Leading authorities on technology to speak at the Saudi Technology Forum

The two-day forum, to be held between 1-2 April is part of Saudi Technology Week organised by the Jeddah Marketing Board (JMB) in association with the London Business School and INSEAD (France's leading business school). Guest speakers from some of the world's leading IT companies will attend, including IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle, and be led by several government ministers. Other speakers will be from consulting firm Accenture and the news agency Reuters. The theme for the inaugural forum is "Realities in a Virtual World: The Future for Business in a Digital Economy."

HE Dr Bassem Awadallah, the Minister of Planning of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, will make the first day's keynote address. The President of King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) is also scheduled to address the forum with senior government figures from the Saudi telecommunications sector.

Some of the world's leading academic authorities on the application of technology are also to speak, including John Stopford, the professor of International Business at the London Business School, Jeffery Sampler, an associate professor of Information Management and Strategy also at the London Business School, and Anton Morland Musgrave, the managing director of Wealth Planning for Citadel Investment Services, one of the world's leading financial institutions based in South Africa.

Amr Dabbagh, the chairman of the JMB, said that the forum would provide government and commercial institutions with an invaluable opportunity to learn about and assess new technology and its effect upon social, economic, and commercial strategies. "The programme will examine how technology impacts the way we communicate and compete," he said.