Serious eGames Conference kicks off

"When I tell people that by 2012 the number of consumers using mobile phones to shop will be increasing by more than 25% a year, they ask: What's that got to do with us in Oman?" laughs Karim Rahemtulla MD, Infocomm, ahead of his participation at Monday's Knowledge Oasis Muscat and Information Technology Authority's Serious eGames Conference scheduled to be held at the Rusayl-based technology park.

"What people probably don't realize is that it's already here and in quite a big way. In fact, the very people who think it'll never happen here are probably already using it. After all downloading ring tones or wallpaper for your mobile is not that unusual, is it? And children often download games or songs through their phone. And using your phone for park and pay is a popular option here too these days. And these transactions are exactly what m-commerce is all about."

Infocomm is Oman's leading m-service provider and behind many of the m-commerce services available here in Oman, such as weather forecasts, football results, stock updates and of course park and pay - so Rahemtulla is in a good position to comment. "m-commerce has definitely arrived in Oman and all the indications are that it is only going to get bigger. Just look at the mobile penetration here in Oman and as the applications available develop, as speeds increase, it's going to take off in a very big way. The arrival of 3G has already made a big difference."

Rahemtulla goes on to say: "There's all kinds of research around with projected figures for the growth of m-commerce. I recently read Juniper Research that projected global m-commerce transactions will be worth $88bn by 2009. While that figure is startling in itself what's really interesting is that the average transaction is valued at just $3. It's the downloading of ring tones and using park and pay that's driving this phenomena."

"At a personal level," Rahemtulla adds, "I'm fascinated by the possibilities opened up by the use of virtual worlds in gaming as a platform for retail and its implications for m-commerce and I'm really excited about exploring this concept at the eGames Conference."

In addition to Rahemtulla, the Serious eGames conference has attracted leading gaming experts from Europe and the US. "The focus of this year's event is on the use of serious gaming technology to Oman's heritage, culture, tourism, education and health. We're delighted to be partnering with ITA this year - they bring substantial added value to the two-day progam. In addition, we've also got Ericsson, Infocomm, Nawras, UMS and Huawei as supporters, when you've this type of organization backing you then you know you're on the right path," says Mohammed Al Maskari, Director General, KOM.