H.E. Houlin Zhao
ITU
LEADERS' SUMMIT 2022
9th May, 2022 Atlantis - The Palm, Dubai, UAE
Thriving with Resilience & Integration in the New Opportunity Realm
LEADERS' SUMMIT 2022
The SAMENA Telecommunications Council's Telecom Leaders' Summit is the annual industry advocacy and leadership platform that showcases SAMENA Council's sector-development partnership value-proposition to the Public and Private sectors of the ICT Industry, provided in a lasting legacy of collaboration with Huawei. Chairman and Chief Executives of leading communications services companies, Regulators, Ministers, Investors, Influences, and renowned ICT Industry and non-ICT as well as Media Leaders attend Leaders' Summit annually, to witness and enrich knowledge-sharing on critical business, policy and regulatory challenges as well as to open doors to new opportunities, while bridging gaps in an ambience conducive to open communication among a diverse group of key stakeholders of the ICT Industry and industry verticals.
SPEAKERS
Some of the Leaders participating in Leaders' Summit 2022
H.E. Eng. Majed Al Mesmar
TDRA - UAE
Eng. Olayan AlWetaid
stc Group - Saudi Arabia
Ms. AlFhadah AlBaiz
Sector Development Ministry of Communications & IT - Saudi Arabia
Mr. Philip Marnick
TRA - Bahrain
Mr. Lacina Kone
Smart Africa - Rwanda
Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin
ITU - Switzerland
Mr. Bocar A. BA
SAMENA Council - UAE
Mr. Steven Yi
Huawei Middle East
Mr. Tariq Al Awadhi
TDRA - UAE
AGENDA
”Thriving with Resilience & Integration in the New Opportunity Realm”
Eng. Olayan AlWetaid
CEO
stc Group - Saudi Arabia
Mr. Bocar BA
CEO - SAMENA Council
UAE
H.E. Eng. Majed Al Mesmar
Director General
TDRA - UAE
Mr. Steven Yi
President
Huawei - Middle East
H.E. Houlin Zhao
Secretary General
ITU - Switzerland
Policy Imperatives in Palestine
Hon. Dr. Ishaq Sider
Minister
Ministry of Telecom & Information Technology
State of Palestine
Policy Leadership in Saudi Arabia
Ms. AlFhadah AlBaiz
Director – Sector Development
Ministry of Communications & IT - Saudi Arabia
Policy Leadership in Serbia
Ms. Marta A. Tomovska
Advisor - Office of the Prime Minister
Republic of Serbia
Technology Enablement: IntelligentRAN
Mr. Vanness You
VP - Marketing and Solutions
Huawei - Middle East
H.E. Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan
Cabinet Member, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence
UAE
Our future vision of ubiquitous connectivity is fast becoming a reality accelerated by the pandemic. Many new innovations are pushing the boundaries of networks including hyperscalers, tailored industry cloud platforms, advances in quantum computing, metaverse use-cases and trends, decentralized systems and many more, all depending on sound and resilient advanced digital networks. As a consequence, new network trends and associated challenges are emerging, including OpenRAN, full optical fibre networking and more. With increased dependencies of our economic and social systems on digital communications infrastructure and services, it is pertinent to address both persisting and emerging challenges associated with new network trends, approaches, policies, regulation, technologies, methodologies, fiber deployment, stakeholder obligations and collective responsibility.
This session will focus on connectivity requirements for the New Decade and explore new trends and innovations that drive new advanced networks, including financing and funding mechanisms and security aspects of new network structures, and how there is need to stimulate demand and create relevance, especially on 5G, IoT, and connectivity in general.
Key Questions:
- What are the key enablers for connectivity in the New Decade?
- Which key innovations will drive the networks of the future?
- How can we fund and finance the networks of the future?
- What promises do latest disruptions in the Radio Access Networks make and what do they mean for Operators, in terms of costs, complexity, ownership in interfacing/ troubleshooting, customer experience, etc?
- How can we motivate ourselves as Industry to think about and address the greater network security risks and cybersecurity challenges in the wake of new innovations, including in the RAN?
- What are key characteristics of smart FTTH infrastructure and what are its key enablers to ensure that its built-out is accelerated (e.g., NBN targets, incentives, direction & methodology)?
- What is required to achieve the right fiber infrastructure eco-system (carriers, real estate, power company, cable company, etc.)?
- What affordability challenges exist in regional markets, and how can USO funding models be revamped to meet underlying objectives of the USO?
- With the development of business and new Connectivity imperatives, what key factors should be considered in network construction for the new era, and what is the direction of innovation and network evolution in particular?
- How to support future business development needs and carry out valuable innovation with customer value and social value as the core objective?
- What hinders 5G&IoT adoption and demand in the Arab region, and how can this be addressed with new thinking, and who should lead in stimulating demand?
Scene-setting & Moderated by
Mr. Osman Sultan
Vice Chairman
Smile Telecom
Former Founding CEO
du Telecom
UAE
Mr. Philip Marnick
General Director
TRA - Bahrain
Mr. Lacina Kone
DG
Smart Africa - Rwanda
Mr. Amir A. Algibreen
Group Regulatory & Compliance Officer
stc - Saudi Arabia
Ms. AlFhadah AlBaiz
Director – Sector Development
Ministry of Communications & IT - Saudi Arabia
Mr. Mohamed Madkour
VP - Global Carrier Network
Solutions & Marketing - Huawei
With the disruptions caused by the pandemic over the last two years, Internet infrastructure and meaningful access to connectivity have experienced a surge in prominence and importance along with the recognition of the need for relevant information and services, available literacy skills and reliable, factual content. Many initiatives have been called to life that address the connectivity and usage gaps, including recommendations by the Broadband Commission on new and innovative approaches to funding, financing and investments into closing the connectivity gaps that includes a broader view on digital ecosystem stakeholder participation, the ITU’s P2C Digital Coalition to forge connectivity partnerships, pledges and commitments, new approaches to spectrum allocation, and many more. The extraction, exploitation, and movement of data across borders as a key economic resource and best approaches to its governance have become central to many policymakers’ agendas and are key issues that will determine many future economic outcomes.
This panel will explore key developments in ICT wireless/radio innovations, infrastructure, policymaking in the areas of funding, financing and investment into infrastructure in a changed world, cross-border data movements and management, best approaches to spectrum allocation and 5G connectivity towards achieving the Agenda 2030 and the UN SDGs.
Key Questions:
- What are the new paradigms required for investing into, financing and funding broadband infrastructure in the 21st Century?
- What partnerships are materializing and bringing people online based on new policy approaches?
- What governance models are adopted to cross-border data movement that lead to better, more equal, and locally value-enhancing outcomes?
- What innovative approaches can be taken to address the cross-border data movement concerns by governments?
- What approaches to spectrum allocation work best towards 5G-led connectivity?
- What approaches to spectrum allocation work best towards the next decade connectivity?
- What does the future of digital life look like, what are the expectations of the young generation, for instance?
- What are the core challenges facing a sustainable digital future, and how ready are we to meet those challenges?
- In the larger context of digital future, what do spectrum resources, such as 6GHz mean for the digital user?
- How can we correctly deploy and harness the power of 6GHz, and what are the most important considerations at this early stage of its use for end-user devices?
Global Perspectives:
Digitalization and the Future of ICT Education
Mr. Denis Kapelyushnik
ICT Talent Program
UNESCO (IITE)
Moderated by
Mr. Ghazi Atallah
CEO
Picacity
Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin
ITU – BDT Director
Switzerland
Dr. Abdulhadi AbouAlmal
Director Tech Standards & Spectrum Management
e& - UAE
Sh. Talal Said Al Mamari
CEO
Omantel - Oman
Mr. Tariq Al Awadhi
Executive Director Spectrum Affairs
TDRA - UAE
With the advent of technology having become increasingly ingrained in our daily lives and having changed how we produce and consume services, cloud technologies and cloud service models have become indispensable for service delivery. This development has imposed new requirements and challenges onto network operators, businesses, and industry, including cloud adoption and multi-cloud adoption, challenges around cloudnetwork synergies, cloud security and resilience, and many more.
The session will explore the advances in and transition to cloud adoption and emerging challenges in the area of security, cloud-network synergies, FinTech, and how resilience in service delivery can be achieved using cloud technologies and cloud service models that are secure and that meet the goal of full resources and services availability.
Key Questions:
- The rapid adoption of cloud resulted in data going to places where traditional security technology is blind. What are the important key security factors when migrating applications into the cloud and how important is it to have micro segmentation and zero trust network capability when designing application security?
- What are the key considerations and capabilities for developing carrier enterprise services?
- What requirements do cloud adoption and multi-cloud adoption by enterprises impose on network connections?
- What does cloud-network synergy cover? How will the network and cloud collaborate after synergy? What benefits will cloud-network synergy bring?
- Is cloud-network synergy a must for operators under DICT transformation?
- How does cloud aid FinTech innovations, scalability, and may help achieve digital financial inclusion targets?
- What are the success factors and major challenges for carriers to successfully launch mobile finance services?
- How can we address concerns of cloud security without compromising on full resource and service availability?
- How to improve cloud operations and security with the emerging challenges of multi cloud networking or hyper connected cloud environment?
Scene-Setting
Mr. Ram Ramachandran
MD
Tech Mahindra - MEA
Moderated by
Mr. Rohan Dhamija
Partner
Middle East & South Asia Analysys Mason - UAE
Mr. Paul M. Scanlan
CTO
Carrier Network Business Unit - Huawei
Mr. Mohamed Tantawi
Head of GSP Business
Cisco - MEA
Mr. Nabil Souli
CEO
UBIqube - Ireland
Mr. Meshari Al Hamad
GM Sales
Solutions by stc - Kuwait
Mr. Ram Ramachandran
MD
Tech Mahindra - MEA
Dr. Mahmoud R. Sherif
Head of Technology & IT Strategy
du - UAE
With the pandemic having brought disruptions to our way of life and work, impetus to digitalization and new ways of thinking about economic and socio-economic development have emerged that assign centrality to ensuring Universal Digital Access to connectivity can be guaranteed for everyone.
TThis session is conversation-style one to one discussion, addressing trends and synergies shaping the next decade, and perspectives from Operators and entities contributing to sustainable growth and development, such as through Education.
Key Questions:
- What key developments and trends do you see emerging that will shape this next decade globally and for different regions?
- What key challenges do you believe we have to overcome to be better prepared for future crises?
- What opportunities do you see in terms of learnings that the pandemic has taught us?
- What role does digital transformation play in this decade?
- What role does multilateralism play to meet our challenges to achieve the SDGs and the Agenda 2030?
- How can Operators harness the power of 5G to empower enterprises?
Conducted by
Mr. Adel Darwish
Director Arab Region
ITU - Egypt
H.E. Dr. Tariq Al Gurg
CEO & Vice-Chairman
Dubai Cares - UAE
Mr. Denis O’Brian
Chairman - Digicel
UN Broadband Commissioner - Ireland
Conducted by
Mr. Adel Darwish
Director Arab Region
ITU - Egypt
Mr. Andrew Hanna
CEO
ZainTech
UAE
Mr. Sabri Ali Yehya
Chief Technology Officer
e& - UAE
Massive industrial changes are emerging, fueled by advancement in diversified innovations and digital technologies, spanning all sectors. This transformation or fusion of physical and virtual worlds into a cyber-physical system is retooling global industry and reordering the global economy. Traditional industries now have an unprecedented degree of integration between information, communication and manufacturing systems at their disposal, including: smart sensors that knit together an industrial IoT, allowing real-time data collection during production processes; ubiquitous broadband, allowing large amounts of data to be transmitted between people, machines and production sites; cloud computing, allowing the instant storage and availability of date at any location, and; big data analytics, allowing huge volumes of data to be processed collaboratively.
This session will explore the state of techno-business synergies, including with terrestrial and space players, with real-live examples across different sectors, including the latest 5G tech innovations, network energy innovations and many more.
Key Questions:
- How has the role of Operators evolved and what cross-industry business models are now in the making?
- How does the public sector integrate newest tech innovations into public service delivery?
- All the data processing requires a lot of energy – how can we align digital transformation with the SDGs and sustainability?
- How can diverse stakeholders, including but not limited to MNOs, SAT service providers, and technology providers, strive toward achieving environmental, social and governance (ESG) compliance?
- What are key sustainability imperatives that Operators have defined to help fulfil SDGs?
- With the 5G and the application of big data and AI, telecom operators have launched digital transformation strategies. What challenges do they encounter during the transformation? what aspects do they need to pay attention to?
- How are Space-based platforms becoming integral to the digital life in the era of 5G?
- What are the latest technological innovations, capabilities, and use-cases for Operators to help accelerate operations & maintenance (O&M) transformation and achieve new efficiencies?
Business Leadership Keynote
H.E. Salem Al Marri
Director General
Muhammad Bin Rashid Space Centre - UAE
Moderated by
Mr. Hakam Kanafani
Chairman of Arab Advisors Group
Jordan
Mr. Emaad Ahmed
Network Architecture Transformation Chief Expert
Huawei - ME
Mr. Rashid AlAhmedi
COO – InfraX
Digital DEWA - UAE
Mr. Ahmed Al Sharif
Chief Technology & Digital Officer
stc - Bahrain
Mr. Wilfried Bationo
Zain Group
Kuwait
Gone are the days of legacy networks and siloed policy and regulatory approaches for specific purposes and individual services. Instead, times are witnessing all-encompassing networks-as-platforms as general-purpose technologies that exhibit many functionalities and that can provide many services to and across different economic sectors, building the bedrock of digital economies and societies. To meet these new trends and new, emerging critical requirements to ensure sustainability of ecosystems and cybersecurity, governments consider an expansion of the conventional ICT regulatory and policy agenda to encompass other domains, ranging from content production to equipment manufacturing beyond the digital economy production chain of ICTs. In addition, based on externalities of the digital ecosystem, the assessment of policy and regulatory agendas needs to consider areas related to the promotion of innovation, investment, and digital transformation.
This session will explore what matters most when transitioning towards digital economies with a spotlight on cross-sector collaboration and the G5 Regulatory benchmark.
Key Questions:
- What are the key issues that countries at the forefront of digital regulation are recognizing and implementing?
- What does true sector collaboration look like? At the policy and institutional level?
- How can cross-sector collaboration ensure that investment and innovation are fostered where they are most needed?
- How can global ICT issues, including cybersecurity, be tackled effectively in the interest of the society and a sustainable, progressive ICT ecosystem?
- What role does multilateralism play to meet our challenges to achieve the SDGs and the Agenda 2030?
Conducted by
Mr. Philippe Defraigne
Director
Cullen International - Belgium
Prof. Jeffrey Sachs
Columbia University
Advisor to UN Secretary General - USA
Mr. Sultan Altukhaim
GM
Cybersecurity and Data Governance
CITC - Saudi Arabia
Conducted by
Mr. Philippe Defraigne
Director
Cullen International - Belgium
Mr. Eng. Bader A. Allheeb
VP, Infrastructure
stc Group - Saudi Arabia
Mr. Daddy Mukadi
Chief Regulatory Officer
Africa
Airtel Africa PLC
Mr. Hatem Dowidar
Group CEO
e& - UAE
Dr. Robert Pepper
Head, Global Connectivity Policy & Planning
Meta - USA
Facilitator
Mr. Bocar BA
CEO
SAMENA Council - UAE
Mr. Andrea Faggiano
Partner
Arthur D. Little - ME
Closing
Mr. Bocar BA
CEO
SAMENA Council - UAE
Event Gallery
LEADERS' SUMMIT 2022
Attendance Profile
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20 +REGULATORS
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30+OPERATORS
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200+LEADERS
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BI-LATERAL MEETINGS
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GLOBAL BODIES
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MULTIPLE INDUSTRIES
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NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES
Leaders' Summit 2022
PARTNERS
Chief Patron
Host Sponsor
Strategic Partners
Media Partner
Leaders' Summit 2022
NEWS & UPDATES
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PAST SUMMIT HIGHLIGHTS
VENUE LOCATION
Venue Details
- Venue
ATLANTIS, THE PALM
DUBAI, UAE - Get Directions
CONTACT US
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Address
- #304, Alfa Building, Knowledge Village, P.O. Box: 502544, Dubai, UAE
Contact
- Ph: +971.4.3642700
- Fax: +971.4.3697513