform to educate customers on how cloud can optimise costs, enhance business agility and flexibility, and scale up as organisations expand.
Group of Innovative Solutions
EMPOWERING MANPOWER WITH ROBO-POWER For those of us who thought that humanoid robots and AR/VR in mainstream business are still a distant dream, Group of Innovation Solution has a different answer. The company has home-grown (UAE based) solutions and services that cater to the domain of Law and Justice, BFSI, real estate
and construction, commercial etc with a strong focus on delivering better business outcomes. One of the company’s flagship humanoid robot, Sidra, is a unique attractive shaped humanoid robot fully manufactured in UAE to track customers happiness by using AI brain and deep learning, Sidra will provide advanced analytics and data, in addition to offer a better experience with relevant highly targeted products and services. Sidra is also capable to answer a huge array of potential questions from customers using her unique ability to “learn” while at the same time she is capable to create one of the most useful as well as amusing advertising experience. Group Of Innovation Solution provides engineering products solutions and consultancy in the areas like robotic simulation and control, machine-vision, training, virtual reality, and navigation applications.
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GITEX 2019
NESMA COLLABORATES WITH HYTERA FOR IOT-ENABLED MISSION CRITICAL COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES Nesma Telecom & Technology Co. Ltd. (Nesma), a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia-based multinational conglomerate Nesma Holding, announced its plans to provide multi-mode advanced mission critical communication technologies of Hytera for public safety and smart city projects in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other GCC countries. Nesma has partnered with radio transceivers and radio systems manufacture Hytera to introduce mission critical communication solutions for public safety and smart city projects in the region. Hytera is one of the world’s leading professional mobile radio communication solutions provider with presence in over 40 countries. Nesma is participating at GITEX Technology Week as part of its expansion plans in the region catering to wide-ranging projects related to smart cities, mission critical communication, public safety, power systems and energy service technologies. Nesma is an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracting company and systems integrator in the fields of energy and communication infrastructure. Nesma provides state-of-the-art turnkey projects and customized solutions to meet needs of its customers. Speaking on the sidelines of the GITEX, Mr. Salah Sami Al-Sunaid, CEO of Nesma Telecom & Technology, said, “We are happy to bring the next-generation technology solutions to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other GCC countries for all of our services especially in the area of smart cities verticals. In-line with the Saudi 2030 vision, Nesma is committed to increase local content in the offered technologies.
BATELCO AND AVAYA BRING CLOUD SOLUTIONS FOR BAHRAIN’S GROWING SMALL AND MEDIUM BUSINESSES Batelco, the leading digital solutions provider in the Kingdom of Bahrain has today signed with Avaya, an agreement whereby Batelco will offer Avaya’s market-leading portfolio of Contact Centre and Unified Communications solutions on an as-a-service basis through a cloud offering hosted in Bahrain. The agreement was signed by Batelco General Manager Enterprise Division Abderrahmane Mounir and Avaya Vice President – Middle East, Africa and Turkey Fadi Hani, during GITEX Technology Week 2019, where both companies are demonstrating the latest
innovations for the communications industry. The move is in line with the increasing customer demand for Avaya’s solutions to be delivered through a cloud-based model. Batelco will offer public and private cloudbased deployments of Avaya’s cloud solutions to customers and channel partners in Bahrain, hosting the solutions at its own data centre. Avaya’s cloud solutions are both flexible and scalable, eliminating the need for upfront capital investments. Customers need only
pay for what they use, and can scale up easily as their businesses grow. And the solutions’ enterprise-grade feature-sets mean that they are suitable for businesses of any size. “This fits in with Batelco’s strategy for the enterprise division, offering cutting edge digital solutions. Batelco aims at providing the sector with practical, flexible and affordable solutions that enables growth in the segment while providing high levels of performance and efficiency through the application of the latest cloud based solutions,” said Abderrahmane Mounir, GM Enterprise at Batelco.
SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC MAKES SIGNIFICANT STRIDES TO ENABLE SMART CITIES At GITEX Technology Week 2019, Schneider Electric, the leader in digital transformation of energy management and automation, welcomes visitors to explore emerging technologies that facilitate the development of Smart Cities and Digital Transformation in the Middle East and Africa.“The Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) continue to play a pivotal role in shaping our strategy towards an ecosystem that enables productivity and drives digital transformation – whether it be for an office building, a hospital, or a university.”, says Ahmed Khashan, President of Gulf Countries Schneider Electric.
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“Collaborative efforts between government and private bodies have been vital in fasttracking digital transformation initiatives and building sustainable, secure and reliable urban communities especially in the UAE.” The Schneider Electric booth at this year’s event highlights the company’s efforts and contributions in enabling digital cities effectively. While one experiential zone captures the essence of Smart Cities that catalyze the digital transformation of urban ecosystems by using IoT-enabled solutions, the other showcases Critical Buildings powered by EcoStruxure Building solutions facilitating
improved occupant satisfaction and productivity with customized and integrated technology boosting connectivity, safety and optimized and efficient use of energy in buildings. The ever-increasing urban population has resulted in growing energy demands, coupled with the advent of new technology and the need for smart cities that improve systems and create a sustainable and reliable infrastructure. The integration of smart solutions that promote the efficient use of resources and data plays a crucial role in this drive towards smart cities while improving safety, mobility and overall well-being.
Synergising the Mind & Technology Economy The biggest tech show in the Middle East, North Africa & South Asia
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GITEX 2019
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FOCUS SOFTNET LAUNCHES AIFA, AN AI ENABLED PLATFORM FOR BUSINESS Focus Softnet launched its artificial intelligence platform called AIFA, Artificially Intelligent Futuristic Applications, on the sidelines of Gitex 2019. AIFA is an advanced, automated platform meant to enhance business, increase productivity, and reduce investment in human training. The announcement and launch
was made at an event that also witnessed the participation of Tata Communication. Focus Softnet had previously announced its partnership with Tata Communications to host its cloud-based ERP solutions on the IZO Private Cloud platform. Tata Communications’ IZO Private Cloud platform helps Focus
Softnet to offer its cloud-based ERP solutions either as public cloud SaaS or as a private cloud option. With today’s launch, AIFA is meant to help businesses automate their processes and also build dashboards for analytics. As an advanced AI chatbot that uses machine learning, AIFA can understand queries and
respond intelligently. AIFA also helps in marking automatic attendance of employees using AI face recognition feature and gets integrated with any payroll and attendance system. Unlike humans who cannot be available during holidays or during the night, AIFA can work 24 hours, 365 days of the year
MID-WAY THROUGH THE YEAR, NOZOMI NETWORKS EXPERIENCED 500% REVENUE GROWTH Nozomi Networks is participating at Gitex for the second year. As IT and operational networks converge with each other, the attack surface for cyber threats is also expanding. Nozomi Networks is arming regional enterprises with proactive tools, delivering operational technology visibility, threat detection and insight within a single solution to end users of critical infrastructure,
energy, manufacturing, mining, transportation. Operational technology security is without a doubt a top priority for businesses worldwide; and a majority of buyers are now demanding IT and operational technology, converged solutions. “Gitex Technology Week 2019 is a perfect platform to showcase such tools,” said Marcus Josefsson, Nozomi Networks Director Middle East, Africa and
Russia. Cyber security challenges are expanding as the boundaries of industrial control systems become broader, interwoven, and interdependent. Nozomi Networks is using its participation at Gitex 2019 to educate customers on the shifting threat landscape as organisations embrace the benefits of the Industrial Internet of Things.
“Mid-way through the year, Nozomi Networks has experienced a 500% revenue growth, as our list of industryleading customers and expansion projects has exploded. As operational technology security matures and crosses IT and IoT borders, we continue to expand our global market presence and the breadth and depth of our solutions to help customers keep up” says Josefsson.
REGIONAL CUSTOMERS USING CLOUD TO FUTURE PROOF, SAYS SAGE Regional customers are adopting the cloud platform as a race to outperform their competitors. Five years ago, cloud skeptics dominated the crowd majority - today they are a minority. The driving need for regional end customers is to make sure their systems are future proof and to ensure their technology is cutting edge. The race to outpace competitors is around superior customer experience, feels Mansoor Sarwar, Regional Technical Director, Sage Middle East. “What we are seeing most of the customers are talking about is making sure their systems are future proof, and they are at the cutting edge of technology. They understand if the competition takes the decision before them to introduce leading augmented and virtual reality, embedded tools in the customer experience, they will take the customers away,” says Sarwar, so it is a race to secure customers before they exit for a superior experience, elsewhere. A typical inhibitor that prevents regional end customers, especially from the chiefs of finance, from adopting cloud platforms is their anxiety around security systems and data localization. To overcome this mindset, Sage conducted extensive thought leadership workshops, conference room pilots, and external datacentre site tours, to prove that internal datacentre security is usually weaker than public datacentres.
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GITEX 2019
ETISALAT ENTHRALLS VISITORS WITH AUTONOMOUS ROBO-VEHICLE AND FLYING MOTORCYCLE
Etisalat is pushing boundaries of innovation with its impressive digital showcase, signaling the new future of mobility at this year’s GITEX Technology Week.This is in line with Etisalat’s continuous efforts to boost the Dubai Government strategy to raise the share of autonomous transport to as much as 25% of the total transportation in the emirate by 2030. Autonomous technologies will get a boost with the 5G network enjoying the benefits of high speed and ultra-low latency influencing the development of self-driving cars making them faster, smarter and safer.In recent years, the mobility sector has seen tremendous innovation, change and disruption, with more power to change the world, user experience and connected services that are enabling the future of mobility. Electric vehicles, mobility as a service, and autonomous driving are changing how we work and go on in our daily lives.Etisalat’s objective is to drive the digital future by taking the lead in innovation to bring futuristic technologies from around the world to UAE and the region.
GLOBAL LAUNCH OF ZEMANA’S GROUNDBREAKING REAL-TIME DEEPFAKE DETECTION SDK
Zemana launches its newest product, Deepfake Detection SDK. This Software Development Kit supports real-time detection of deepfake videos, fake audio, and fake visual content, and can be easily integrated into a wide range of platforms. Cybersecurity faces an emerging threat known as “deepfakes”, the most powerful cyber-weapon in history. Deepfakes are AI-generated synthetic media, typically forged video footage. This kind of “fakery” was once limited to the film industry and intelligence agencies. Now AI advances have democratized it. Ordinary users can download deepfake software and create convincing videos smearing politicians, celebrities and company executives. The cyber security industry has only a short time to get ahead before the collapse of public trust in any media. There is a clear need to focus on creating solid detection algorithms. After months of intensive research, Zemana has designed Deepfake Detection SDK. This enables developers to add a multi-layered detection engine to a range of platforms. This will enable governments, social media sites, instant messaging apps, and news and media organizations to detect AI-made forgery in digital content before they cause harm to society. Samir Mujovic, Zemana Vice President of Business Development, said: “Deepfakes are going to be the first serious punch from artificial intelligence to humanity. We are very pleased to be unveiling our new product at GITEX, based on our proven expertise in technology and security software systems.”
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EVOTEQ AND KHAZNA TO BUILD SHARJAH’S FIRST TIER 3 DATA CENTRE EVOTEQ, the Middle East’s leading digital transformation catalyst, and Khazna, the UAE’s largest data centre wholesale providers, are collaborating with a view to jointly develop Sharjah’s first Tier 3 data centre. The data centre will enable faster and more efficient digital transformation of Sharjah, and its development into a smart city. The agreement was formalised by Jihad Tayara, CEO of EVOTEQ; and Hassan Al Naqbi, CEO of Khazna Data Centers in the presence of HH Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi, Director General of Sharjah Department of e-Government Relations; HE Sheikh Fahim bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Executive Chairman of Sharjah’s Department of Government Relations; HE Salim Al Owais, Chairman of EVOTEQ; Badr Al Olama, Senior Executive of Mubadala; and HE Khaled Al Huraimel, Executive Board member of EVOTEQ. Data centres are fast becoming the foundation blocks for enabling smart cities safeguarding business continuity, key operations and data sovereignty, which form the blueprint of smart cities. EVOTEQ and Khazna intend to combine their expertise to develop an industry-standard Tier 3 data centre, encompassing high-tech security, fire and environmental control systems, and full redundancy grade power. The collaboration is a response to the growing demand for secure, world-class data infrastructure by local and international entities. Target sectors of the new data centre include government departments, banks, universities, enterprises and technology companies. In addition to enabling and supporting the growth of Sharjah into a smart city, the planned data centre will also enhance business continuity and scalability opportunities for commercial and government entities. Furthermore, the data centre will support Sharjah’s goals for attracting global and leading technology companies to invest in the Emirate. This is part of the wider vision for the Emirate to bring sustainable economic returns and generating jobs for UAE nationals.Jihad Tayara, CEO of EVOTEQ, said of the announcement: “EVOTEQ aims to play a critical role in the region’s digital transformation, beginning with the UAE. Building a Tier 3 data centre in Sharjah will bring considerable digital experience and technological expertise to the table, and we are delighted to work with Khazna in developing this groundbreaking project.”
GITEX 2019
MINISTRY OF ECONOMY LAUNCHES ‘BUSINESS MAP’ AT GITEX 2019 The Ministry of Economy launched its ‘Business Map (BMap)’ platform in the presence of H.E. Eng. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, UAE Minister of Economy, during its participation at GITEX Technology Week 2019. The solution, developed by the Department of Strategy and Future, is a smart business management tool that provides comprehensive data on vital sectors and markets that help investors and entrepreneurs establish or expand a business. During his visit to the exhibition, the Minister of Economy reviewed a number of services and applications that are being showcased by the Ministry at its GITEX stand this year, in the presence of H.E Eng. Mohammed bin Abdul Aziz Al Shehhi, Undersecretary of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Economy; and H.E. Juma Mohammed Al Kait, Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy for Foreign Trade Affairs. The most notable among these is the MoE Dashboard
application, which displays smart reports about the services provided by the Ministry to customers. He also reviewed the official website of the National Program for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) of the Ministry of Economy, the registration procedures in its databases, and the information and services it provides to entrepreneurs to enhance their ability to further develop their businesses. The platform provides future forecasts of revenue, profits and industry growth by analyzing old and current data, which enables business owners to get an overview before starting operations. This analysis considers many factors such as GDP growth, industry growth and population, among many others. The platform also provides a unique business intelligence algorithm to deliver ideas and business plans to the right investors and people, enabling them to find suitable partners.
ADDA AND DOF SIGN AGREEMENT WITH AUTOMATION ANYWHERE ADDA & DoF will leverage Automation Anywhere’s expertise in the RPA industry to support increased skill development within the government sector to increase productivity and improve customer services. The MoU will enable thought leadership engagement for ADDA and DoF, with in-depth studies of challenges faced by government and private businesses that can be enabled by RPA. The thought leadership program will seek to build capacity within ADDA through several resources, including A-People, Automation Anywhere University and Automation Anywhere Public sector thought leaders. H.E. Dr. Rauda Al Saadi, Director General, Abu Dhabi Digital Authority, said: “Enhancing the digital capabilities and skills across Abu Dhabi Government entities is fundamental to what we do at ADDA. Our vision is to enable the digital transformation of all Abu Dhabi government entities, using emerging technologies and delivering pioneering government services and solutions. Our partnership with Automation Anywhere will reinforce our commitment to creating a world-class digital ecosystem in Abu Dhabi enabled by RPA solutions which will unlock efficiencies at scale.” “Strong finance processes form the backbone of a compelling administrative system, emerging technologies such as RPA promises to automate repetitive mundane tasks thus enabling our workforce to focus on insight-driven activities, helping the department to scale efficiently,” said H.E. Salah Mohammad Al Waswasi, Executive Director of Policy and Financial Systems Sector of Department of Abu Dhabi.
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STC BUSINESS AND BADIR PROGRAM SIGN AN AGREEMENT TO SUPPORT STARTUPS WITH INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS STC’s stand in GITEX witnessed the signing of a cooperation agreement with Badir Technology Incubators and Accelerators Program which aims at supporting the establishment and growth of entrepreneurial and startup projects. The agreement was signed by Mohammed Al Hakbani, Vice President of Enterprise Sales at STC and Nawaf Al Sahhaf, the CEO of Badir Program, in presence of HRH Mohammed bin Khaled Abdulla Al-Faisal, Chairman of STC, and STC Group CEO Nasser Al-Nasser. The agreement aims at supporting startups in the technology field through innovative solutions that contribute to raising the added value of the project. STC Business offers many services to SMEs from the establishment of an enterprise’s infrastructure to the day-to-day provision of technical services including phone, internet connection, and advanced services such as cloud computing, cybersecurity solutions, sales management, and the Internet of Things (IoT). In this context, Al Hakbani emphasized the importance of small and medium enterprises. He said that this sector is the backbone of the economy in most countries of the world, as it accounts for more than 90% of the total number of enterprises worldwide and contributes to 50% of GDP. He added that STC seeks to support this sector given that it is a great source of job opportunities. Statistics show that 50 to 60% of the total workforce works in enterprises classified as medium or small. Develop the technology incubators industry in Saudi Arabia As well as promote the concept of technology entrepreneurship and transform technology projects into successful business opportunities Badir Program seeks to support and develop the technology incubators industry in Saudi Arabia, as well as to promote the concept of technology entrepreneurship and transform technology projects into successful business opportunities. Badir Technology Incubators and Accelerators Program is among the most important national and creative environments supporting the establishment and growth of entrepreneurial projects and startups.It was founded in 2007 by King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology to support technology-based business venture opportunities and develop technology entrepreneurship.
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