Interviews

The 2nd edition of Smart Cities World Forums was held on December 11th at the Meydan Hotel, Dubai, UAE, under the theme “Building the SMART Future”. The event offered the attendees the opportunity to know more about all aspects of smart cities and meet leaders in this particular field. Smart Cities World Forums spoke to Eng. Mohammed Alsharif, Program Director Madinah Smart City, AlMadinah AlMunawara Development Authority, who explained the Authority’s role in accelerating digital transformation in the Kingdom.

The 11th edition of Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit offered a great opportunity to meet regional and international industry C-level leaders. One of them was Chris de Josselin, CEO, StrataNet, who attended the event and took part in a panel that focused on cybersecurity measures in light of the increase in data traffic.

Telecom Review TV managed to secure an exclusive interview with PCCW Global CEO, Marc Halbfinger onsite at the 11^th edition of the Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit following his presentation at the industry-leading conference.

In a brilliant interview, Halbfinger discusses the unique aspects of its recent acquisition of Console Connect and how it will help the telco provider become a digital platform of choice for hybrid cloud and automated networks.

In addition to this, he discusses its Proof of Concept (PoC) with blockchain technology and its major PEACE cable project it has embarked upon with HENGTONG Group.

US multinational conglomerate Cisco is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of networking hardware and telecommunications equipment. The technology thought-leader is considered by many within the ICT industry to be a global leader and pioneer in championing and developing new innovative products and solutions.

Telecom Review managed to secure an exclusive interview with Michael Yeung, Head of Engineering for Elastic Services Controller at Cisco, at the Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit. The Cisco executive delivered a detailed and fascinating keynote presentation which focused on automation at the 2-day conference which was held from Dec 10-11^th at The Meydan Hotel in Dubai.

In an excellent and engaging interview, Yeung outlined the challenge he faces in terms of convincing communications service providers to embark upon digital transformation, noting that while some are aggressive, others remain conservative.

Nokia is one of the world’s leading telecommunication vendors and it has adopted a progressive approach to a new industry vertical that has emerged in the last number of years, which is the development of smart cities on a global scale.

The Finnish ICT leader has formulated a cohesive and coherent plan in relation to smart cities in an effort to position itself as a major player in the smart cities ecosystem.

At the 11th edition of the Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit, we managed to secure an exclusive interview with Head of Global Smart City Solutions at Nokia, Dr. Muneer Zuhdi.

In a brilliant interview, the Nokia executive predicted which technologies he feels will propel the entire smart city movement on a global scale, highlighted his own roles and responsibilities at the Finnish vendor, explained what differentiated Nokia from its competitors and outlined his objectives and goals for 2019.

The world of ICT was once a male-dominated environment, but the landscape has changed significantly over the years. Telecom Review aims to celebrate that diversity and the shifting of demographics in the telecommunications and technology industry by conducting a special series of interviews every month which are entitled ‘Women in ICT’.

In this month’s feature, we managed to secure an exclusive interview with Wassan Athamina, Head of Alliance Management, ME, Africa & Balkans at PCCW Global. We spoke to her at the Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit 2018, where she was a moderator for a panel discussion that focused on the challenges emerging in the cybersecurity space.

In a brilliant interview, the PCCW Global executive conceded that whilst the ICT industry had made great strides in terms of gender equality and fairness, it still had a lot of work to do. In addition to this, she spoke of her gratitude to PCCW Global for being afforded such a senior position within the organization, and outlined her objectives and goals within her role over the next twelve months.

MATRIXX has enjoyed phenomenal growth in the Middle East market over the last number of years, since entering the region in 2015. Its success in the Middle East is largely down to the role played by Ali Harfouche, Vice President, & Head of Sales, MEA. 

Dr. Ahmed Bin Ali, SVP, Corporate Communications, Etisalat Group highlighted the focus this year at the GITEX Technology Week, ‘Driving the Digital Future to Empower Societies’, built on a vision to provide futuristic solutions and services that will have a fundamental impact on people’s lives.

The UAE leadership wants 25percent of all transportation in the country to be autonomous by 2030 - and according to Dr. Bin Ali, Etisalat will be a key enabler in helping the government execute its ambitious objectives.

In an exclusive interview Dr. Bin Ali also disclosed the operator’s plans for 5G rollout next year