Challenges within ICT industry to be addressed at Gitex Global Conference

The Gitex Technology Week Global Conference is the region's largest and most high-profile technology forum, attracting senior executives from some of the Middle East's most dynamic business and government organisations, as well as developers from the world's leading IT companies.

This year's Gitex Global Conference programme entitled 'Defining the Value of IT in a Challenging Economy' has been expanded to include an impressive 40 tracks. It will run from 18 - 22 October 2009 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

"The Gitex Global Conference is the opportune occasion for senior decision makers to transfer knowledge and share industry best practices. The regional IT industry today remains one of the most active sectors in this challenging global economy and companies are positioning themselves in preparation for business recovery. This conference is designed to help executives focus on defining the business in leveraging technology to thrive and strive in growth,"

said Helal Saeed Almarri, CEO, Dubai World Trade Centre.

A keynote speech from Microsoft's Corporate Vice President of the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Division at Microsoft, Steven Guggenheimer will open Gitex Technology Week on Sunday 18 October 2009. Mr. Guggenheimer will present the latest technology and solutions of Microsoft's much anticipated operating system Windows 7.

Top industry executives, including Abdulla Al Awar, CEO, Dubai International Financial Centre Authority, along with Malek Sultan Al Malek, Executive Director, Dubai Internet City and Lt Col Khalid Nasser Alrazooqi, Assistant General Director in-charge of IT, Naturalization & Residency Administration, Dubai will introduce the day's programme of progressive forums designed to address a range of critical topics within the region's evolving IT community.

On Monday 19 October 2009, Mr. Stephen Murdoch, VP and GM, Large Enterprise Business Unit, EMEA, Dell will highlight the importance of executives needing to invest in the right tools to not only enhance performance, but stay on top of the industry.

"In the Middle East Gitex Technology Week is the premier vehicle to discuss, promote, and explore trends shaping the IT industry. Conferences are a major chance for decision makers of various industries to come together and address common issues impacting their businesses," commented Stephen Murdoch.

Senior ICT decision makers and CEOs attending the exhibition will be able to take advantage of the new 'Leaders in Industry' Breakfast Briefings. Executives can expect to gain insight and best practice tips from the likes of Bobby Cameron, Vice President, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research and Elias N Bayeh, VP, Executive Programmes, Gartner Research. These informative sessions will run from 9am at the Dubai World Trade Club on the 19 - 22 October 2009.

"The platform for dialogue provided by the Global Conference at Gitex Technology Week has always drawn influential industry decision makers. Conferences are a major opportunity for executives to learn and share best practices, especially in a globally challenging scenario. At Forrester we have the market and industry knowledge to help executives tackle sensitive issues," said Bobby Cameron, Vice President, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research.

As companies are potentially confronted with reduced revenue and profit, decision makers are increasingly relying on ground-breaking industry data. Addressing executives as part of the leaders in industry breakfast session is Elias N Bayeh, VP, Executive Programmes, Gartner Research, "Decision makers must learn to adapt to economic challenges and conferences are ideal forums to discuss and scrutinise key trends."

Further sessions dedicated to C-level executives include the 'Business Meets IT' tracks which look closely at the trends driving IT business alignment and enterprise challenges. These sessions cover topics including 'Staying on top: It's all about performance', 'Knowing your customers and keeping them', 'Maximise and Optimise: powering growth during tough times' and 'Government 2.0: IT in the public sector.'

A dedicated track for Gulfcomms will look at the emerging trends in the region's telecom and communication industry. Wireless broadband, triple-play, fixed mobile convergence, and unified communications and VoIP are just some of many topics that will be outlined and discussed.

The Global Conference this year also include sessions dedicated to CIO's in the banking sector, as financial institutions leverage on IT to consolidate growth and drive revenue, executives can benefit from high level discussion on topics such as IT in Islamic banking, compliance, and IT modernisation of the banking sector.

There remains a need for organisations across sectors to keep up-to-date with emerging methodologies. A series of collaboration workshops designed to help executives enhance their knowledge is one of the 40 new tracks at global conferences.

On Thursday, 22 October 2009 trade visitors will also be able to attend a Developers Day for technical executives, IT managers and programmers. Speakers include senior representatives from Microsoft, Oracle, Red Hat and Sun Microsystems.

Another facet of the Gitex Global Conference is the SMB Solution Panel Debates sponsored by AMD; a series of sessions which will focus on the needs of Small to Medium Businesses by encouraging interaction between business executives, IT Managers, and a group of leading panellists, in a Q&A format.

Gitex Technology Week will open from 1pm - 7pm on Sunday 18 October 2009 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. On Monday 19 October to Wednesday 21 October, the event will run from 10am - 7pm, and on Thursday 22 October the show will open at 10am and close at 5pm. The Consumer Electronics section of Gitex Technology Week will be open free to the public on Thursday 22 October for product previews only.