Industry leaders to debate on the future of ICT at the Dubai Internet City Community Zone at Gitex

Moderated by star Dubai Eye radio anchor Richard Dean and other presenters, the panel discussions will be held every day of Gitex Dubai at the DIC Community Zone's presentation area. Open to anyone attending GITEX, each session will comprise a 60-minute discussion by a panel of experts followed by a question and answer session.

The most anticipated session in the Reality Check series is 'The Great Telecom Debate', in which telecom industry leaders like Osman Sultan, CEO of du, Mohammed Al Ghanem, Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) and Essa Al Haddad, Chief Marketing Officer of Etisalat will share their perspectives on the fast-growing UAE's telecom industry. Other sessions addressing IT entrepreneurship, the role of women in IT, mobility, IT security, open source software and business intelligence will feature a lively and open debate on critical regional issues. All the sessions are expected to draw large audiences at Gitex.

Jamal Abdul Salam, Executive Director of Dubai Internet City said: "Reality Check was conceived as a forum to discuss key issues that will determine the future of our ICT sector. We are looking to create a unique forum that brings together a rich variety of perspectives from an ICT industry that is entering a new period of mature growth. We hope the discussions will spark new ideas on the development of our ICT industry."

Other participants in the Reality Check series include CEOs, regional directors and IT Heads of leading companies like Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, Hewlett Packard, Symantec, ABN Amro, eHosting DataFort, i-mate, Acer Middle East, Intel, Fujitsu Siemens and Dubai eGovernment.

The Dubai Internet City Community Zone at Gitex 2006 is located in Concourse 2, between Exhibition Hall 8 and the Sheikh Maktoum Hall at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.