What are the key highlights of your participation at this year’s GITEX?
Under the theme of ‘Dive into Digital’, Huawei’s presence at GITEX this year will explore various practical applications of emerging technologies. We will showcase how these technologies can transform all industries into more efficient, versatile, and resilient environments. Aligned with Huawei’s green strategy, we will also announce various new products and solutions developed to support carbon-neutral environments.
This year, we will actually host a series of conferences throughout the week.
Huawei will host its annual Huawei Arab Innovation Day conference on the sidelines of GITEX. This year’s hybrid conference will be held under the theme of “Collaboration to Drive Innovations in the Arab World”. Participants will hear from leading voices in government, academia, industry analysts and regulators, as well as Huawei’s senior leadership team. Key themes explored this year include how ICT innovation is driving digital transformation in the Arab world, the keys to building talent ecosystems for better technology education, and strategies for strengthening the security and resilience of the region’s digital economy.
Huawei’s Enterprise Business Group is also hosting a dedicated MENA Industrial Digital Transformation Summit. The event recognises the exponential growth in digital transformation across all industries in recent years. The summit will spotlight today’s digital economy and smart cities, including creating new value for enterprises and society across various tech domains.
In addition to its own events, Huawei executives will participate in topical panels throughout GITEX Technology Week. These include sessions organised around cybersecurity resilience, smart city investments, the role of technology in expanding education, and the future roadmap for 5G technology.
Looking at specific technologies, we will examine investments by Middle East carriers in 5G infrastructure, and how these telecom operators are improving ICT-based experiences for individuals, families, and enterprises. We will also showcase HUAWEI CLOUD’s capabilities and how organisations can use to support technology grounding in various scenarios.
Why are tech shows such as GITEX important despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic?
The value of digitisation has become even more apparent in the last two years, as more of our work, education, healthcare, and other daily activities have moved online. As the world begins to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, organisations across every sector are considering new ways to thrive in this promising environment. Applications based on 5G, cloud, and big data have been instrumental in helping organisations and individuals navigate the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Through events like GITEX, we can build on this template as a society to boost economic recovery. While COVID-19 is our priority for today, the post-pandemic world will need an innovative approach towards economic recovery and improving quality of life, making businesses smarter and creating a more inclusive world in which everyone can thrive.
It is fitting that this year’s GITEX coincides with Expo 2020 Dubai—an opportunity for the global community to reflect on a post-pandemic future where sustainable development is high on the agenda.
As businesses continue to embrace hybrid models, which technologies should they focus on to remain competitive?
Looking at enterprises in particular, I don’t think anyone can afford to question whether they need cloud any longer. According to IDC, 80% of enterprises will accelerate their cloud migration by the end of 2021, with multi-cloud access — including public, private, and hybrid clouds — becoming the preferred choice. Enterprises will migrate their core services to the private cloud and office applications to the public cloud. In an agile world where technology and people are constantly evolving, the cloud is the only environment flexible enough to facilitate constant change and support a mobile workforce.
As businesses become more digitized, there has been a sharp rise in cyber security threats globally. This is an issue that needs to be addressed. Adopting solutions that adhere to the latest international standards, along with adopting a “Zero Trust” security model, can go a long way in safeguarding an organisation’s most critical assets.
How is Huawei enabling regional organisations to embrace a bold digital future?
Huawei believes deeply in the power of digital technology to provide new solutions to the challenges that we all face, whether climate change, geopolitical uncertainty, or pursuing post-COVID economic recovery. Huawei is proud to serve governments, telecom operators, enterprises, and consumers in the region to provide these solutions.
Closely tied to this is our commitment to innovation. Huawei’s R&D investment over the past decade exceeds $110 billion. In 5G, as just one example, we have invested $4 billion so far, and own the highest number of 5G patents of any company. We consistently promote the idea of an open approach to innovation, focusing on constructive dialogue, cross-industry cooperation, and exchanging expertise with different countries in the Middle East and worldwide. Working together within an ecosystem allows for shared success for individuals, businesses, and governments. Huawei has established 13 Open Labs worldwide—including in the Middle East—to support open collaboration for shared success.
Bridging the digital skills gap is another crucial objective. We support the region’s digital future through various education and training-oriented CSR initiatives, including the Seeds for the Future initiative and Huawei ICT Competition. The objective is to promote a greater understanding of and interest in the technology field, while encouraging participation in the region’s growing digital economy.
Through these and many more initiatives, we are helping to build a fully connected, intelligent world.
