Digital transformation experts from Abu Dhabi Smart Solutions and Services Authority and Microsoft gather to address nation’s innovators, business executives, IT decision makers on topics such as AI, hybrid cloud, data management and compliance
22nd April, 2019; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – Abu Dhabi Smart Solutions and Services Authority (ADSSSA) today partnered with Microsoft, to host an Innovation Summit at Jumeirah Etihad Towers, in the UAE capital. The event connected over 500 IT decision-makers with digital transformation experts to help them achieve more and further emphasised on how innovation can happen jointly.
H.E Dr. Rauda Saeed Al Saadi, Director General of ADSSSA said “We are glad to host the Innovation Summit in partnership with Microsoft, one of the world’s top firms in Technology. The Innovation Summit, being held in Abu Dhabi, reflects ADSSSA’s strategy of driving digital transformation across the emirate to stimulate business and investment and promote economic development as one of the main pillars of Abu Dhabi Development Accelerator Programme “Ghadan21.”
H.E Al Saadi highlighted the vital role that innovative digital solutions can play to promote proactivity and drive innovation leveraging the power of Data which will positively impact the happiness of society in line with the authority’s strategy to widen its partnerships with the private sector to further enhance synergies and create incremental value from the joint initiatives.
Covering topics such as the power of Microsoft 365, the transforming government services through artificial intelligence, and datacenter management with Microsoft Azure, the summit offered presentations and breakout sessions designed to accelerate innovation, boost entrepreneurship and job creation, and support the UAE private and public sectors in their pursuit of excellence in the global digital economy.
“Microsoft today reiterated its ongoing support for the Government of Abu Dhabi as it continues to innovate on behalf of its citizens, residents, visitors and investors” said Sayed Hashish, Regional General Manager, Microsoft Gulf. “Digital transformation has the power to engage citizens, empower public servants, optimise operations and reinvent service-delivery models. Our shared digital future demands that public and private sectors join together, as we have with ADSSSA, to guide entrepreneurs and help create jobs and boost GDP, in line with Abu Dhabi’s accelerator programme ‘Ghadan 21’”.
Keynote speakers at the event included Her Excellency Dr. Rauda Al Saadi, Director-General of ADSSSA; Mansoor Al Marzooqi, Strategy and Planning Director, ADSSSA; Sayed Hashish, General Manager, Microsoft Gulf; Mohammed Arif, Regional Director, Modern Workplace & Security, Microsoft Gulf; and Talal Alqinawi, Senior Director, Product Marketing, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft HQ.
Microsoft-led breakout sessions covered areas such as the Office of the Future with Microsoft 365, Transforming Government Services with AI, Data Centre Modernization with Azure, Intelligent Customer Service with Dynamics 365; Cloud Policy and Compliance, and Hybrid Cloud in the Government Sector. Microsoft partners PwC, Cloud4C, MDS, Crayon and Exceed addressed delegates on a range of topics, including public sector cloud journeys and the experience of the digital citizen.
The summit also featured an expo area with booths for Microsoft partners, as well as a Microsoft Azure showcase. In addition, ADSSSA demonstrated its TAMM initiative, a first-of-its-kind in the region that aims to consolidate e-government services into a single platform and move the service delivery model towards a ‘journey’-focused approach.
Following a significant surge in the demand for its cloud services in the region, Microsoft earlier this year announced it will make available its secure, flexible and intelligent cloud to regional customers through two dedicated cloud datacenters, one in Dubai and one in Abu Dhabi. These facilities will cater exclusively to the Middle East providing enterprise-grade reliability and performance, combined with data residency and the broadest compliance.
