Under the patronage of Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, the two-day MEET ICT 2011 kicks off on Monday under the slogan “The Convergence of ICT Leaders” at Crowne Plaza Hotel.
The Conference draws participation of more than 300 executives, specialists and experts in the field of information and communication technology from over 30 countries to discuss ways of developing technologies in the region and mechanisms of addressing emerging challenges, in addition to exchanging experiences in this domain.
MEET ICT 2011 will provide an opportunity to hear from more than 28 international and regional speakers and have insight into a variety of topics related to ICT: namely, the Latest Trends in Information Technology, Innovation and Information Technology, Government to Business – Opportunities and Challenges, in addition to ICT Regional Development and the Digital Economy and ICT.
The first session of day one, moderated by Ali Al-Mishal from ICT Knowledge Club, will focus on “Innovation and Information Technology”. Speaker Ramzi Zeine, Executive Chairman, STS will share ideas on how to enable eCommerce in the Arab world, Ahmed F. El-farr’a, CEO of PALiNVEST Corporation will discuss eGovernment and Innovation, Mr. David Hughes, Intercai Mondiale, MENA will shed lights on the” Emerging disruption of the telecommunications and media markets by mobile device”, while Dr. Ahmed Nasser, Jury Head, eShabab Program will talk about Bahrain youth experience in the Innovation field.
The second session of day one will be moderated by Sammy Al-Jameea, CIO of Bank Muscat International (BMI). This discussion panel session will bring insight on “Government to Business – Opportunities and Challenges”. Participants are: Dr. Zakareya Ahmed Al Khaja, Director of Policies and Business Processes Re-engineering Bahrain eGovernment Authority, Mohamed Mahmoud, Private Sector Manager, Microsoft Bahrain, Abdulla Al-Baloushi, Managing Director of Omzest, Oman and Jameel Al-Sharaf, Vice President of Mumtalkat, Bahrain.
The theme of Day 2 sessions is “Innovation and Information Technology” and the discussion Moderator will be Hasan Al-Shehabi, BBK. On session3, Speakers will explore a number of topics including “SafeSurf Bahrain” by Nick Truman, Telecommunication Regulatory Authority, “Social Media the Power of Marketing by Hesham Al-Sawi, President and Founder of Cairo IT Solutions, “The Arab Telecom and Broadband Markets” by Jawad J. Abbassi, Founder and General Manager of Arab Advisory Group, and finally “eHealth Services Development” by José Cubelos, Executive Director, Indra Sistema, Spain.
Moreover, Session 4 under the theme “Latest Trends in Information Technology” will be moderated by Ahmed Naeemi, ICT Knowledge Club. Abdulla Al-Baloushi will focus on Information Security Challenges, Dr. Amer Al-Rubea, Canadain ICT Expert, will discuss “Building Capacity for a Knowledge Society in the Arab World with the Use of ICT”.
Rania Al-Maghraby, from the Egyptian Association for IT Service Management will provide an overview on the ITSM Industry , and concluding the session, Dr. Mohamed Baqer University of Bahrain will explore the concept of “Internet of Things: Concepts and Applications”.
The second day of the event will witness session 5, moderated by Dr. Ahmed Nasser, entitled: “Digital Economy and ICT” where the following topics will be discussed: “ICT Capacity to Build a Knowledge-Based Economy” by Hadeel Al-Obaidi, ICT Expert, “The Impact of ICT on Economic Growth” by Emad Atiyeh, Vice President, Lumiaro Technologies, “The Impact of ICT on the Development of Human Knowledge” by Mashael Basheer ICT Expert, “The Impact of ICT on Educational Reform and Economic Development” by Ahmed Al-Hujairy CEO of Gulf Future Business.
The day two will include the Conference closing session which will be shared by Dr. Nasser Fouad, Advisor to the Minister, Ministry of State for Administrative Development, Egypt and Esam Hadi, Chairman MEET ICT 2011 Conference.
MEET ICT Expo will concurrently be held with MEET ICT 2011 over two days 20th and the 21st of June at the Crowne Plaza and represents an excellent opportunity for specialized entities in the field of ICT to showcase their main related activities, and network and interact with different parties and experts at a local and a regional level. The Expo is open to the public to see explore the latest technologies from 9a.m- 5p.m.
The Conference is organized by Gulf Future Business with strategic partnerships with Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), the eGovernment Authority and Bahrain ICT Suppliers Trade Association (BISTA).
MEET ICT 2011 aims at supporting the growth of ICT industry in the Kingdom f Bahrain, attract specialized global ICT providers to invest in Bahrain besides exchanging experience and expertise in the field of information technology and encouraging government and private sectors to develop ICT industry in the Kingdom.