Speakers

Dr. Usman Zafar

Country Manager (Middle East & North Africa)

Bio:

An accomplished Business Management and Technology Executive with an extensive experience in both private and public sector with successful track record in building, transforming and leading result oriented professional organization, leading complex programs & business change initiatives with full P&L responsibility. Held Executive level positions with major Blue-Chip & Fortune 500 Technology Corporations.

Dr Usman has been at the forefront of many of the region’s (MENA) multi millions $ IT projects and extensively recognized for his expertise in the areas of eGovernment, e - services, ERP, process automation, specialized training initiatives and Strategic IT Planning.

An integrity driven personality and performance-driven executive with proven success in developing e¬ective and pro table partnerships with business stakeholders in risk adverse environments, strong communication skills with a reputation for being a detail oriented, and creative solutions provider

focused on doing the right thing, the right way.

As an Organized Strategist and Entrepreneurial team player, he has provided strategic leadership to fully own and manage Life Cycle of Business Management, introduced innovative solutions to global marketing, and improved contract/proposal management processes. It produced breakthrough results in technology growth, business pipeline, exponential increase in revenue, and great market rapport.

Dr Usman has participated actively in several regional and International conferences / workshops and exhibitions as a keynote speaker to talk about various topics, such as Leadership, Marketing, Corporate Branding, Image Building, eGovernment Barriers, Change Management, Business Process Management, Public Private Partnership, Social Media, Strategic Planning, and Communication/Presentation Skills.

Apart from serving Large Enterprises and Public Sector, Dr Usman has several years of experience in the education sector as a consultant and professor with renowned Universities and Corporate Training Centers Globally.

Dr Usman has received several awards in the past few years for his outstanding performance and delivering Complex projects both in public and private sectors.

H.E. Ali Mohammad Al-Khouri

Director General

Bio:

"H.E. Prof. Dr. Ali Mohamed Al-Khouri is the Director General of the Emirates Identity Authority (Emirates ID), a federal government organization in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

He was appointed to this role in 2009. With his strategic and performance driven orientation, he played a vital role in converting the organization into one of the most successful government agencies in the UAE and a benchmark both regionally and worldwide in strategy and management practices, and technology implementations. Emirates ID was recognized in the UAE Government Excellence Program in 2011 as the Best Federal Authority in the UAE, and received three other Awards: Best Organizational Leadership, Best Customer Service, and Best Partnered Project (eVoting).

He was recently selected and joined the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Social Security Systems, as one of the world's most relevant and knowledgeable thought leaders in this field, and to support the Council deliver pertinent insights and collaboratively develop solutions to address major global challenges.

Prior to joining Emirates ID, he worked with the Ministry of Interior (1990-2003). He started his career as a project manager, and his last post was the head of development division. During his work with the Interior, he got involved in many strategic and mission-critical projects.

Dr. Al Khouri is a fellow and member of many scientific and research associations, and is recognized both nationally and internationally as think-tank, and for his management expertise and technical knowledge in various field of practices in government and public sector.

He has developed different intellectual methodologies and frameworks to handle the challenges faced by government organizations, among which is an innovative methodology for planning and strategic management of government sector projects, and another innovative methodology for e-government transformation to enable the concept of customer centricity and improve public sector service delivery.

He has got more than 12 patented inventions and intellectual properties.

Dr. Al-Khouri is also a Professor of Identity and Security and Follow of the British Institute for Technology and e-Commerce in London, UK, and is also on several advisory boards of academic institutions.

He is an active researcher in the field of organizational development and transformation, e-government, knowledge-based digital economy, identity management, and in many other specialized fields. He has published over 80 scientific research articles in international peer-reviewed journals in the past 12 years.
Dr. Al Khouri attained his higher education from the top UK universities, where he received his B.Sc. (Hons.) in 'Business Information Technology Management' from Manchester University, M.Sc. in 'Information Management' from Lancaster University, and an Engineering Doctorate (EngD) from Warwick University in the field of 'Strategic and Large Government Projects Management'.

"

Mr. Adil Kassabi

Partner

Bio:

"

Professional Experience » E-Government, Public Service Modernization,

Information Technology, Strategy development,

Project Leadership, Key Account Managment

» Teaching, Coaching, Consulting, System

Design, Government Portals

Research Interests & Know

How

» Strategic Managment, Micro-Strategy, EGovernment,

Integrated Government, ICT driven

Government Transformation, Internet & Society,

web 2.0,

» Qualitative Research Methods,

Quantitative Research Methods, Statistical

Analysis, Statistical Tools (SPSS)

Management & ICT

Knowledge

» Strategic Management, Business Strategy,

Strategy-as-Practice, Project Management,

Process Management, Public Management

» System Engineering, Information Systems,

Artificial Intelligence, Business Intelligence,

Web Technologies, Efficient Algorithms,

Cryptography, Robotics

Industries » Government, Telecommunication, Media, IT » Banking, Manufacturing, Logistics, Energy

Languages » Arabic (Perfect), German (Perfect) » English (Perfect), French (good)

Soft Skills » Excellent Presentation skills, Communication

» Transcultural competence, Leadership

» Analytical Thinking, Critical Reasoning,

Negotiation Skills, Creativity, Innovation

Education » Master of Computer Science at the univesity of

Dortmund, Germany

» Enrolled in doctoral program of the

department of Management and Law at

the university of surrey, UK

Professional Experience Since january 1997 (15 Years)

All Roles up to now Managing Partner, Service Modernization Manager, Strategic Studies Manager, Business

Development Manager, Key Account Manager, Project leader, Software Architect, Coach

August 2012 - Now Managing Partner at Praxis Consulting

» Activities:

» Development of strategic partnerships with leading e-Government providers in Germany

and South Korea

» Development and delivery of e-Government training and certification programs

» e-Government Strategy consulting

» e-Government solution design

» Business Development

Feb 2010 – July 2012 » Employer: Abu Dhabi Systems & Information Center

» Title: Service Modernization Manager then Research and Studies Manager

» Activities:

» Research & strategic studies

» Develop service modernization strategy and implementation model

» Consolidating the overall service portfolio of Abu Dhabi government

» Supervising service modernization across government departments in Abu Dhabi

» Definition of departments performance KPIs in coordination with the General Secretary of

the Executive Council of Abu Dhabi

» Coordination with 40+ government entities in Abu Dhabi

» Monitoring of KPI fulfillment

» Design and implmentation of government wide eService Governance Framework

» Reengineering of government wide Service Transformation Toolkit

» Review of IT budget (OPEX, CAPEX & Inititatives) of 38 government entities in Abu Dhabi

and provision of recommendations to Department of Finance

» Alignment of government IT plans & expenditure with e-Government program

» Negotiation of SLAs with government entities regarding the delivery of eServices on the Abu

Dhabi portal

March 2010 - Now » Conducting academic research on:

» strategic management of e-Government

» Influence of power strucutures on strategy making

» Analysis of worlwide good practices, challenges and success factors of e-Government

» Analysis of impact of involvement of relevant stakeholders on success of e-Gov initiatives

» enrolled in part time doctoral program at the department of management and law at the

university of surrey

Dec 2008 – Feb 2010 » Employer: init AG / Information Technology

» Title: Key Account Manager

» Activities:

» Business Development in the government sector

» Managing the largest account of the company in Abu Dhabi

» Sales strategy development

2004 - 2008 » Employer: itemis AG (Top 5 most innovative mid-sized companies in Germany)

» Title: Analyst, Project Leader then International Business Development Manager

» Activities:

» Planning & Executing national and internation sales campaigns

» Market research activities

» conducted a variety of software development projects undertaking different roles in different

industries (Logistics, Banking, Media)

» After good experience in portal develoment projects I moved to marketing and international

business development

2003 - 2004 » Employer: Vantago / Germany

» Title: Project leader & Software Architect

» Activities:

» Leadership of portal development for a German energy supplier

» Supported software design and development activities

2000 - 2003 » Employer: Brockhaus AG / Germany

» Title: Software Developer, Software Architect, Coach, Technical Project Leader

» Activities:

» Conducted web portal development projects

» Consulting services

» Coaching services

1997 - 2000 » Employer: Dr. Materna GmbH / Germany

» Title: Software Developer

» Activities:

» Development of telecommunication software

» Development of intranet systems

Adi

"

Mr. Abdulrahim Ahmad Almudhareb

Director, IT Department

Bio:

عبدالرحيم أحمد المضرب - مدير إدارة تقنية المعلومات - محاكم دبي

انضم عبدالرحيم المضرب، الحاصل على درجة البكالوريوس في أنظمة الكمبيوتر المعلوماتية من الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية سنة 1990، إلى دائرة المحاكم كأول موظف في قسم الحاسب الآلي، حيث تدرج مهنياً وصولاً إلى منصبه الحالي.

كان المضرب أول من أدخل أجهزة الكمبيوتر لاستخدامها للأعمال المكتبية في قطاع المحاكم بالمنطقة وذلك في العام 1992. وفي 1993 عمل مع استشاريي تقنية المعلومات لحكومة دبي لمراجعة المشاريع التقنية للمحاكم، والدراسات الأولية للأنظمة الرئيسية، وتطبيقات إدارة القضايا والكاتب العدل والإشهادات.

أثناء فترة إدارته تطورت الأعمال الإلكترونية للمحاكم، ووصلت نسبة الأتمتة في إجراءات عمل المحاكم إلى 100% بتطبيق أكثر من 25 نظاماً يخدم جميع عمليات المحاكم وأعمالها، وزادت الخدمات الإلكترونية المقدمة عبر الإنترنت فتجاوز عددها 500 خدمة.

وإلى جانب ذلك يلعب المضرب دور رئيسياً في تنفيذ استراتيجية محاكم دبي بصفته عضواً في فريق القيادة، وهو يسعى باستمرار لاقتناص الفرص الاستراتيجية في تحقيق رؤية محاكم دبي

Abdulrahim Ahmad Almudhareb, Director, IT Department, Dubai Courts

Almudhareb holds a bachelor degree in Computer Information systems from the USA in 1990. He joined the Courts Department as the first employee in the MIS Section, where he graded up to his current position.

Almudhareb was the first in the region to use computers for office work in courts sector in 1992. In 1993, he worked with Dubai Government IT consultants to review the technical projects of the courts, preliminary studies of the main systems and Cases Management, Attestations and Notary Public applications

During his tenure, Courts e-business evolved and automation in working procedures reached 97% by applying more than 20 new systems to serve all court processes and work. Furthermore, online services exceeded 500.

In his capacity as a member of the leadership team, Almudhareb plays a major role in implementing Dubai Courts strategy. He constantly strives to seize the strategic opportunities in achieving the vision of Dubai Courts.

Dr. Majed Alhaisoni

Dean, IT and e Learning

Bio:

"

Dr. Majed Alhaisoni is the Dean of Information Technology and e-learning and Acting Dean of College of Computer Science and Engineering at University of Hail. Dr. Alhaisoni obtained his Ph.D. in Electronic System Engineering, University of Essex, UK (2010).

Dr. Alhaisoni as a Dean of IT and e-learning managed successfully to develop, implement and deploy numerous IT E-services and systems at University of Ha’il which has consequently pushed the transition into a paperless digital university in a very short period. These systems include: University Council’s Management system, Scholarship Workflow system, Administrative Communication Systems, Faculty and Employee Affairs Management System, Conference and Training Management System Portal, and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP Oracle) for finance and admin affairs, etc. What is more, most of these systems were developed and implemented without any outsourcing support.

Simultaneously, Dr. Alhaisoni while serving as the Acting Dean of College of Computer Science and Engineering managed to handle and lead many projects and initiatives supporting the improvement of academic and administrative operational and quality in the college. These include: Program and Curriculum development, Quality assurance and program accreditation, Academic guidance, registration development, research groups, and weekly seminar talk.

Furthermore, he is a member and a chair of many committee’s and council’s at both university and college levels, that include: University Council, Deans Council, Community College Deanship Council, Standing Committee for Academic Affairs, Standing Committee of Curriculum and Academic Programs, Teaching-assistant and Lecturer Standing Committee, Standing Committee of Training and Scholarship, Standing Committee of Faculty Affairs, Chairman of Technical Support Committee for Graduation, Standing Committee of Faculty Allowances, Standing Committee of University Branches, Standing Committee of Faculty Recruitment, Higher Committee of e-government Transaction.

Dr.Alhaisoni has also participated in different training programs that covered: leadership skills, quality assurance, risk management, e-government. Additionally, he has enrolled in many workshops that address university and community development inside and outside the kingdom. Dr. Alhaisoni has published over 20 research papers in International refereed Journals and Conferences, set of his papers were awarded best papers internationally. Furthermore, he is serving as a reviewer and committee member in some key international Journals and conferences. His current research interests include but not limited to: Peer-to-Peer Networking, Overlay Networks, Video Streaming over P2P, Multimedia Communication Networks, Applications-aware networks, Video Coding Techniques and IPTV, and Wireless ad-hoc Network.

"

Prof. Witold Abramowicz

Chair of Department of Information Systems

Bio:

Witold Abramowicz is a full professor the chair of Department of Information Systems at The Poznan University of Economics (PUE), Poland, and founder of SmartBrain – Smart and Big Data Research and Innovation Center, a joint venture of PUE and SAP Poland, whose goal is to conduct research and innovation activities in economy and public administration in the field of Big Data. In 2014 he received the prestigious title of the Visionary Member of SAP UA for his education activities in the area of Big Data.
His particular areas of interest are Big Data, Data Analytics, Information Retrieval and Filtering, Knowledge Management in MIS. He received his M.Sc. from The Technical University of Poznan, Poland, Ph.D. from The Wroclaw Technical University, Poland, and habilitation from The Humboldt University Berlin, Germany. He worked for three universities in the Switzerland and Germany for twelve years. He is an editor, author or co-author of 41 eight books (published mostly by Springer and Kluwer Academic Publishers) and over 300 book chapters, articles in various journals and conference proceedings. He chaired 28 scientific international conferences and was a member of the program committees of over 390 other conferences. He is member of the editorial boards in some international journals like Business & Information Systems Engineering, AIS Transactions on Enterprise Systems, Journal of Service Science, Management, Engineering and Technology, Enterprise Modelling and Information Systems Architectures - An International Journal. Currently Professor Abramowicz is and was involved in nine research projects in the 6th and the 7thFramework Program EU and many national founded projects. He is vice president of the Polish Association of Management Information Systems. Professor Abramowicz has also experience in working in international consulting firms as well as in Polish and foreign industry.
Department of Information Systems at Poznań University of Economics has received two BIG DATA: THINK BIG CEE CONGRESS Awards: Innovation Poland 2014 for the Team and Big Data Man of the Year for Professor Witold Abramowicz.

Mr. Cedrick Frolick

Chairman Oversight Committee

Bio:

•Studied at the University of Port Elizabeth 1985 – 1988.
•Conferred a B.A. Degree (Majors in Geography & Psychology) in 1987; Higher Diploma in Education (Post-Grad) in 1988 & a Bachelor of Education (Honors) Degree in 1992.
•Currently completing a M. Phil. Degree in International Political Economy at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
•Started teaching career in 1989 at Booysen Park High School in Port Elizabeth.
•Appointed Head of Department: Geography in 1992 at Hillside High School in Port Elizabeth.
•Awarded a Certificate in Educational Management & Leadership -1994.
•Appointed Deputy Principal of Hillside High School in 1995.
•Appointed Acting Principal of Hillside High School from 1998 – 1999.
•Elected as a Member of Parliament of the Republic of South Africa in 1999.
•Served on the following Parliamentary Portfolio Committees:
-Environmental Affairs and Tourism
-Public Enterprises
-Trade & Industry
-Sport & Recreation
-Rules and Joint Rules Committee
-Programming Committee of the National Assembly
•Appointed in June 2003 as ANC Whip for Sport & Recreation and Whip responsible for Legislation in the National Assembly.
•Re-elected to Parliament in April 2004 and appointed ANC Whip for Sport & Recreation and Whip responsible for Questions, Motions and Members’ Statements.
•Serves on the Multi-party Chief Whip’s Forum and the ANC Strategy Committee in Parliament since 2001.
•Re-elected to Parliament in April 2009; Appointed Programming Whip of the Ruling Party.
•Representative of the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa on the IPU-UN Affairs Steering Committee.
•Appointed House Chairperson: Committees, Oversight and ICT in 2010.
•Parliamentary Co-Chairperson for COP 17 and the Millennium Development Goals.
•Chairperson of the Parliamentary Board of the Parliamentary Budget Office.
•ANC Regional Executive Committee Member in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality.
•Re-elected to Parliament in May 2014 and re-appointed House Chairperson: Committees, Oversight and ICT
•Appointed Deputy Chairperson for the Parliamentary Rugby Committee in 2014.

Mr. Feras Al Jabi

General Manager

Bio:

There is relatively small segment of leaders in the business world, who seem able to build relationships, trust, and rapport with almost anyone, and then are able to maintain the relationships and make connections between people, creating partnerships and alliances, and motivating forward momentum to 'get things done'.

Feras Al Jabi is one of those people, ‘getting things done’ and driving results- through collaboration, partnerships and relationships- as an executive in the IT industry, is what is all about.

A winner of 'Feigebaum Leadership Excellence Award', Feras has garnered this coveted award for his accomplishments and feats witnessed throughout his tenure in ITQAN. The award is commissioned from the Virtual Executive Club, an entity dedicated to enhancing leadership and professional skills in the Dubai professional community, and is under the patronage of Hamdan bin Mohammed e-University.

Al-Jabi has led ITQAN to become a leading IT solutions provider, with groundbreaking achievements and numerous recognitions being attached to its name. Under his guidance, ITQAN implemented remarkable IT projects for principal organizations across the region, and expanded to cities within and outside the UAE. ITQAN also became the first systems integrator in the region to win the prestigious Sheikh Khalifa Appreciation certificate, as well as the first to attain the ISO 20000 certification during his era.

Feras has played a significant role in the company’s successful evolution, with his strong leadership and team spirit principles, he had made ITQAN the best organization for IT gurus to work in UAE, Feras believes that what ITQAN is today, makes any one who worked in ITQAN target to be hunted by competition and global firms.

Al Jabi has led ITQAN to strong and powerful relationships with major organizations in the region. His strengths in sales and business development have contributed significantly towards the growth of ITQAN, where he led the group to successfully build new core competencies in the horizontals of healthcare of information systems, and enterprise applications thus allowing the penetration of new verticals. He was also instrumental in initiating and strengthening partnerships with global technology leaders such as Microsoft, Indra and Capgemini.

Dr. Anna Dolidze

Parliamentary State Secretary

Bio:

"Dr. Anna Dolidze was born in Tbilisi, in what was then the Soviet Socialist Republic of Georgia. As a child, she experienced the dissolution of the Soviet Union, including a civil war and secessionist conflicts with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In high school Dolidze won a scholarship to live with an American family and attend high school in Vermont. Upon her return, Dolidze started law school at Tbilisi State University, where she graduated with honors.

In her final year she took part in the Telders International Law Moot Court Competition, and was honored as the Best Respondent and Best Oralist. She became a clerk at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague. Thereafter Dolidze worked for the international humanitarian organization Save the Children in Georgia. She was awarded a full fellowship by the Dutch government to study at Leiden University where she earned Masters Degree in International Law (LLM). In 2004 Dolidze was elected Chairperson of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA). As the head of the largest legal advocacy organization in Georgia, she oversaw program activities conducted by 125 lawyers, took part in drafting legislative reform proposals, practiced civil rights litigation and represented the organization in National Constitutional Commission, Commission for the Human Rights in Prisons and the Expert Commission for Georgia’s European Integration. In 2006, Dolidze spearheaded a nation-wide campaign to prosecute high-level government security officials implicated in the murder of Sandro Girgvliani. In 2007 Dolidze left Georgia for United States as a Scholar at Risk because it was increasingly difficult to practice civil rights litigation.

Dolidze has lectured transnationally, including at Duke University, Sorbonne University, University of Berkeley, Cambridge and Oxford Universities, Queens University of Belfast and Elmira Maximum Security Correctional Facility in New York State. She conducted human rights documentation and research for Russia Justice Initiative and Human Rights Watch. Then she earned her Doctorate in Law (SJD) at Cornell Law School with full financial scholarship and residential fellowship at Telluride House. In 2012 Dolidze addressed the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the United States Congress on human rights violations in Georgia. In 2013 she became assistant professor of law at the University of Western Ontario, where she taught property law and international law.

In May 2015 Dolidze was appointed as Deputy Minister of Defence for Republic of Georgia, overseeing the areas of education, social benefits and rehabilitation of wounded warriors. In June 2016 the President of Georgia appointed Dr. Dolidze as the Parliamentary Secretary of the President of Georgia (i.e. chief legal adviser), overseeing rule of law related issues as well as serving as the main liaison between the office of the President and the Parliament of Georgia.

Dr. Dolidze has published widely on international law, human rights and transitional justice in academic as well as policy journals.
"

Minister. Marta Arsovska

Minister of Information Society and Administration

Bio:

On November 2015 Marta A. Tomovska was elected as a Minister of Information Society and Administration after serving as a Deputy Minister in the same Ministry since August 2011. Prior to her appointment, she served 10 years as a CEO of the first Internet Service Provider in the country, Unet, as well as 4 years as a Sales and Marketing Executive in one of the leading local IT companies, Ultra. Mrs. Tomovska leaded the implementation of several significant projects for Macedonian ICT sector such as: first e-Commerce and first e-Banking solution; first WIMAX pilot installation; initiative “Culture of Internet security” in the Republic of Macedonia, removing Republic of Macedonia from blacklists for unsafe countries for internet commerce; Digital Media Collaboration initiative between Macedonia, USA and Japan; Digital Sister Cities Initiative and many more. Took part in major ICT projects implemented in the public sector: finance and treasury; budget management; single window systems; health insurance and hospital management; education management; justice, etc., all of them involving products and services of vendors such as IBM, Oracle, HP, Cisco, Microsoft and many more. Mrs. Tomovska is member of the Internet Society and Macedonian ICT Chamber. Frequent speaker and panelist at national and international ICT conferences, she has always been passionate about how Internet and information technologies can help people, businesses and societies develop and grow. Mrs. Tomovska was awarded for achievements and extraordinary contribution to the development of ICT industry in the Republic of Macedonia.
Mrs. Arsovska Tomovska started her career after graduating in 1996 at the University of Skopje, in Electrical Engineering. In 2011 Mrs.
Tomovska completed marketing studies, and is preparing her Master thesis at the Faculty of Economy, University of Skopje.
Fluent in English and South Slavic group of languages, with partial knowledge of French and Russian.
She is certified in ICT field, as well as in leadership and management, with wider professional interest in the areas of general management, HR management, ICT, Internet technologies, e-Government, e-Business, e-Commerce, data security, distance learning and digital media.
Mrs. Arsovska Tomovska is a member of the World Summit Award Grand Jury since January 2013.
The award is partnered with the key United Nations organizations and agencies, which are taking initiatives for promoting Information Society.
In September 2015 she was appointed as a Non-Executive Member of the WSA (World Summit Awards) Board.

Mr. Fadi Salem

Research Fellow; Founder, Governance and Innovation Program

Bio:

Fadi Salem is a Research Fellow and founder of the Governance and Innovation Program at the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government (formerly Dubai School of Government). He was also a Research Associate at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School (HKS); and a Fellow at the I+I Policy Research Centre, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY SPP), National University of Singapore. He is currently a PhD in Public Policy candidate at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. Fadi’s areas of expertise extends to innovation policies, smart cities development; including policy implications of IoT, open and big data. Additionally he has extensive policy and scholarly publications on digital and open governance, social media and public engagement, e-participation, ‘future of government’ applications, and the impact of digital transformations on societal discourses in the Arab region. Fadi has over fifteen years of multidisciplinary working experience in the public sector, the media and policy research fields, including projects with the OECD, UN, WEF and the World Bank. Prior to joining the School, he worked in The Executive Office in Dubai, advising senior government leaders on technology policy and digital economy. He also previously worked as an editor of two pan-Arab periodicals. Fadi is currently a PhD candidate in Public Policy at the University of Oxford. He is a graduate from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and the School of Engineering, Aleppo University. He is also an author of numerous publications and policy reports, including the widely cited ‘Arab Social Media Report’ series and the ‘Arab World Online’ series. He is a public speaker and a frequently invited guest in international conferences and policy forums, regularly commenting on governance, technology policy, the Internet, policy and the knowledge economy. He is also a frequent media commentator on current Arab affairs, appearing regularly in international and regional media. His work and interviews have been featured in (among others) The Economist, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Financial Times, Foreign Policy Magazine, Foreign Affairs, BBC, CNN and numerous other media outlets.

Mr. Kaiser Naseem

Head - Bank Advisory and Digital Finance Services MENA, Pakistan and Central Asia

Bio:

Kaiser is a resourceful professional with over 36 years of international experience in banking and financial sectors; he has a MBA in Finance from the Asian Institute of Management Manila and a MS in Metallurgical Engineering from Moscow Institute of Steel & Alloys. Kaiser is an innovator with an entrepreneurial attitude and a leader in developing new financial institutions and standards in challenging environments. His core competencies include SME Banking, Project Financing, Team Building, Change Management, Business Development and Good Governance. Kaiser has strong ethical standards and focus on results, combined with exceptional business acumen and broad experience on a global stage including serving on the BODs of international companies. Kaiser was instrumental in the developing the Pakistani and Central Asian Financial Sectors through IFC assistance to the leasing, investment banking, modaraba, commercial banking and MSME sectors there. From 1997 he pioneered IFC’s initiatives in Central Asia for the development of the MSME sector. Kaiser has established three financial institutions in Pakistan and is also the Founder President of Pakistan’s SME Bank. He has served on the Boards of several companies globally, including the Pakistan Microfinance Network; Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund; ABN-AMRO Bank Kazakhstan; Uzbekistan Leasing Company; Engro Chemicals Pakistan; SME Bank Pakistan; KHN Associates - Canada; Sarah Textiles - Pakistan; and PIDC - Pakistan. Kaiser is an ardent supporter of good corporate governance and has inculcated such practices on the Company Boards that he has served. He has been the Manager of IFC’s Pakistan Corporate Governance Program responsible for raising awareness of good corporate governance practices within the Pakistani corporate sector including training for Board members and capacity building of the Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance. Currently, Kaiser heads IFC’s Bank Advisory Services in the MENA and Central Asia region responsible for providing advisory services to the region’s banks, including promoting Shariah compliant banking products to meet the growing demand. During the past eight years Kaiser has grown IFC’s EMENA Bank Advisory Business to be the largest in terms of revenue generation within IFC. He has offered advisory services to banks, mainly to enable them to establish a business model for SME Banking, strengthen risk management systems, develop new products and delivery channels, re-vamp underwriting processes and manage transformation. Kaiser frequently blogs on issues ranging from SME development, Digital Finance, FINTECH and corporate governance on various platforms and social media.

Ms. Lynn C Reyes

Business Development Executive, Public Sector

Bio:

Lynn drives new markets and solutions-that-matter where creative people, business, information and technology meet. She builds high-performing teams. A critical and design thinker, creative problem solver and industry SME, Lynn connects the dots across cultures, perspectives, personalities and disciplines. She shapes innovative, distinctive solutions from the client’s perspective and her own unique one. With a background in economic development and public sector, entrepreneurship and innovation, she is passionate about results and progress. Lynn has worked with government clients and their ecosystems worldwide on their transformation journeys. In MEA, she led industry-driven business development for services in Global Business Services and then in MEA’s Industry Solutions Sales Team. Before heading to MEA, Lynn led research and thought leadership initiatives for the global Public Sector team of the IBM Institute for Business Value. She focused on topics such as innovation, collaboration and emerging opportunities where the public and private sectors converge. She authored several thought leadership pieces on public and cross-sector management issues including “Opening up government”, “The power of analytics for public sector”, “The yin yang of financial disruption” and “The yin yang of financial reform” with the IBV’s Finance Sector team, and Public Sector insights on IBM’s Global CxO Studies. As a consultant, Lynn led global teams to help clients innovate and transform in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean. These projects spanned industry domains and management issues including eGovernment, revenue and fiscal management (tax, budget and expenditure), trade and transportation, business model innovation, banking and financial markets. Lynn holds a patent for Outcome Based Delivery and continues to drive Public Sector thought leadership, such as citizen-centric government and digital transformation. Lynn has an MBA from the University of Maryland and has served as a practicum advisor for its Center for Social Value Creation. Prior to IBM, Lynn worked at the World Bank focusing on the Asia Region and also did volunteer work in Uttar Kashi, Northern India.

Mr. Ghazi Atallah

Managing Director

Bio:

Ghazi has over 20 years of experience in the IT and Telecommunications industry. He is the MD of neXgen Group, a management and technology consulting company focused on helping Smart City customers realize business value out of technology investments. He takes an active role in projects with leading customers in the MENA region to develop Smart City and National ICT/Digital strategies leveraging next generation business models, technology blueprints with a focused Go-To-Market approach. Ghazi is also a Partner at Liveroute, the first true Cloud/SAAS Service Provider in the Middle East delivering Cloud based Collaboration, Infrastructure, CRM and ERP solutions to enterprises in the ME. Ghazi Was the MD/VP for Cisco’s Service Provider (SP) business in the Emerging Markets theatre that covers Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa as well as Russia and CIS countries, a $1.1B business for Cisco. He was responsible for defining the strategy and Go-To-Market plans for Service Providers business-both fixed and mobile operators-in a region that includes Cisco’s fastest growing markets worldwide. Ghazi also sat on Cisco’s Corporate SP Business Council that is tasked with shaping Cisco’s SP technology strategy worldwide. He was also GM of Cisco’s MENA operations for 3 years, built and lead one of the most effective GTM organizations in the region, Cisco’s highest growth region worldwide. Expanded the business from $100M to well over $500M. As well as being GM of Cisco Saudi Arabia for 2 years. Prior to that in Canada, He was the head of multimedia ATM access technology at General Datacom’s R&D labs in Montreal, Canada. Leading a team of engineers in R&D to develop a new product line. Previous to that, He was Chief Network Architect in the network planning group for Teleglobe Canada, Canada’s international carrier. Ghazi received his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Business Administration degree from the University of Quebec in Montreal, Canada. He also received executive education through Stanford and London Business Schools executive MBA programs for enterprise. Ghazi Received the Telecom leadership award at the 8th Arab Internet and Telecom conference in May 2006. He was also named among most influential ME IT leaders in Al Idari magazine’s special issue of TOP 100 ME business leaders in Feb 2006. Ghazi was named among the ‘Top 35 People worldwide to Watch in 2010’ by Realcomm, a leading American research company focused on technology, energy efficiency and intelligent buildings in real estate. Ghazi was a member of the Board of Advisors of SAMENA telecommunications council. Ghazi is a member of the Young Arab Leaders and was previously on the board of directors in the UAE.

Mr. Yousef Khalili

Senior Partner

Bio:

Yousef Khalili is a senior partner at NexGen Group, the region’s leading advisory and consulting services organization in the field of Smart Cities and Next Generation Technology Innovation. As a senior partner at the firm, Yousef maintains executive relationships within leading public and private sector organizations in the MENA region, and manages key projects that involve developing technology and Go‐To‐Market strategies all the way to effective implementation, with a focus on maximizing value and achieving the highest possible return on investing in technology innovation for clients. Yousef is particularly passionate about helping clients build cutting‐edge Smart Service portfolios and practices with the aim of improving life conditions and maximizing happiness. Yousef is an accomplished and versatile executive with over 22 years of experience within the ICT industry. He joined NexGen Group in 2013, and was before that a senior director at Cisco Systems International for 9 years where he managed various functions across Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia /CIS Markets including Sales, Channel, Marketing and Business Development, with a business portfolio of over USD $3 Billion in products and services. Prior to joining Cisco, Yousef worked for various international ICT organizations including Microsoft, and Texas Instruments, and was one of the founding team members who helped launch the Dubai e‐Government initiative back in 2001 (currently the Dubai Smart Government Department). Yousef is a Jordanian national but spent all his life in the UAE and Kuwait. He holds a Global Executive MBA degree from INSEAD business school in France and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Jordan.

Mr. Bilal M. Husain

Founder and CEO, Digital Transformation LLC

Bio:

After holding different public sector positions, Bilal have moved back to his entrepreneurial spirit and founded a new startup Digital Transformation LLC, focusing on blockchain and cybersecurity. Now fully dedicated in this line of work and working with wide network of leaders to explore the applications of blockchain for both public and private industries as well as lobbying for any potential legislative and policies that might require to be amended or created.

While at the Ministry of Economy and Planning, Bilal worked as an Advisor for the Minister as well as managing multiple operational roles. He was the first acting Deputy Minister for Shared Services at MEP, a newly developing concept at public sector for combining much of back office services into a single unit. Shared Services consisted of Finance and Admin, HR, IT, PMO and General Services.

Bilal was an active member of many internal and external committees, to name a few:

- Digital Transformation Acceleration, focusing on Cybersecurity, National Applications, Government Cloud…etc.

- Bureau of Experts at the Council of Minister, member of many committees discussing legislative reform of areas like review of government procurement system, drafting of Freedom of Information Act, drafting privacy of information act, review of general audit bureau's report...etc. - National Shared Services Committee, to discuss establishment of a multi organization shared services unit/entity for the public sector.

He also participated in numerous internal committees related to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and NTP2020 (National Transformation Program).

Prior joining MEP, Bilal worked as an Advisor to the Minister and Head of Internal Audit and Inventory Control at Ministry of Health (MoH) where he lead a major organizational restructure to provide empowerment and indecency to those critical functions.

On Jan 2013, Bilal was appointed as Director General of Internal Audit (Chief Audit Executive) at Ministry of Labor, Saudi Arabia. He was responsible for creating the Internal Audit function within the Ministry of Labor from scratch and make sure it’s aligned with the auditing and governance Bilal M. Husain
Founder and CEO Digital Transformation LLC organizations in the country taking into consideration the best practices and guidelines of the Internal Audit Institute (IIA).

In the past, he represented the Saudi eGovernment Program (Yesser) at all government agencies that are offered a wide spectrum of services to citizens, businesses and other government agencies. Yesser, a Saudi government initiative, was established in 2005 by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance and the Communication and Information Technology Commission to facilitate the provision of government services and transactions within Saudi Arabia electronically.

Bilal advised and guided agencies toward providing their services via electronic means. He was also involved in evaluating and approving funding requests proposed by various government agencies to support their eTansformation projects, as well as discussing and consulting with public agencies regarding their master IT and eGovernment action plans and strategies. Bilal was a key member in all steering committees for public agencies implementing eGovernment projects.

Bilal is a seasoned, senior-level consultant and advisor who can develop wining strategies and provide the necessary thrust required to produce clear and measurable results. He embraces the tremendous challenges his position brings, particularly in implementing IS management, obtaining sufficient and relevant resources, communicating and collaborating internally and externally, and overseeing change management.

Bilal has expertise in many areas, including strategy, organizational behavior, business development, corporate relations, technical development, BPM/BPR and knowledge management. His distinguished career portfolio includes the past positions of ICT consultant for King Fahd Medical City, vice president of operations for iLink Ltd., business consultant with British Telecom SA, and ICT consultant for the Supreme Counsel for Petroleum and Mineral Affairs.

Eng. Mohammed Dreera

Member of the Board of Directors

Bio:

نبذة عن السيرة الذاتية للمهندس محمد دريرة

الجنسية: تونسية

عضو مجلس إدارة مجموعة الدليل لنظم المعلومات

مدير تنفيذي لفرع شركة الدليل لنظم المعلومات بتونس منذ أكثر من 10 سنوات

متخرج من الجامعة الألمانية كلية الهندسة بادب ورن اختصاص حاسب آلي سنة – 1989

باحث في مجال إدارة الإجراءات والعمل المشترك BPM - Groupware

خبرة 25 سنة في استراتيجيات إدارة نظم المعلومات

متخصص في إدارة المحتوى الشامل ECM

محمد دريرة عضو مجلس الإدارة والمشرف العام على تطوير الاعمال وتقنية المعلومات والمدير

التنفيذي لفرع تونس

منذ عام 1996 وهو خريج الجامعة الألمانية حيث أجرى بحوثا حول إدارة

الإجراءات والأعمال ) BPM ( عند نشأة هذا المجال التكنولوجي منذ عام 1990 مع

ظهور مبدأ العمل المشترك Collaboration work والبرمجيات المشتركة

Groupware .

كما كان من أوائل الذين أدخلوا تقنيات BPM والتكنولوجيات المفتوحة المصدر في

تونس وعدة بلدان إفريقية مثل مالي والسنغال. وباعتباره خبيرا في إدارة نظم

المعلومات لمدة 25 عاما واستشاري في استراتيجيات التكنولوجيات السحابية وإدارة

الإجراءات والأعمال يعتقد محمد دريرة أن مستقبل تكنولوجيات المعلومات في

الدول العربية يجب أن يعتمد على تقنيات المصادر المفتوحة لضمان أعلى

مستويات الأمان واكتساب المعرفة للحصول تدريجيا على استقلالية عن هيمنة

الجهات الفاعلة في مجال التكنولوجيات الحديثة وتصبح بذلك الدول العربية

عضو فاعل في بناءها بدلا من كونها مستهلك بسيط.

Member of the Board of Directors and General Supervisor of Business Development and Information Technology and Executive Director of the Tunis Branch CEO of Daleelteq Tunisia Branch since 1996, Mohamed Drira is a graduate of German university where he conducted researches on Business Processes Management (BPM) early in 1990, with the emergence of the collaborative work and groupware software. He introduced BPM and open source technologies in Tunisia and several African countries like Mali and Senegal. As an expert in Management Information Systems for 25 years and BPM and Cloud strategies consultant, Mohamed Drira believes that the future of Information Technologies in Arab countries must rely on open source technologies to control security and acquire the knowledge to get independent from the dominance of the current technology main actors and become a stakeholder in building the technologies instead of being a simple consumer.

Mr. Mir Faisal Talpur

CEO

Bio:

Mr. Mir Faisal Talpur

BSC Computer Science- London, UK

Entrepreneur, Innovator, Skilled Business Consultant and Technology Expert.

Resident of UK, Lives in London since 1997 (20 years)
BSc Computer Science, 2001, Queen Mary, University of London
CEO Cinch Group of Companies, United Kingdom
Skilled consultant and business turnaround specialist, Technology enthusiast, Marketing and Property Investments expert. Serial Entrepreneur, Inventor, Innovator and a Visionary.

Younger Years Achievements:

1995 Invented E-Thermal Shoes in Pakistan and holds the Patent
1995-97: published Pakistan’s First English Scientific Magazine. This was distributed nationwide in Pakistan.
Youngest Member of Karachi Chamber of Commerce

Currently CEO at Cinch Group of Companies, the group has the following experience

Experience

1) Technology – 22 years’ experience

2) Investments – 9 years

3) Brand Media and Marketing – 9 years

4) Business and Technology Consulting – 7 years

5) Call centre – 5 years

6) Business Automation – 9 years

London and Global Business Background

Entrepreneur at heart, Faisal has been involved with helping and setting up businesses for almost a decade. Having run a successful Property Investment company he has now ventured into Creative Technology. During his ventures he realised the inadequate use of technology among organisations. He was inspired and decided to do something about it. Cinch Technologies was formed. Shakera Alam, wife of Faisal, also comes from technology background. After studying Computer Science from University of London she helped co-found Cinch Technologies.

Faisal successfully ran a property investment company for 9 years that actually stood test of time and grew during credit crunch and longest UK recession.

Today he passionately passes on the inspiration that motivated him years ago. Cinch Technologies has been helping organisations to understand technology and how the use of unified systems can impact productivity. The company prides on promulgating “good positive technology” in order to bring ethical and responsible products into our lives.

In 2017 Faisal is excited to launch his new venture ‘Business Pronto’ which can be classified as World’s First of its kind ‘business entrepreneurship platform’. The platform is aimed to assist and help 1200 types of businesses and entrepreneurs achieve success.

His other business exposure includes running Call Centres, Media and Marketing Agency, Business Process Outsourcing and E-Commerce. He is passionate about helping failing business and turning businesses around for hyper growth and does high end consulting. Apart from personal ventures Faisal has helped a lot of young and mature businesses with market positioning, expansion, pricing strategy, recruitment strategy, upscaling, downscaling, business growth automation, client engagement, team collaboration, inspirational selling, negotiations and barters, managing remote teams, leadership, recession proofing and cybersecurity.

What motivates Faisal today, is to help create livelihood for people, to empower them towards self-sustenance for them to earn their living with grace.

Member of:

Federation of Small Businesses UK

Muslim Association of Croydon

London Export Club

London Business Consultants and Events

Member Startup Venture and various chamber of commerce

UK and European Government Associations

European Enterprise Network (EEN)

Going Global

United Kingdom Trade and Industry (UKTI) now called DIT

Ms. Elizabeth Adeshina

Founder & CEO

Bio:

Elizabeth is a dynamic and passionate member of the healthcare profession with a highly creative and entrepreneurial mind who is able to utilise opportunity to create successful ventures. Shehas a career which spans over 20 successful years of business and the healthcare sector including several high profile organisations like the NHS, Nuffield Group, BMI Group

Her contributions to healthcare and the business world both in the UK and across West Africa speak of her passion. She has successfully built three businesses from scratch and sold them for considerable profit. Her deep understanding ensures that she attains her goal of leaving a positive foot print.

Her management expertise is very much sought after across the healthcare sectors in the UK and various African Countries where she regularly makes time to consult for Private and Public organisations including the NHS, hospitals and pharmacies.

In 2007, driven by a deep passion to bring high quality affordable Pharmaceutical Products and healthcare Services to the people of Africa and in an attempt to address the sub-standard drugs which pervaded Nigeria, Elizabeth set up Medek Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare which continues to supply high quality drugs and medical equipment to many in Africa.

While involved in various health projects in sub-Saharan Africa, in some cases in partnership with the UN, it became painfully clear to Elizabeth that access to and the quality of healthcare as well as costs were huge barriers to health. Her creative health focused solution was borne in the IDHS.Healthwise platform which she believes would give a more seamless and affordable access to millions if not all in Africa and MENA at the very least.

IDHS.Healthwise is a digital healthcare platform which aims to bridge several gaps in the delivery of care to users across Africa, Europe and MENA including access to medical professionals, support in managing chronic medical conditions, pregnancy and data harnessing which would better help Governments provide targeted care with their resources.

Elizabeth has earned degrees from London University’s prestigious Kings College and Portsmouth University.

She regularly makes time to give back of her knowledge by training and motivating others and participates in workshops, leadership training, and conferences and so on. Elizabeth also enjoys traveling and reading.

Mr. Gurdeep Singh

Tax and VAT Leader, GCC - Grant Thornton, based in the UAE.

Bio:

Gurdeep is the Head of Tax and VAT at Grant Thornton, based in the UAE.

With over 23 years of indirect tax experience, specifically relating to value-added tax (VAT), Gurdeep brings a wide spectrum view to businesses of all sizes and industries.

Having spent most of his profession working and lobbying with government bodies, playing an instrumental role in regulatory reform, alongside leading the tax practice of the one of the world's largest corporations he offers imperative solutions for businesses who require VAT readiness and implementation.

More recently, he was leading the VAT implementation initiative for KPMG KSA, where he was the Head of Tax, additionally he has performed the role of ASEAN Regional Tax and VAT Controller for Intel Corporation based in Malaysia covering ASEAN, South Asia and Australasia.

Gurdeep as VAT Controller for Intel Corporation was the only specialist on VAT/GST implementation in a USD$4.5b operation for several companies in an organisation employing 9,000 staff in Malaysia and including a Shared Service Centre with 300 finance professionals. He supervised a VAT/GST steering team of over 30 staff from different divisions within the Intel’s operations in Malaysia.

He was extensively involved with VAT (called Goods and Services Tax (GST) is Singapore) implementation for clients when it was introduced in Singapore in 1994. Gurdeep successfully engaged various Revenue authorities in VAT/GST controversy including successfully obtaining a multi-million dollar VAT/GST settlement for a US based MNC in Singapore.

In 2007-2008, his involvement was instrumental in the VAT/GST implementation process within the United Arab Emirates. He advised clients on the varying impact VAT/GST would have on different industry sectors including Real Estate, Financial Services. Medical Services, Education, Hospitality, Property, Developers and Manufacturing.

Over the years, he has advised in a variety of industries in the Middle East, including: financial services, petroleum (downstream), manufacturing, defense contractors, professional services, the retail industry, technology, hospitality, commodities, construction and service contracting, real estate, joint ventures, etc.

Gurdeep is a regular presenter on Taxation, having recently been positioned as the keynote speaker on Malaysian VAT/GST implementation challenges at the Euro-money Tax Conference in Singapore.

Professional qualifications

Chartered Tax Advisor (CTA)

Bachelor of Laws (Hons)

Master of Laws, King’s College, London

Industry roles held

Member of the Penang Free Zone VAT/GST lobby group

Representations to the Ministry of Finance

Representations to the Royal Malaysian Customs Department for special dispensations for VAT/GST compliance.

Dr. Eesa Bastaki

President, University of Dubai

Bio:

Former CEO, ICT Fund
Recipient of Emirates for Sciences, Arts & Literature in 2009
Motto: “Made in UAE Sold Globally”

Dr. Eesa Bastaki is the President of the University of Dubai and former CEO of the ICT Fund where he actively led the effort to create an eco-system in the UAE ICT industry, by encouraging entrepreneurship, funding R&D projects and University scholarships and implementing ICT initiatives at the school level.

During his distinguished career he held many senior posts including Director of Education & Technology at the Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA), Chairman of the Energy Section at the UAE University (UAEU) and Chairman of the Technology Section at the Technology & Energy Research Center of the UAEU. Dr. Bastaki is one of the founders of DSO and RIT-Dubai, and he is the founder of the IT Center in Al-Al Municipality.

Dr.Bastaki’s current professional activities include Chairman of the Technical Committee for the Emirates Energy Awards, Chairman of the Board of the Emirates Science Club, and Member of the Board of the Cultural & Science Association. He is also the BOT Chairman of the judging panels of both Drones for Good Award and Robotics & AI for Good Award. He is also the Vice Chair of Hamdan Bin Mohammed Innovation Award in Project Management, a member of the judging committee of the Dubai 10X Initiative, Technical Chair of Emirates Energy Award and Scientific Chair of Shaikha Latifa Award for Child Innovations. Chairman of the Academia Platform in World Green Economy OrganizationIn addition to chairing other awards.

Born in Dubai, Dr. Bastaki is a UAE national scientist and researcher; he studied abroad where he received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, San Diego and Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine. His research interests are Multiple Access Communications, Coding and Synchronization.

In 2009, Dr. Bastaki received the UAE’s highest award “The Emirates Awards for Science, Arts and Literature” in sciences.He is the recipient of Sheikh Rashid's Award for Scientific Excellence. In 2014, he received the Middle East “ICT and Knowledge Development CEO Excellence Award.

H.E Dr. Akima Umezawa

Consul-General of Japan in Dubai

Bio:

Dr. Akima Umezawa started his term as the Consul-General of Japan in Dubai in 2017. He joined the Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in1991, and in 2009 he was appointed the Head of Chancery to the Embassy of Japan in Singapore. Upon returning to MOFA in 2011, he served as the Director of Fisheries Division and the Cabinet Counsellor to the Ocean Policy Cabinet Secretariat, and in 2013 he was an Advisor to the Representative of the Government of Japan to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). He also served an international organization, the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat, established by governments of Japan, China and Korea, as the Deputy Secretary-General in 2015-2017.

Dr. Akima Umezawa received a Master’s Degree (M.A.) in International Relations (1995) and a Master’s Diploma (M.Sc.) in Management of Information System (1996) from University of Leeds, England, and a Ph.D. Degree in Ocean Management from University of Tokyo in 1991. He has served as the APEC Project Overseer (APEC Project: Workshop on the Climate Impact on the Oceans and Fisheries Resources) in 2014-2015, and the Chair of Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT) in 2012. He was awarded as a Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (1989-1990). He also received the Plaque of Appreciation presented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic Korea in 2017. He was a Visiting Professor of the Gujarat National Law University’s Public International Law in the International Maritime Academy in 2015-2016.

Major Publication:

UMEZAWA Akima, 2004, International order of maritime laws, Legal arrangement for the prevention and suppression of piracy in Asia, The Journal of international law and diplomacy, 103 (1), p107-125.

UMEZAWA Akima, 2005, International prospects over preparation of submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, Trends in the Science (Japan Science Support Foundation), p26-31.

UMEZAWA Akima, ed., 2015, APEC Workshop on the Climate Change Impact on Oceans and Fisheries Resources, APEC Publication (APEC 215-OF-04.1.), ISBN 978-981-09-6516-7.

Mr. Satyajit Dwivedi

Director, Process Sensor and IoT Global Practice

Bio:

Satyajit has more than 24 years of Industry experience in Government, PSU, Energy & Utilities, Manufacturing, Transportation and Defense. He is focused in areas of Government Process Re-engineering, Business Performance Improvement with Analytics in Government, Internet of Things, Smart Cities & Smart Grids, Integrated Energy Forecasting & Trading, Asset Performance Improvement, and Establishing Fraud Framework for Reduction in AT&C losses.
Satyajit has rich experience in working with Apex Ministries - Energy, Power, Urban Development, Transport, Information Technology, Municipal and Urban Local Bodies, in conceptualizing & executing modernization programs for Process Restructuring initiatives Smart Programs, Horizontal Transfer initiative, In many utilities he has advised and implemented Energy Forecasting and Modelling, Asset Performance Modernization Revenue Assurance and Fraud Framework for and Non-Technical Loss. He has delivered Customer Intelligence programs for global companies and has also worked with International Development agencies such as World Bank, USTDA, USBIC, DFID and has successfully executed one of the largest nation-wide analytics capacity building program for 151 Universities and Research Institutions funded by World Bank.
Satyajit has been associated in design and development of analytics center of excellence for the government, energy and utilities sector. He has been instrumental in create new PPP programs in IT Modernization for the government in multiple countries. Satyajit has executed large scale multi-billion dollar greenfield power projects involving erection, testing and commissioning of Double High Tension Lines, Substations & Control Rooms, PLC, SCADA and GIS systems.
Starting his career in a power plant as maintenance engineer, 14 years in SAS, has established various practices and competencies in Oil & Gas, Utilities, Manufacturing, Government and Defence. Currently, Satyajit is driving the design and development of Analytics for IoT platform for Connected Vehicle, Connected Factory targeted for achieving Asset Performance Improvement and Production Quality Improvement.
He is a thought leader and has represented SAS in World Economic Forum, World Smart Grid, IoT Events, Energy Summits and Maintenance / Reliability Congress. He is invited as speaker for leadership talks in leading Business / Technology Schools. He is an Electrical Engineer and a dual (Finance/Systems) major Management Graduate. He is member of IEEE, GARP and ISWM.

Eng. Zakia Karam

Head of Land Allocation and Services Department

Bio:

تشغل المهندسة زكية منصب رئيس قسم تخصيص الأراضي والخدمات في إدارة التخطيط – بلدية دبي من سنة 2016 لغاية الآن، قامت خلالها بعدة إنجازات أهمها تنفيذ مبادرة "بدايتي" التي تهدف إلى تأهيل كادر وطني في مجال الرسم الهندسي والتخطيط الحضري. وشغلت المهندسة زكية منصب رئيس شعبة التصاريح الإعلانية والرقابة لمدة 9 سنوات قامت خلالها بإعداد دليل الإعلانات الخارجية في إمارة دبي سنة 2013، وتصميم خارطة دبي (2010 -2013).
وشغلت أيضاً منصب رئيس شعبة الإعلان والديكور في بلدية دبي لمدة 10 سنوات ومنصب رئيس شعبة التصميم الداخلي لمدة سنتين في نفس المكان، وقامت خلالها بإنجاز عدة متاحف تراثية مثل متحف الهجم ومتحف الخيل.
تخرجت المهندسة زكية سنة 1994 من جامعة الإمارات في دبي وحصلت على شهادة البكالوريوس في تخصص التصميم الداخلي
وحصلت على عدة دورات تدريبية لتطوير مهاراتها الشخصية ومنها:
•    Excellence Standards of Team and Committee Management
•    The Role of Information in Analyzing Knowledge Gap
•    Dissemination and Implementation of Governance
•    Micro station Software
•    Standards of Government Performance Excellence
•    Setting Goals and Objectives for Staff
•    Seven Innovation Tools
•    Six Thinking Hats
•    Advanced Management Strategies
•    Benchmarking
•    The Leadership Role in Unlocking the Potential
•    Neuro Linguistic Programming ( NLP)

H.E Basheer Khalfan Al Mehairbi

Executive Director of Support Services

Bio:

In his position as the Executive Director of Support Services, Basheer Khalfan Al-Mehairbi supports ADHA's Division’s plans and projects by providing a wide spectrum of services across the functions of human resources, procurement and general services, IT and finance. He also oversees the implementation of the support services annual plans, and ensures that the budget is prepared based on the yearly needs and Abu Dhabi Government requirements.

Prior to joining ADHA, Al Mehairbi was the Information Technology Director at HAAD and Deputy CIO at SEHA. He was responsible for a milestone project, which aimed at implementing a system to create unified electronic medical records for patients. The system helps reduce medical mistakes, maintain medication safety, and decrease operational costs. In addition, he worked on the implementation of Oracle eBusiness suite of ERP applications, and Anthem's Business Intelligence applications to support decision making process in health facilities. Furthermore, Al Mehairbi prepared an IT strategic plan for the management of IT projects in accordance with the international standards from Gartner's technology research.

H.E Mr. Basheer holds a higher diploma on (MIS) from HCT, and a Bachelor degree in International Business, and hold Master degree in an International of Finance and prepare for DBA on Artificial Intelligent from Swiss Business School . Mr. Basheer certified on Microsoft System Engineer (MSCE) and E-Commerce Certified (CIW), PMP, CGEIT and is a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) as well as ISACA.

Al Mehairbi is a best candidate of top 3 short list for ADAEP for “ Technology Innovation “ for “ Electronic Patient Record “ (2008).

Al Mehairbi is a recipient of ADSIC of Effort and Governance Team Award (2008).

Al Mehairbi is an executive member of ABUDHABI DIGITLIZATION COMMITTEE for Emirates of AD “ 2017 “.

Al Mehairbi got a winner on ADAEP “ ABUDHABI AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE “ for Best Common Service for eHouse ecosystem ( 2018 ).

Mr. Salem Mohammed Al-Housani

Deputy Director

Bio:

EDUCATION:

United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, UAE

B.Sc. in Science and Education

Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

Higher Diploma in Comparative Education and Education Management

General Information Authority

Diploma in Information Technology

EXPERIENCE:

Physics Teacher - Senior Physics Teacher - Physics Supervisor

Head of Educational Management Dept. Abu Dhabi Educational Zone

Deputy Director – Dubai Branch , General Information Authority (GIA)

Deputy Director , Emirates eGovernment ( TRA)

The most important Achievements

1.Supervised preparation of the UAE federal eGovernment Strategy

2.Chairman of the Executive Committee for the GCC eGovernment Award

3.Head of the Emirates eGovernment Communications Team at the General Secretariat of the Cabinet

4.Member of the National Committee to follow up on the World Summit on Information

5.Member of the eGovernment Committee of the the Secretariat General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

6.Executive Supervision on the Imitative to develop UAE ranking in the UN eGovernment Index

7.Active participation in the Sheikh Khalifa Government Excellent Programme

8.Participated in the Cabinet meeting when the federal portal was launched, highlighting portal components to the Prime Minister and the Ministers

Main participation in the Training Courses, Programmes and Forums :

a.GCC eGovernment Award Conference , First in Oman second in Kuwait .

b.The Second KSA Conference for Government Transactions .

c.Bahrain International eGovernment Forum .

d.Workshop to Introduce UN eGovernment Index ,with UN eGovernment Expert Richard Kerby.

e.Institutional Capacity Building Programme for Government Excellence with Dubai School of Government (DSG) .

f.Supervisory and Executive Leadership Training Programme with Foundation of Arab Experts in Engineering and Management, Egypt.

"

Eng. Abdullah Bin Al Haqabani

Undersecretary for planning and development

Bio:

المعلومات الشخصية:

المهندس / عبدالله بن محمد الحقباني

الشهادات الأكاديمية:

1. ماجستير العلوم في الهندسة الكهربائية – اتصالات جامعة فيرلي ديكنسون – الولايات المتحدة عام 2003م.

2. بكالوريوس في تقنية الإلكترونيات الكلية التقنية بالرياض عام 1997م.

الخبرات الوظيفية :

1- وكيل وزارة العمل للتخطيط والتطوير

2- مستشار معالي الوزير والمشرف العام على تقنية المعلومات بوزارة العمل (2011).

3- مدير عام تقنية المعلومات بالمؤسسة العامة للتدريب التقني والمهني (2006-2010).

4- نائب مدير عام تقنية المعلومات بالمؤسسة العامة للتدريب التقني والمهني (2005-2006).

5-مدير مركز الحاسب الآلي بالكلية التقنية بأبها (2003-2005).

اللجان وفرق العمل المكلف بها :

• عضو اللجنة التحضيرية العليا للتنظيم الإداري.

• رئيس المجلس التنفيذي للشراكات الاستراتيجية .

• رئيس المجلس التنفيذي لبرنامج نطاقات.

• رئيس لجنة التعاملات الكترونية.

• رئيس اللجنة التنفيذية لبرنامج إنتاجيه.

• عضو لجنة المجلس التوجيهي لخدمات العملاء.

Dr. Chang Chia-sheng

Commissioner - Department of Information Technology

Bio:

Education：

 Research Fellow, C4I Center, George Mason University (U.S.A.)

 MA & PhD, Weatherhead School of Management , Case Western Reserve University (U.S.A.)

 MBA, National Chengchi University (R.O.C.)

 Bachelor of Science, Republic of China (R.O.C.) Air Force Academy

Professional Experiences：

 CIO, Cathay Financial Holdings

 CIO, Cathay Life Insurance

 Director, Modeling and Simulation Center, Ministry of National Defense

 Director, Systems and Information Division, Ministry of National Defense

 Associate Professor (Part-Time), Shih Hsin University (R.O.C.)

Dr. Chang graduated from Republic of China’s (Taiwan) Air Force Academy with bachelor’s degree in science, earned master’s degree in Business Administration from National Chengchi University in Taiwan, also master’s and doctoral degree in Case Western Reserve University in Ohio state, U.S.A.. His career in the military includes Director’s position in the Ministry of National Defense’s Systems and Information Division, and Modeling and Simulation Center. During military service, he was awarded as Outstanding Information Technology Personnel, and the Best Senior Ranking Public Service Personnel.

Dr. Chang was offered Chief Information Officer’s position in Cathay Financial Holdings after retiring from the military. In his capacity as the C.I.O., he was in charge of formulating and the implementation of Cathay Financial Holding’s overall IT policy, which has successfully led Cathay’s smooth IT transition from a business corporate into a financial holding company. His work has contributed to the integration of various IT systems across many subsidiaries within the Cathay Financial Holdings.

Dr. Chang was appointed as Commissioner of the new Department of Information Technology (upgraded to departmental status from the previous Center of Information Technology) at Taipei City Government in June, 2007. After taking office, Dr. Chang immediately acted on bringing in the system integration approach that he has done previously, which combined IT resources from across the municipal government in constructing an integrated application system, capable of offering one-stop information service. Under his guidance and supervision, and with view on the long-term needs of municipal services, the Department of Information Technology has continued to provide service-oriented IT applications that include, for example, Taipei Telecare for the elderly, Map of Taipei Amusement (MOTA) service on mobile phones, and 1999 Citizen Hotline offering one-stop service experience for the Taipei City citizens, and many more.

With the advent of Information Technology towards Cloud Computing, Dr. Chang is leading the Department of Information Technology to provide new services such as Taipei Free (free public WiFi service for citizens, visitors, and tourists), Open Government Initiatives on Taipei municipal data, city-wide Fiber-To-The-Home infrastructure and Municipal Cloud service available on 3G, WiFi, and Cable Broadband network.

Mr. Dieter Hovorka

Chief Technology Officer / Strategic Alliances

Bio:

Dieter Hovorka is a creative Marketing and Solution Consultant with over +20 years industry experience working for multi international organizations to develop whole enterprise IT strategy, business process optimization, engineering projects and customer communication solutions with integration into digital and social media marketing initiatives.
Starting his carrier as a software developer in the gambling industry he quickly developed his business skills to succeed in fast growing markets by delivering business goal driven solutions which go beyond technology. Innovation and creativity allowed him to develop his knowledge across many markets, economies and technologies and in following companies into logistics, retail, manufacturing, services and multi lingual back office solutions.
As a senior Dieter was working over five years as the Global Information Technology Officer for Artesyn Technologies Inc., an U.S. based electronic manufacture across four continents implementing communication and information technology infrastructure projects, driving global initiatives for knowledge management and information centric solutions like ERP, CRM, IMMS and MRP. During his engagement he had to ability to develop creative solutions for complete new manufacturing standards and data exchange between manufacture, supplier and customer. He was driving also the implementation of ISO9000 and many government safety standards special in the Asian operations.
After he was holding multiply management positions, as CEO, Marketing Manager, Sales Manager, Quality & Product Manager, in a couple of start-up companies across Europe, which developed a complete web based business process management suite, a content transformation solution, a web based marketing solution, a multi-channel output management solution. During this period he was invited in as guest speaker in many forums across Europe and North America to share his experience and knowledge.
Dieter was establishing the Adobe Systems regional sales in Austria as Technical Pre-Sales Lead where he quickly contributed in many innovations for the product management for Adobe’s enterprise solutions, reforming the digital signature initiative and mobile initiative.
Three years later Dieter moved for Adobe to the Middle East as Technical Manager, building Enterprise Solution sales and partner network and helping deployment of electronic forms solutions, web experience management, customer experience management and content centric solutions for eGoverment and commercial sector companies across the GCC.
Recently Dieter launched a digital agency Skillz Middle East in Dubai, developing the transformation of knowledge management across information channels including social networks and building for company’s digital and social marketing strategies across Middle East and Africa.
In his free time Dieter is passionate into scuba diving, beach sports, traveling and enjoying good food and cigars.
Dieter graduated from the Higher Technical Institute in Moedling Austria in communication technologies.

Ms. Hanane Benkhallouk

Founder of tawazoun and author of seeds of change

Bio:

Hanane Benkhallouk is an award winning senior consultant with a broad scope of expertise and

exposure to international markets.

She counts 20 years of a diverse thriving career journey that started in New York city before

moving to Dubai in 2005. Her multi-industry working experience included being in charge of

innovation and entrepreneurship programs across the Arab World, at the Mohammed bin

Rashid AlMaktoum foundation, which was the turning point in her career shift,

Hanane works today as the Executive Director of Sustain Leadership consultancies.

A culture change and certified innovation strategist, Hanane supports corporates, government

institutions, NGOs and SMEs, in building human centric business models, and creating cultures

of innovation in order to sustain their leadership, while maximizing impact.

Hanane pioneered a multitude of initiatives which stemmed from her passion to cultivate

entrepreneurial and innovative mindsets, accelerate the gender balance agenda, and advance

the MEA region towards a knowledge based economy.

More recently, Hanane founded Tawazoun, (which means balance in Arabic) the first think-do

tank and platform in the Middle East that aims at cultivating balanced people, work

environments and societies.

Hanane received many awards, including, the Game changer award in 2019 from the Middle

East Institute of Excellence in Dubai, as well as the Saphira award from her native country’s

government of Morocco in 2016, to name a few.

Hanane is recognized as a thought leader, a global conference speaker, and a published author,

with 2 co-authored books, and her own recently published “ SEEDS of change” that hit number

1 best selling status on Amazon. Some of her articles were also published on Harvard business

review Arabic, and Forbes Middle East and Arabian Business among others.

Dr. Mazin A. Gadir

Senior Specialist, The Executive Office for Organizational Transformation,

Bio:

Dr. Mazin Gadir is the Senior Consultant at The Executive Office for Organizational Transformation, Dubai Health Authority with responsibility for Health strategy development, implementation, execution and Transformation.

Prior to joining Dubai Health Authority, Dr Mazin Gadir worked in Healthcare Transfomation Strategy and Digital Health Innovation at several companies, including Pricewaterhouse Coopers PwC, Abu Dhabi Healthcare Services Co. SEHA and Cerner Limited accumulating 17 years of experience in the field of Healthcare, innovation and transformation. Notable is his 17 years as a management consultant his depth of experience covered many global organizations in the UK, France, UAE, KSA, GCC, Australia, India and the USA.

Dr Mazin Gadir received PhD in Quantum Electronics and Nanotechnology from The University of Leeds in the UK from 2000 to 2005. He also obtained his MSc in Management and Business Administration and BEng in Electronics and Electrical Engineering.

His professional interests focus on Digital Health Innovation, Health Informatics workflow optimization, eHealth Regulatory Framework and Compliance, Health Information Systems/Health Information Exchange, Digital Maturity and Accreditation according to International Standards, Project and Change Management experience in Healthcare IT Transformation Programs, and his current projects include Organizational Development and Strategy Consultancy, stakeholder engagement and knowledge management & skills in the areas of: Strategy Development, Organizational Development & Design, Corporate Policy Development, Human Capital Development, Business Process Re0engineering, change enablement and Organizational Excellence. In addition, he serves as (eHealth Advisory) for Health Innovation Advisory, and is a member of Health Information Management Systems Society and Project Management Institute. Dr Mazin Gadir was recently honored with the (PMI Volunteer of the year for his contributions to the Innovation in Project Management.

H.E Dr. Saeed Dhaheri

Chairman, Board of Smartworld

Bio:

الدكتور سعيد الظاهري حاصل على شهادة الدكتوراه في الهندسة الطبية من جامعة دريكسل الأمريكية في عام 1994. ولمدة 10 سنوات عمل بالتدريس في قسم الهندسة الكهربائية بكلية الهندسة في جامعة الإمارات وقام خلالها بنشر العديد من الأبحاث في مجال تخصصه. له خبرات عديدة في مجال التعليم الالكتروني وتقنية المعلومات وتطبيقاتها في مجالات الحكومة الالكترونية والحكومة الذكية وشبكات التواصل الاجتماعي. وله مشاركات فعالة في العديد من المؤتمرات المحلية والدولية.

عمل في حياته المهنية في مجال الأستشارات في تقنية المعلومات والحكومة الإلكترونية للعديد من المؤسسات الحكومية. كما شارك في تقييم عدة دورات لبرنامج دبي للأداء الحكومي المتميز، بالإضافة إلى مشاركات أخرى في تقييم جوائز داخلية في دولة الإمارات وخارجية على المستوى العربي والدولي. وشغل مناصب عديدة منها مستشاراً لسمو وزير الداخلية لمشروع بطاقة الهوية، ومستشاراً لسمو وزير الخارجية لشؤون نظم المعلومات، ومستشاراً لتقنية المعلومات في جهاز أبوظبي للاستثمار.

في عام 2004 تم تعيينه بمرسوم من رئيس الدولة كمدير عام لهيئة الإمارات للهوية بدرجة وكيل وزارة، وعمل على تأسيس هيئة الهوية.

وحصل الدكتور سعيد على العديد من الجوائز منها جائزة أفضل المدراء لتقنية المعلومات CIO 50 Award 2014، وجائزة أفضل المدراء التنفيذين لتقنية المعلومات في تمكين الأعمال IDC Insight CIO Award 2014 for Business enablement.

يشغل الدكتور سعيد حاليا منصب رئيس مجلس إدارة شركة سمارت ورلد، وهي شركة حكومية في الإمارات وتعمل في مجال تقنية المعلومات والاتصالات.

Mr.Asem Galal

Managing Partner - Galal & Karawi Management Consulting, DMCC

Bio:

Asem Galal is an entrepreneur, a management consultant and a regional authority on business and channel development in the information technology sector in the middle east. Galal has held middle east wide product

management and marketing responsibilities in microsoft and hp from 1996 to 2002 and regional general management and sales responsibilities in hp and mcafee from 2002 to 2008. Galal started as a lead developer and s/w project manager at IDSC in 1992. He has received hp's president award for outstanding performance in 2003 and mcafee's president outstanding performance award in 2005, 2006 & 2007. Galal is listed in Marquis Who'sWho in the World since the 26th Edition in 2009.

In 2008 Galal co-founded Galal & Karawi Consulting (G&K), based in dubai, to enable middle east organizations and individuals to re-invent themselves. Among G&K's customers are top Fortune 500 and leading regional companies. Since then, Galal has delivered multiple consulting and training engagements on business and channel development, retail business enablement, social media strategies, creativity & innovation and strategic market re-invention. In 2010 G&K launched Retail++ program focusing on developing the middle east's retail market. Galal delivered Keynote speeches for many regional events including Egypt's Central Bank annual conference, SAP, Lenovo, Evonik, Etihad Airways & Dell conferences. He also contributes in the content selection and moderation of panels for ITP annual channel conference and is on the Judges panel of the Middle East channel awards for multiple years.

Galal holds a B.Sc in electronic engineering from cairo university, an MBA from maastricht school of management and currently working on his Ph.D. in applied management sciences at walden university.

Galal is a frequent writer and guest analyst in business and information technology media such as Forbes, SkyNews & CNBC Arabic. Some of his interviews can be found on www.galalkarawi.com and www.youtube.com/asemgalal.

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Dr. Usman Zafar

Mr. Hesham Metwalli

Mr. Christian Farioli

Eng. Ashraf Kanjo

Mr. Imad Lahad

Mr. Alan Devereux

Mr. Mark Cijo

Mr. Amit Vyas

Mr. Andrew Thomas

Eng. Ali Bin Saleh Al-Soma

H.E. Ali Mohammad Al-Khouri

Dr. Usman Zafar

Mr. Adil Kassabi

Mr. Abdulrahim Ahmad Almudhareb

Mr. Hani AlGhofaily

Dr. Essa bin Mohammad Rawas

Dr. A.Ramazan Altinok

Dr. Majed Alhaisoni

Mr. Lewa Abukhait

Mrs. Noora Saif Al Muhiri

Dr. Usman Zafar

Mr. Joe Clabby

Dr. Majed Alhaisoni

Dr. Saeed Al Dhaheri

Mr. Siim Sikkut

Dr. Haniyeh Yousofpour

Dr. Paulo Goes

Prof. Mischa Dohler

Mr. Mohammed Qadadeh

Dr. Fahad Hussain Mushayt

Dr. Ray Aria

Prof. Gi-Heon Kwon

Mr. Abdulaziz Alasmy

Prof. Witold Abramowicz

Dr. Náder Alyani

Eng. Ahlam AlSarheed

Mr. Cedrick Frolick

Dr. Eesa Bastaki

Mr. Mehis Sihvart

Mr. Saif Al Hattawi

Mr. Feras Al Jabi

Dr. Seppe Verheyen

Dr. Anna Dolidze

Minister. Boris Koprivnikar

Minister. Marta Arsovska

Mr. Jurij Bertok

Mrs. Samia Melhem

Dr. Mohamad Zainuddi

Mr. Giorgi Vashadze

H.E Dr. Saeed Dhaheri

Mr. Safder Nazir

Ms. Vita Narnicka

Mr. Lasha Antadze

Mr. Fadi Salem

Mr. Viljar Lubi

Mr. Kaiser Naseem

Ms. Lynn C Reyes

Ms. Dima Kandalaft

Mr. Yousef Al Barkawie

Prof. Nasser Almuraqab

Eng. Ali Al-Gobishy

Mr. Willem Clappaert

Mr. Ghazi Atallah

Mr. Gert Botha

Mr. Munthir M. Alansari

Dr. Majid Saad

Mr. Michael J. Tolan

Dr. Saifaddin

Mr. Yousef Khalili

Mr. Ali Al Kamali

Mr. Joe Clabby

Dr. Usman Zafar

Dr. Ahmad Tahlak

Dr. Anna Dolidze