Middle East Cloud & Datacenter Convention & Awards 2022

Tuesday, 18th October 2022

Middle East Cloud & Data Centre Convention

Businesses across the Middle East are rapidly adopting new technologies, such as 5G, artificial intelligence and machine learning as part of their digital transformation strategy. Adoption of these technologies is driving an increase in data volume and network bandwidth requirements. Rapid developments to cater to these requirements especially in network connectivity, overwhelming government support, and growth in the adoption of cloud, big data, and IoT services have been strong drivers for the growth of the UAE data centre industry.

Like a cherry on top, Smart City initiatives in key Middle Eastern countries, such as the UAE and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), are driving the uptick in data centre demand by encouraging digital innovations.

Data growth and evolving digital innovations, and Increasing operational business requirements are prompting enterprises to migrate from on-premises, server room operations to data centre services including managed, colocation, and hybrid facilities. It is estimated that more than 70% of Middle East companies will have multi-cloud environments in place in the next two years and there is a prediction of a significant increase in investment by public cloud service providers.

So, we decided to put together this must-attend convention as it delves into the game-changing technologies and cutting-edge data management strategies of the data center, cloud, and cyber security in the Middle East region. This one-day blended convention and networking event will attract key stakeholders, end users, service providers, operators, consultants, etc. within the Middle East data center & cloud ecosystem to drive digital disruption across the region.

So, do join us at the Middle East Cloud & Data Centre Convention 2022 as we bring in the top data center, cloud and cyber security thought leaders of the community!

Our Sponsors:

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Our Conference Agenda:

TIME	TOPIC
O8: 00 AM	Registration
09:00 AM	Welcome Address by Naveen Lawrence, Director – Sales & Marketing, W.Media
09:10 AM	Principal Address by Chief Guest Businesses across the Middle East are rapidly adopting new technologies, such as 5G, artificial intelligence and machine learning as part of their digital transformation strategy. Adoption of these technologies is driving an increase in data volume and network bandwidth requirements. The key address will discuss the disruptive initiatives that are put forth and are shaping data centre, cloud, IT and enterprise industry of the Middle East.
09: 20 AM	Power Panel Session Data Centre of Middle East – The Economy Drivers of the ‘New Digital World Order’ Despite COVID-19, the Middle East data centre market has remained buoyant which has helped enterprises migrate from on-premises server room operations to data centre services such as managed, colocation, and hybrid facilities due to increasing operational business requirements. The market is thus, evolving, and investments are expected to rise significantly with contributions from local and global data center operators. Thus, the movers and shakers of the data centre industry, are leaving no stones unturned with their new launches, innovative offerings, and solutions on advanced technologies. This power-packed panel of thought leaders who have been experiential learners of managing mission-critical data centres would throw definite light on how the data centres can now be perceived as the new ‘Economy Drivers’ of the New ‘Online’ World Order. Panelists Eng. Maqbool Al Wahaibi, CEO, Oman Data Park Musab Abdullah Executive Director, Bahrain Economic Development Board Kamel Tawil, Managing Director, Equinix
10:15 AM	Coffee Break \| Expo \| Technology Presentations \| Speed Networking \| VIP Brunch Briefings
10:45 AM	Panel Discussion Creating a Sustainable Data Centre Landscape With A Supporting Stack of New-Gen Technologies A scalable and efficient data center is crucial in constructing and operating a stable economy. So, amidst the need of reducing carbon footprint, we also are witnessing the need for flexibility, scalability, security, availability and connectivity that the emerging Internet of Things trends are demanding. So, the race is on to find and secure sites, design and build suitable data centre facilities, and staff and operate them with the utmost efficiency all the while making sure they run on new-gen infrastructure and technologies. Panelists Ellis Wang, Senior Advisor, Board Of The Executive & Advisory Team, The Private Office of Sheikh Seed bin Ahmed Al Maktoum Timothy Bawtree, Founder & CEO, Quantum Switch Tamer Hamed, Chief Information Officer, Dubai Cable Company – Ducab Hessam Seifi, Managing Director, DC PRO Syed Beary, Founder & CMD, Bearys Group
11:30 AM	Technology Presentation
11:50 PM	Panel Discussion Blueprint to the Real Deal – Unmasking the Challenges! Advances in data centre capacity and infrastructure brought on by the COVID-19 disruption have changed the business world, presenting many questions regarding the data centre designs of today and tomorrow. With such a massive paradigm shift, came new challenges – double-fold increase in connectivity requirements, mandatory focus on being sustainable, risk management, and building a resilient, and crisis-proof infrastructure design. This panel discussion will throw some definite light on how to deal with a multitude of infra, facility and storage design complexities — balancing 24/7 and 365 days of operations with rising power demands, heightened risks, and the urgent need to cut the sector’s carbon emissions and how the R&D team with their innovative solutions keeping these challenges under check. Panelists Manal Allam, Middle East IT Head & Business Partner, Merck Group Sheeba Hasnain, Senior IT & Digital Transformation Specialist Arif Khan, CEO, Coredge.io Muhamed Noufel, Cluster IT Manager, Royal Continental Hotels & Suites
12:30 PM	Lunch \| Expo \| Networking \| Technology Presentations \| VIP Lunch Briefings
1:30 PM	Technology Presentation Advocating the role of POC studies in data centre procurement: An end user perspective Speakers Tim Chambers, Director & Founder, Exuvi8 Angela Meah, Director/Owner, Exuvi8 Sarmad Najim, Manager – TRA Building Project, Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority
01:50 PM	Panel Discussion The Big Switch – Aligning, Collaborating, and Co-innovating with Hyperscale Data Centres Enterprises are adopting colocation services and in the most significant illustration of transformation, hyperscale data centers have emerged as a visionary solution that can propel your data center environment past obstacles, past limitations, past the industry peers, and past what you thought was impossible. This panel will discuss on this ongoing transformation, including the nature of the current data center infrastructure, enterprise demand for colocation, revenue structure, and hyperscale cloud provider impact on supply, revenue, and overall competitive market structure. Moderator Alfonso Gutierrez, Cloud Advisory and Transformation Services Lead – Enterprise Solutions & Cloud, KPMG Lower Gulf Panelists Ross Macdonald, Construction Project Manager, Data Centre Delivery Middle East & Africa Region, Microsoft Rajnish Sharma, Director – IT Infrastructure & DevOps, G42 Mayank Trivedi, Executive Vice President, NTT Global Data Centres India
2:35PM	Panel Discussion Is Artificial Intelligence the New ‘Black’ in Data & Cyber Security? While cyber attacks are considered negative disruptors, AI is considered as a disruptor of a new hyper tech era. With looming concerns about digital sovereignty and the resilience of vital operations, deploying AI to safeguard organisations against AI-augmented hacking attempts has therefore become a necessary part of cyber security defense protocols. This panel will discuss how can organisations use AI to become more resilient to cyber crime and anticipate and respond to changes in the threat landscape over time. These cyber – ops commanders discuss how a combination of AI and cyber security can make an organisation the powerhouse in this new digital world. Moderator Taha Hussain, Information Security Specialist, Public Utility Company – Dubai Panelists Dr. Hamad Khalifa, Head of Telecommunications Section – Information Technology Center, Abu Dhabi Police General Head Quarters Bader Husni Zyoud, Senior Information Security & Risk Management Specialist & Incidents Manager, Finance Department, Government of Sharjah Gino George, Head of Analytics & AI, First Abu Dhabi Bank Jeevan Badigari, Director‑IT Governance and Security, DAMAC Group
03:15 PM	Coffee Break
3: 30 PM	Panel Discussion IoT, Edge Computing & 5G – For the Ever Evolving Consumer Behaviour & Hybrid Environment AI, edge, and 5G are combining with cloud to increase the capabilities of companies across sectors, from the core to the edge, in the new era of hybrid, multi-cloud explosion. But where and how do you begin? This panel will look at prospects in the Middle East and strategies to bring new ideas and initiatives to reality and how via a truly open approach, enterprises can choose the right combination of technology and solutions to ensure success and transform the ways they design, build, run, and dramatically scale their applications. Moderator Anoop Paudval, Head Information Security, Gulf News Panelists Frederik Bisbjerg, Senior Vice President, National Health Insurance Company – Daman Althea Davis, Chief Data Officer, Abu Dhabi Digital Authority (ADDA) Latifa Saleh AlShehhi, Head of Data Management, Roads and Transport Authority Ahmad Altarawneh, Senior Strategic Consultant Digital Transformation, Dubai Police General HQ
04:15 PM	Panel Discussion Enterprises’ Leveling Up – Critical Questions To Ask Your Colo & Cloud Providers Finding the right partner to keep your operations running 24/7/365 is a critical piece of the puzzle. Given the changes that are taking place in the colocation environment, it is no longer sufficient to simply ask potential colo vendors about space, costs, security, and power/cooling capabilities. Similarly, cloud computing, & migration, though a key goal, is a daunting business initiative that can take years as you transition into a brand new environment. Thus, a vendor needs to ensure zero downtime, robust DC design, scalable infra, maximum working hours, exercising all due diligence, etc – to make the enterprise feel confident about its service. In today’s market, as we grow in terms of innovations and technical complexity, an enterprise should expect more out of the supplier. So, what are the questions to ask? The industry panel discusses some of the most important ones to get you started. Moderator Edward van Leent, Chairman & CEO, EPI Group of Companies Panelists Padam Kafle, Head IT and Automation – Healthcare Information Technology, Aster Hospitals
5:00 PM	W.Media Middle East Awards
5:30 PM Onwards	Closing Remarks & Networking with Drinks