The curtain came down on GITEX Technology Week 2014 today, ending five days of futuristic product launches, progressive conferences and a series of engaging education forums, industry briefings and exhibitor networking events which delivered demonstrable ROI for more than 100,000 visitors from 150 countries.

With market research company Gartner anticipating a growth rate of eight per cent in regional ICT spending this year - compared with global growth of just 2.1 per cent - more than 3,700 exhibitors from 61 countries leveraged the 34th edition of the largest ICT event in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) to showcase cutting-edge solutions,

GITEX TECHNOLOGY WEEK 2014 DRIVES REGIONAL ICT INDUSTY TO NEW HEIGHTS

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million dirham deals and strategic partnerships with a host of regional private and public sector entities, while highlighting how cutting-edge products and innovations can drive regional Smart City and Smart Government initiatives. Heavyweight regional and international companies signing major deals and strategic agreements at the show included Cisco, Ericsson, Avaya, Saudi Telecom Company (STC), Dell, HP, Microsoft, Etisalat and du.

“STC is going through a major transformation in ICT and GITEX is the best place to connect and network with customers,’’ said Dr. Tarig Mohammed Enaya, Senior VP Enterprise Business Unit, STC, which

services and products, and share transformational developments across the show’s four knowledge themes: Smart, Cloud, Big Data and Mobility.

“GITEX is unique in this region; there is no other event that gives us the opportunity to meet with peers, competitors, customers and partners – it’s been very busy this year and non-stop for us,” said Saaed Agha, General Manager, Middle East, Palo Alto Networks. “It’s our second year at GITEX; we want to be sending a statement to our customers and our partners that we’re here and we’re investing in the region. “

Leading international technology companies leveraged GITEX Technology Week to secure multi-

Show dates: 12-16 October 2014, Dubai World Trade Centre | AT GITEX TECHNOLOGY WEEK | Exhibition hours: 10am -6pm

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GITEX...extended its long-standing partnership with Ericsson to transform, expand and upgrade its network in Saudi Arabia, while also announcing the launch of Manchester United Television (MUTV) in the Kingdom.

“GITEX Technology Week has hosted an outstanding line-up of conferences and events to drive regiona technology adoption and provide thought leadership for the region’s ICT industry,’’ said Trixie LohMirmand, Senior Vice President, Exhibitions & Events Management, Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), the show organiser. “We’ve witnessed a bumper amount of strategic deals for both global brands and local technology leaders, and delivered an excellent turnout of high-quality visitors which has created strong, demonstrable ROI for all our attendees. GITEX is now woven into the innovative fabric of the ICT industry – both regionally and globally.’’

Away from the bumper deals and partnerships, highlights of GITEX Technology Week 2014 included the second annual Cloud Awards, which recognised the most innovative, cutting-edge implementations of Cloud technology in the region; the return of the Big Data Conference, which featured an international panel of industry thought-leaders, and a series of tailored Industry Briefings, which delivered intensive knowledge-sharing and networking for C-level executives in key industry verticals including banking and finance, retail, government and healthcare.

With a 53-screen network across the show-floor - plus daily coverage through the GITEX Live Blog - GITEX TV emerged as the show’s principal broadcast medium. The dedicated in-house TV format featured breaking news, exhibitor interviews, live twitter feeds, exciting innovations from the exhibition floor and edited daily highlights programmes.

New features at GITEX Technology Week 2014 included one of the

most expansive and diverse smart technology experiences ever assembled at an international ICT trade show. The Smart engagement began with a seamless and paperless registration, check-in and payment process – just one aspect of a new ‘On Track for the Smart Experience’ initiative run in conjunction with Etisalat, the show’s Official Smart Experience Partner.

Designed to evolve the overall attendee journey by integrating the latest ICT innovations such as smart networking and interactive navigation and marketing powered through the enhanced GITEX TECHNOLOGY WEEK App, ‘On Track for the Smart Experience’ gave visitors more power and freedom to navigate the show floor, connect with exhibitors and fellow attendees, manage daily calendars, find conferences and workshops, and even win a brand-new first Lincoln MKC from the show’s Official Smart Car Partner.

Other new features inside the 1,100,000 square feet show included

live blogs in English & Arabic, strategically-placed advanced Bluetooth technology-enabled iBeacons and interactive way-finding touch screens.

“Every year we see GITEX getting better than ever before in terms of structure, organisation, services, the space itself and the quality of visitors,’’ said Alaa Alshimy, VP Enterprise Group and MD, MENA, HP. “GITEX is the biggest forum for IT in this part of the world and we are very glad and honoured to be here every single year.”

Finally, GITEX Technology Week’s positioning as a strategic gateway into the growing Middle East and African ICT market was reflected by the choice of Nigeria - Africa’s largest economy, population and high-growth ICT market - as the show’s Official Country Partner. Nigeria, which has 120 million mobile users and 87 per cent mobile penetration by population according to IDC, used GITEX Technology Week to attract foreign investment into its ICT infrastructure to support its rapidly expanding technology market.

Omar Fakhri, Head of Sales, Middle East and Africa, AMD, is delighted with the company’s slot

on the bustling Dubai World Trade Centre concourse outside Hall 6.

Having exhibited at GITEX for

a number of years, Fakhri feels company is beginning to gather momentum in its presence at the event. “We’ve pushed to increase our offering this year,” he says. “We’re now in a much more bustling location in a part of the centre that has one of the highest footfalls. We’re working hard to make sure our brand name is showcased, and that’s why we’re here.”

This year, the company is “much more equipment focused”, and Fakhri is keen to draw attention to the “world’s fastest” graphics card – the 295 X2. It also has an interactive display, and is hosting a Local Area Network gaming contest, some of the contestants in which compete internationally. “We’re very

thankful to the gaming community who have been very welcoming to AMD,” Fakhri says.

The company is not launching any new products at the event, but Fakhri feels there is plenty on offer to keep customers entertained. “Gamers and PC users have been sucked into our stand,” he says. “As part of our green drive we’ve also got energy efficient desktop processors on show, as well as Eyefinity, our high-end desktop processor.”

Fakhri is keen to highlight the value that AMD places on its partner programs. “We are working closely with distributors and local dealers to grow our regional presence, and believe this collaborative approach will yield results.”

Box has been actively selling cloud solutions in the Middle East market for two years. The company has brought to GITEX this year Enterprise Content Management solutions that collect content from all end points, share them across the various business group, and have secure links.

“Being able to sell cloud solutions to the CIO in the Middle East is an accomplishment for us.

Compared to Europe, the region did pose a challenge initially,” said Wayne Cook, VP-EMA, Box.“To date, the adoption has been pretty good. The knowledge base of what Box is increasing - this year we have companies coming to us instead of the other way around. We have around 2,500 customers around the year. We had hosted a CIO dinner for 40 partners from across the region at GITEX yesterday,” he added.

Granteq Distribution, which distributes learning and communication technologies (LCT), has been exhibiting at GITEX for the last six years. “Active in the Middle East market for 10 years, the company has brought three solutions to GITEX this year – Telehealth that equips a doctor with all the diagnostic tools remotely, an online video-banking solution

for call centres, and SMEETS used for meeting room management,” Girish Narayanan, Managing Director, Granteq Distribution said. The company’s vendors for the Middle Eastern region are Vidyo, Vivitek and AMD for Telehealth and online video-banking solutions. SMEETS is a flagship product of the company which was launched at GITEX.

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AMD makes GITEX push

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Granteq Distribution launches SMEETS

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SMSGlobal wraps up Gitex participation

Mobile messaging technology organisation SMSGlobal has enjoyed a fantastic week at GITEX Technology Week in Dubai, UAE.

This is SMSGlobal’s 4th year

exhibiting at GITEX and the SMS specialists are looking to further expand their presence, to North Africa and the surrounding GCC region. MENA Regional Manager,

Bryan Flanagan is new to the team and brings 17 years of experience in the telecom and mobile messaging industries. “At GITEX, we have found that our offering has resonated really well with the Enterprise customer, especially in Financial Services and Banking, Aviation, Retail and Tourism, historically a few of SMSGlobal’s strongest industries” Flanagan explains.

SMSGlobal are investing heavily in the MENA region and GITEX provides the ideal platform for promoting their recently released MXT web messaging platform. MXT is targeted at the Enterprise and SME organisation looking to engage their customer stakeholders via the mobile channel. The platform features best in class campaign

tools, powerful real time reporting and database management. Flexible integration options are also available to customers looking to leverage the investment already made in corporate applications, to extend their reach to include SMS capability. Similarly, SMSGlobal provides ‘powered-by’ and white-labelled offering to channel partners, such as software vendors and system integrators looking to expand their capabilities.

GITEX Technology Week 2014 has also provided the SMSGlobal team with a chance to engage some of their existing customers in the region, including visits from Dubai Islamic Bank, Samsung, UAE Football Association, Carrefour and Etihad Airways.

AMD makes GITEX push

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