Agenda

Time	Activity
8.30 am - 9.30 am	Registration & Welcome Coffee
9.30 am - 9.40 am	Welcome by conference chair
9.40 am - 9.55 am	4IR Keynote Speaker Alia Al Hammadi, director of ICT, Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation
9.55 am - 10.30 am	AI/Machine Learning panel The Middle East’s efforts to enhance its commitment to the field of artificial intelligence has attracted global attention. From the UAE becoming the first nation worldwide to appoint an AI minister, to Saudi Arabia granting citizenship to humanoid robot Sophia, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the future is far closer than we may have previously thought. This panel will analyse how this new era of human-machine partnerships can impact the business landscape in years to come. Celal Kavuklu, Head of Business Solutions - Middle East and Turkey, SAS Elie Abouatme, Senior Engagement Manager at Akamai Technologies Fabio Fontana, Vice-President & Managing Director, HPE Saeed Khan, AGC Networks, Vice President & Head – Sales (Middle East) Samina Rizwan, Senior Director Business Analytics and Big Data for MEA, Oracle
10.30 am - 11.00 am	Coffee break
11.00 am - 11.30 am	Blockchain panel Considered by many to be as disruptive as the Internet was in the 1990s, Blockchain is widely expected to transform the way business is done. Bringing unprecedented transparency and innovation to the table through distributed ledgers, its potential is limited only by human imagination. This panel will explore potential use cases for the ways that Blockchain can revolutionise the world. Adam Lalani, group head of IT, Tristar Ajay Rathi, CIO, Meraas Arthur Guest, CTO, Support Legal Jonathan Rawling, CFO, Yallacompare
11.30 am - 12.00 pm	IT Automation panel Contrary to public hysteria, we’re not about to be completely overrun by our mechanic counterparts. However, we are gradually reaching a new age of automation in which machines can not only perform a range of routine physical work activities - sometimes in a more efficient and cost-effective way than humans, but are also becoming increasingly capable of achieving activities that require cognitive capabilities. This panel will explore the extent to which businesses should be looking to automate back-end systems and administrative tasks to maximise employee productivity going forward. Ahmad El Amadi, CISO, Dubai Municipality Ala Majaj, Partner at GEEKS.ae David Ashford, CIO, The Entertainer Hesham El Komy – Regional Vice President, Epicor Paulo Pereira, Director of Systems Engineering for Emerging Markets and Europe at Nutanix
12.00 pm - 12.30 pm	Virtual Reality panel While the general public believes that VR’s potential is limited to the entertainment business, its impact will go deep into the enterprise. With the ability to affect healthcare, construction and retail, virtual reality will save lives in the future, as well as delivering unrivalled user experiences across the world. This panel will examine the ways that virtual reality can be innovatively deployed to put users at the heart of the action. Faisal Ali, Group CIO, Gargash Group Herbert Fuchs, CIO, ASGC Ramit Harisinghani, VP and Head of MEA, HTC Vive Salman Yusuf, managing director, TAKELEAP
12.30 pm - 12.40 pm	Closing remarks
12.45 pm	Lunch

PARTNERS