7TH Annual Media And Telecommunications Convergence Conference 2010(Amman June 7 & 8 2010)
Conference Highlights Schedule Speakers Sponsors & Exhibitors Registration/Sponsorship Details
   


Mr. Jawad Abbassi
Mr. Samir M. Abdulhadi
Dr. Diar Ahmed
Mr. Ammar A. Akker
Mr. Sam Barnett
Mr. Thomas Brill
Mr. Ross Cormack
Mr. Bahjat ElDarwiche
Mr. Jeremy Foster
Mr. Osama Ghoul
Mr. Krishna Gopal
Dr. Nasser Jabari
Dr. Abdel Malik Al Jaber
Mrs. Nayla Khawam
Mr. Loya Al Malaieka
Mr. Yousef H Mugharbil
Mr. Mohamed Elnawawy
Mr. Steven Hall
Dr. Ahmad Hiasat
Mr. Ihab Hinnawi
HE Minister of ICT Mr. Marwan Juma
Dr. Ibrahim A. Kadi
Mr. Peter Kaliaropoulos
Mr. Hakam Kanafani
Mr. Mohammad Omran
Mr. Qusai Qaryouti
Mr. Santino Saguto
Mr. Sami Smeirat
Dr. Kamal S. Shehadi
Mrs. Majd Shweikeh
Mr. Hosam Sokkari
Mr. Osman Sultan
Mr. Jihad (Jay) Srage
Mrs. Wassila Zitoune

Mr. Jawad Abbassi
Founder and General Manager
Arab Advisors Group


Mr. Abbassi has 16 years experience in the telecommunications, Internet and datacommnications fields. Mr. Abbassi founded the Arab Advisors Group in 2001. As General Manager of Arab Advisors Group, Mr. Abbassi directs the research and consulting activities of the company in addition to steering its marketing operations. Mr. Abbassi is also a frequent guest speaker at conferences and seminars related to technology, communications and media in the Arab World.

On September 14, 2005, the Arab Jordan Investment Bank (AJIB) and Arab Advisors Group concluded an agreement by which AJIB buys a 55% stake in Arab Advisors Group. The cash transaction allowed AJIB and the Arab Advisors Group to leverage strategic synergies to enhance the quality and scope of services of Arab Advisors Group. Arab Advisors Group -a private shareholding company registered in Jordan- will now be owned by the Arab Jordan Investment Bank (55%) and Mr. Jawad Abbassi (45%).

Before founding Arab Advisors Group, Mr. Abbassi’s career experience includes working as a senior telecommunications and technology consultant with the Yankee Group in Boston - USA. Between 1998 and 2000, Mr. Abbassi was a Senior Analyst with the communications research arm of the Economist Intelligence Unit in Boston.

Before his work in Boston, Mr. Abbassi worked as a corporate accounts manager for Jordan’s leading Internet service provider (NETS). With NETS, Mr. Abbassi led and coordinated the work needed to establish its first international leased line with Cyprus. Mr. Abbassi also worked for Apple Computers dealership, in addition to being a weekly columnist on Information Technology in Jordan’s leading English weekly.

Languages:
Mr. Abbassi is fluent in English in addition to being a native speaker of Arabic. Basic French.

Education:
Mr. Abbassi received a BSc in engineering from the American University in Cairo (Egypt – 1993). Jawad also received an academic scholarship to complete his MSc in information systems from the London School of Economics (United Kingdom - 1998).

Memberships and affiliations:
Member of Jordan’s Engineers Association
Member of The Arab Business Forum for Information and Communication Technology ABFICT. Elected to the board in 2005.
Member of the steering committee for UN ICT Task Force of the "Wireless Internet and the Arab-World" series.
Vice Chairman of Jordan’s information technology association (int@j) between 2006 and 2008. Elected to the board in 2004 and elected as Vice Chairman in 2006.
Chosen for membership in the Young Arab Leaders Organization.
Bishop’s school (Amman), AUC (Cairo) and LSE (London) Alumni associations

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Mr. Samir M. Abdulhadi
President & Chief Executive Officer
Orbit Group


Mr. Samir M. Abdulhadi has had a long and successful professional career that has given him experience in a wide variety of industries and businesses.

Mr. Abdulhadi completed his education in the United Kingdom attaining his Master’s Degree in Petrochemicals and Hydrocarbons from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. In 1976, he returned to his native Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Abdulhadi has a 33-year career which started in 1977 when he joined the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC). After a ten-year tenure with SABIC in senior positions at the corporate and joint venture levels, Mr. Abdulhadi moved to the private sector where he held the position of Managing Director at the Arabian Company for Detergents (DAC), and transformed DAC from a small detergents company into one of the major industry players in Saudi Arabia and Arab detergents market with significantly expanded product range.

Mr. Abdulhadi joined the Mawarid Group as the Managing Director of Mawarid Food Company in January 1991, and continues with the Mawarid Group to date.

In January 2002, Mr. Abdulhadi was appointed President & CEO of Orbit Communications Company, and is now the President & CEO of the Orbit Group of companies.

Mr. Abdulhadi currently holds the following functions:

  1. Saudi Chemical Company (Publicly listed)
    - Vice Chairman of the Board
    - Member of the Executive Committee
    - Chairman of the Compensation Committee

  2. Meed Holding Company (Closed Joint Stock Company)
    - Chairman of the Board
    -Chairman of the Executive and Compensation Committees

  3. Noorsat
    - Chairman of the Board

  4. Panther Media Group (Orbit Showtime Network)
    - Vice Chairman of the Board
    - Chairman of the Compensation Committee

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Dr. Diar Ahmed
CEO
Asiacell


Dr. Diar Ahmed is the CEO of Asiacell, the first and largest Iraqi telecom company. Dr. Ahmed assumed this position in 2008 to lead a world-class team extending over 2,000 employees. Dr. Ahmed has scored numerous achievements as the company's CEO, most notably of which is increasing the company's subscribers well over 7 millions in a record time. Under his leadership, the company also became the sole Iraqi telecom provider with 100% national coverage of the all 18 governorates of Iraq.

As the company's CEO, Dr. Ahmed shoulders the responsibilities of devising and implementing Asiacell's long-term strategies, monitoring the work process and controlling quality.

Since joining Asiacell in 2002, Dr. Ahmed has assumed a number of critical positions at the company. He was first appointed as a media relations manager and the official spokesperson for Asiacell, for which he was greatly qualified due to his staggering ability to communicate with the various media and social segments in the country.

Dr. Ahmed later become the company's marketing manager, assuming the responsibility of placing long-term marketing and public relations strategies to promote the company's various products and services to the Iraqi public. Under his leadership, the department was able to develop highly creative strategies that had greatly benefited the company and the Iraqi public.

Before becoming CEO, Dr. Ahmed was the official consultant for the company's Board of Directors on all executive, financial, developmental, quality control, marketing and public relations issues.

Dr. Ahmed established IraqCom, a company specialized in providing advanced IT end to end solutions in 2004 to become one of the leading players in the field in Iraq.

Dr. Ahmed acquired MBChB in General Medicine from Sulaymaniyah University in 1998. He also acquired a Master's degree in clinical Pharmacology in 2005. He is also a certified HP expert.

Dr. Ahmed believes that an organization's success cannot be achieved without the implementation of various mechanisms that allow for continuous communication with all segments of society. He also believes that life is full of positive opportunities that any ambitious person must combine with viable skills and expertise to secure a promising future.
 

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Mr. Ammar A. Akker
CEO
Paltel Group


On February 1, 2010, Mr. Ammar Aker was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the Paltel Group.

Prior to assuming the position of the Group CEO, Mr. Aker was also a member of the Executive Management Board of the Paltel Group and led several initiatives to create synergies and integration among group companies. He has demonstrated leadership in several tasks assigned to him by management to help in business development overseas in support of the Group’s offshore operations.

In addition to his new role, Mr. Aker is also the current Chief Executive Officer of Jawwal, Palestine Cellular Communications Co. Ltd. since October 2005, where he is responsible for all aspects of the company's operations. In his capacity as the CEO of Jawwal, he was the driving force behind Jawwal's efforts to maintain the largest market share, reaching the two million subscriber threshold in spite of the prevalence of four illegal Israeli mobile operators in the Palestinian market and the abundance of obstacles that continue to present daily challenges as a result of the occupation.

Jawwal was launched in 1999 as the first mobile operator in Palestine. The vision of Jawwal is to maintain itself as the market leader in a society where all Palestinians enjoy the benefits of wireless communications. Despite the operational obstacles facing Jawwal from its early commencement, Jawwal’s network covers 98% of the West Bank and Gaza, in addition to its 23 showrooms and more than 400 distributors and dealers serving customers in every corner of the country.

Mr. Aker began his career at Jawwal in February 2000 as the Financial Controller and was promoted to Chief Financial Officer a year later. As the first CFO of Jawwal, Mr. Aker was responsible for revolutionizing all back office support functions, including accounting, finance, collections, purchases, human resources, administrative affairs, and carrier relations.

Prior to this, Mr. Aker worked as the Financial Controller and Internal Audit Director at the Palestine Telecommunications Co. (Paltel), Jawwal's parent company, for almost a year. He also worked for the Palestine Development and Investment Company (PADICO), the largest investment group in Palestine.
Mr. Aker's vast experience in the field of finance and accounting began while working for an investment company in California, USA and a trading group company in the United Arab Emirates.

Mr. Aker holds a BS degree in Accounting from Edinburgh University of Pennsylvania, USA and an MS degree in Accounting from Kent State University, Ohio, USA.

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Mr. Sam Barnett
Chief Operating Officer and General Manager
MBC Group


General Manager and Chief Operating Officer of MBC Group, Sam Barnett joined the company in 2002. In his role, he has supported the Chairman and CEO, Sheikh Waleed Bin Ibrahim Al Ibrahim, in the commercial restructuring and ongoing growth of the MBC Group. MBC currently reaches 106 million viewers and listeners each day, has 45% share of audience in Saudi Arabia and is the largest broadcaster in the Middle East. It is also one of the few that is profitable.

During his time at MBC, Barnett has overseen the outsourcing of advertising sales, the launch of new channels and media, the development of an organisational structure to fit a multi-platform network and the enforcement of commercial discipline across the operation.

Prior to joining MBC, Barnett held senior roles in global management consulting firms Arthur Andersen and PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he was responsible for advising on privatization projects for telecommunication companies and developing growth strategies for government, financial and media companies in the UK, Africa and the Middle East.

Barnett was educated at Cambridge (History and Economics) and has an MBA from INSEAD. He is based with his family in Dubai.

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Mr. Thomas Brill
International Sales Director
Orga Systems


Thomas is International Sales Director at Orga Systems, based in Istanbul, Turkey and joined the company more than eight years ago, responsible for Sales and Business Development in Eastern Europe, Central & South Asia and MENA Region. As one of the key drivers of the idea of convergent billing, he achieved critical milestones for Orga Systems in the last years.
 
His focus is the customer and their demands for different markets. Customer satisfaction, simplicity and efficiency, combined with a long term view, is the most important factor to provide solutions, which meet the customers’ requirements. He strongly believes and follows the mission of a single billing and charging system for all subscribers, independent of the technology and payment method.

He has been working for 14 years in Telecoms and has extensive experience in Strategic Planning and Marketing and Sales. Among other things he established Marketing and Sales for a calling card provider who offered low cost long distance telephony, Corporate Sales for MVNO, business plan for MVNO formation with Venture Capital. He has been living and working most of his business career abroad, in different countries and has experiences in other industries and markets.

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Mr. Ross Cormack
CEO
Nawras


Ross Cormack was appointed Nawras CEO in June 2004. Following an extremely fast build out, Nawras launched to great acclaim in March the following year, going on to successfully achieve more than 47% market share with over 1.7 million customers by August 2009.

Highly praised for its pleasingly different customer service, Nawras has redefined and simplified the whole customer experience including what is bought and where, as well as how to get help and how to pay.

In 2007 Nawras launched the first 3G network in the Sultanate of Oman and in November 2008, the Nawras consortium won the Sultanate’s second fixed license after a highly competitive bidding process. Nawras is now building the latest generation fibre optic backbone and WiMAX wireless access networks across the country to deliver Broadband telecommunications and Internet access, offering innovative, cutting edge IP based media and communication services. Nawras is also building its own international gateway to offer international voice and data services.

Nawras has received many awards including most recently, Customer Service Provider of the Year from CommsMEA, Middle East Call Centre of the Year from INSIGHTS and Award for Brand Leadership at the Global Awards for Brand Excellence. Previously Nawras was named ‘Middle East Mobile Operator of the Year’ by CommsMEA, received ‘Middle East Business Achievement Award for Corporate Social Responsibility’ from Leaders and global recognition through the Judges’ Award ‘Above and Beyond the Call of Duty’ at the World BSS Awards. Nawras received the title of ‘Best Telecom Brand Oman’ from Business Today magazine for the third year running in 2009 and Ross was named ‘Telecommunication Man of the Year 2009’ at the Pan Arab Web Awards with the company’s website winning at the 2009 Oman Web Awards for the fifth year running.

Seconded to Nawras from Qtel, which he joined in May 2003 as Executive Director Wireless Services, Ross brought over 20 years of international telecommunications experience including mobile start-ups and operations. Earlier he was CEO and founder of Singapore based Virgin Mobile Asia, a US billion dollar start-up joint venture between Singtel and Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Asia's first international MVNO.

Previously, he was Managing Director of Hong Kong CSL, the market leader in one of the world's most competitive and crowded mobile markets with six operators. He was also a member of the Chief Executive Committee of Hongkong Telecom.

Other roles have included Managing Director of AirTouch in Italy, Managing Director Asia of Cable & Wireless Mobile based in Singapore and Regional Director for Cable & Wireless Mobile in Europe based in London. In his time Ross has shareholder managed 16 mobile operators, been on the board of six and taken the CEO/MD role for four operators across Europe, Middle East and South East Asia.

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Mr. Bahjat ElDarwiche
Partner
Booz


Bahjat El-Darwiche is a Partner with Booz & Company and a leadership member of the Communications & Technology Practice in the Middle East. Mr. El-Darwiche has fourteen years of strategy and business experience in the telecommunications sector acquired through various engagements in the Middle East, Europe, North America and Asia. Mr. El-Darwiche advises governments, regulatory authorities and telecom operators and has led engagements in the areas of telecom sector liberalization and growth strategy development, policy making and regulatory management, business development and strategic investments, corporate and business planning, and privatization and restructuring. Bahjat holds a state engineering diploma from the Ecole Polytechnique in France and a MS degree in Telecommunications from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Telecommunications in Paris.

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Mr. Jeremy Foster
Marketing Director
Ericsson


Jeremy Foster is a veteran of the Telecoms industry with over 13 years experience across sales and marketing as well as solution design roles. As Marketing Director Jeremy is responsible for all marketing initiatives in the ME region for Ericsson Communications. As a key contributor to strategy, Jeremy is also responsible for engaging proactively with regulators and government and regularly meets many TRA's to understand their priorities and also share knowledge from the region and beyond. At the Arab Advisors conference in Amman Jordan, 7-8 June Jeremy will moderate the convergence panel on the first day, bringing together several key stakeholders and highlighting their insights as to the opportunities and threats following this phenomenon. Following this, Jeremy will also moderate the regulator panel on the second day as we look to balance the demands of consumers eating up more and more band width and operators who need to run a profitable business delivering to these consumers.

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Mr. Osama Ghoul
Managing Partner
devoteam


Osama Ghoul is the Founder and Managing Partner of Devoteam Middle East, a part of the Devoteam Group.
An entrepreneur with an impeccable record of driving companies to success, Ghoul has senior management experience in a range of international companies such as FLAG Telecom, Bell Atlantic and Ericsson.

A noted leader and consultant on strategic operational and marketing for the ICT industry, Ghoul is an expert of the issues and trends affecting the ICT markets in the Middle East.

As the Managing Partner at Devoteam Middle East, Ghoul has built an impressive customer base, some the names include major telecom operators such as Saudi Telecom, Mobily, Atheeb, ITC & Bayyanat, government entities such as the Commission for Information Technology and Communications, the Ministry for Communications and Information Technology in Saudi & Jordan, and the Saline Water Conversion Corporation, and some major banks including Riyadh Bank, National Commercial Bank.

With one of the largest networks in the Middle East, Devoteam Middle East has become the partner of choice for the telecommunications and IT sectors. This success can be attributed to Devoteam Entrepreneurial spirit, Specialized focus and Collaborative approach with its customers.

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Mr. Krishna Gopal
Corporate Head
Tech Mahindra


Krishna Gopal is a mechanical engineering graduate from VJTI (1981) in Mumbai, INDIA and has a Masters in Marketing from SPJIMR (1983), Mumbai (http://www.spjimr.org).

He carries a rich experience of over 23 years primarily in marketing and sales across diverse industries like office equipment, consumer durables, chemicals, retail and software services. He has been with Tech Mahindra Ltd since 1999 and currently heads the Middle East, Africa and SAARC regions as Vice President. Krishna’s prior employment includes leading Indian conglomerates like Godrej and Boyce (http://www.godrej.com/), Asian Paints (http://www.asianpaints.com/) and Satyam (http://www.sifycorp.com/). His work tenure also includes a year of experience at Saudi Arabia in retail operations.

At Godrej he was part of the management team that established the IT and Office Automation business.

Krishna was amongst the initial members of the start up team at SIFY, India’s first private Internet service provider.

Besides actively pursuing his career he also undertakes teaching assignments on a part-time basis at MBA schools in Mumbai.

He has participated as a speaker on several forums in India such as NASSCOM, CII etc and has also conducted workshops on IT strategy on behalf of these organizations.

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Dr. Nasser Jabari
Director of Research and Consulting
Arab Advisors Group


Dr Ja’bari holds a Ph.D. degree in management cybernetics from England. He possesses around ten years of experience in the telecom industry. He worked at the strategic planning and performance department at Saudi Telecom (STC) for five years where he was responsible for helping the different sectors at STC to put it strategic and annual business plans and tracking their performance. He also was a leading member in the team which led the implementation of balanced scorecard (BSC) at STC.

Dr Ja’bari joined Umniah, the third GSM operator in Jordan, right after its grant of the telecom license and undertook several assignments at the company. He was a marketing research and regulatory affairs manager responsible for all market research activities (pre and post-launch) as well as putting replies to the regulator consultations and ensure that the replies are in line with the company’s strategic intention. Later on, Nasser was requested to head the business development unit in pursuit for telecom opportunities outside Jordan. He put a bid on behalf of the company for the 6th GSM license in Bangladesh. He was also part of the team which was investigating the 3rd GSM license in Yemen where he did extensive market due diligence. He also carried out extensive due diligence on the telecom setting in Iraqi Kurdistan.

After the sale of Umniah, Dr Ja’bari joined Neu Venture Groups upon the request of its owner (the previous managing partner of Umniah). Dr Ja’bari was the director of business development where he attempted to obtain telecom opportunities in the following markets: Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Cote d’Ivoire among others. Nasser obtained an individual license for Neu (now Dama Max) which later on was used in the lease of the fibre optic network from NIPCO.

In addition to the above, Dr Ja’bari carried out some consultancy projects in Jordan. The last project was an asset valuation for a wireless operator which was completed in Jan 2010.

Dr Ja’bari worked in academia for over 5 years where he was a professor of management. He is currently the treasurer of the Jordanian association for spinal cord injuries care (JASCIC) the first of its kind in the Middle East.

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Dr. Abdel Malik Al Jaber
CEO
Zain Jordan


Dr Abdel Malik Al Jaber comes to Zain with a wealth of experience and a long record of achievements both locally and regionally. He was appointed CEO of Zain Levant in July 2009 and CEO of Zain Jordan in August 2009.

Prior to his new post at Zain he was appointed Vice Chairman of the Board and CEO of the Paltel Group in 2003 during which he was able to restructure the company towards increased profits and sustained innovation and social responsibility. He increased the company’s profits from USD$ 15 million in 2003 to USD$ 100 million in 2005. Additionally, during his tenor, the Paltel Group became the first company in the country to pioneer the practice of Corporate Social Responsibility introducing Sustainability Practice and Reporting as per the GRI Standards and later on creating the first Corporate Foundation in the country.

In private sector in Palestine, Dr. Al Jaber is the Chairman of the Golden Wheat Mills Company, Chairman of the Board of Wasel Logistics, and a Founder of Al Rafah Bank, the first Mirco-Finance Bank in the region.

In 2005, Dr. Al Jaber helped found VTEL Holdings, a UAE based company with USD$ 1 billion in capital comprised of high net worth investors from Palestine and the Arab World. VTEL’s business objectives were to obtain licenses to operate ICT projects worldwide; in CSR countries, Africa, Central and Latin America including the Caribbean. Today the company has operations in Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Iraq, Kurdistan, Jordan and Burundi in Africa. He is also a member of the Board of Cairo Amman Bank in Jordan, and is a member of its Audit Committee as well, he is a Member of the Executive Committee at Ayla Jordan, and a Member of the Executive Committee for Astra Group Jordan, which is considered as one of the most important investment holdings in the Kingdom with investments in: Tourism, Insurance, Real Estate, and Agriculture.

He is a current member of the Arab Business Council and the World Economic Forum, The Arab Technology Forum, Member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), Founder of the Young Arab Leaders Chapter in Palestine, and today serves as a regional Board Member of the YAL Organization in Dubai with Chapters in Lebanon, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE.

Dr. Al Jaber is a graduate of Jordan University of Science and Technology, McGill University - Canada, North Western University- Kellogg School of Business Administration, USA, and International School of Management, Paris. He holds a DBA, MBA as well as an BEng and MSC in Engineering. He is a recipient of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed Al Maktoum “Best Arab Manager Award for Excellence in Management” for the year 2001, as the leading business executive in Palestine

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Mrs. Nayla Khawam
CEO
Jordan Telecom Group - Orange Jordan


Ms. Nayla Khawam is the Chief Executive Officer of Jordan Telecom Group. Before holding this position, she was the Territorial Director for Ile de France (Paris region) in charge of commercial and technical departments for Mass Market and Business Clients.

Before that, Ms. Khawam was Head of Customer Services for landline, mobile and Internet for the whole France Telecom Group in France. Earlier, Ms. Khawam was a member of the Executive Board in Orange France and Head of Customer Services for mobile phones. Previously, she was the Senior Vice President in charge of the resellers Distribution Network for the French territory at France Telecom and prior to that held the positions of the Human Resources Director for the Paris Region and Regional Director in the North of France.

Ms. Khawam also worked as a forecast manager in charge of building econometric models for the Telecom Industry, as a consultant in BIPE (Bureau d’Informations et de Prévisions Economiques) and as a product manager in the Peugeot marketing department.

She actively took part in negotiations which led to the signature of “the Contrat de Plan” with the French Government in 1994

Ms. Khawam holds a degree in statistics & Economics from ENSAE in Paris (National Institute of Statistics and Economic Administration), and in Mathematics from the Université de Paris VI.

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Mr. Loya Al Malaieka
CEO
ITISALUNA ABR AL-IRAQ

Born in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1969, Mr. Almalaieka has been in the international telecom business for some 17 years which have given him extensive experience in such vital area as investment evaluation, feasibility assessment, and program development, especially in areas of challenging work and security conditions. His motto for success under such conditions is to produce sustainable quality services through cross functional teamwork. The scope of his involvement in the Iraqi telecom market, both as Country Manager for Lucent Technologies and founder and CEO of Barqtel Communications (Iraq) has given him deep knowledge of the telecom prospects in this difficult, but extremely promising, part of the world. He is constantly driven by a strong belief in the telecom role in socio-cultural betterment and economic development and in the importance of quality service which, while always is a factor in business and market competition, should never fall short from being a moral commitment to consumers and society at large. Hence his proposal to fellow telecom executives to create a mechanism of coordination in the Iraqi telecom industry which, while respecting legitimate business competition, seeks to maintain constructive cooperation not only amongst private–sector companies, but also between these companies and government authorities.

He has benefitted from his experience in such telecom development and competence –building programs as the Telecommunication Training Centre which he set up and managed in Erbil, Kurdistan, as well as his work with CONCERT MANAGEMET, (a British Telecom and AT&T Joint Venture) for strategic alliance programme and planning, and with LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES as Network Engineer, International Business Development Manager and Global Alliance Team Manager, which brought him considerable recognition and several awards.

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Mr. Yousef H Mugharbil
President of Rotana Digital Entertainment
ROTANA Media Group


Graduated in 1988 from the University of Denver in Colorado, USA majoring in Electrical Engineering. With over 20 years of international & regional experience starting in 1988 working for Fortune 500 companies which included StorageTek (USA), AT&T Bell Laboratories (USA), Lucent Technologies (USA, EMEA) and joining Etisalat-UAE for three and a half years upon leaving Lucent Technologies in November 2002; while for the past three years working with Rotana, the world’s largest Arabic media company in the capacity of President for Digital Media & New Entertainment.

Initially engaged in engineering designing high-speed Integrated Circuits (ICs) developing one of the world’s fastest data archival systems at StorageTek. Later joining AT&T Bell Laboratories as a Member of Technical Staff working on communication circuits in the Advanced Technology laboratory and later on, joining Lucent Technologies (due to company split) in the Global Commercial Markets and subsequently in the Optical Networking Group. Internationally, the work assignments included working in Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the UAE engaging with key customers and global telecom operators. Departed from Lucent Technologies in November 2002, with the position of Director for Technical & Market Development responsible for the Optical Networking Group activities in the MEA region overseeing region strategy, market & business development and offer development, to take on an Executive position at Etisalat. At Etisalat engaged in leading the development and implementation of the corporation’s overall Corporate Strategy overseeing the Group’s domestic & international strategies reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer. In March 2006, accepted a leading Executive position with Rotana Entertainment Group to oversee the global convergence of Media & Telecom and assume the responsibility of transitioning the company into the digital world and setting the overall strategy for the group across the entire digital domain value channels including Digital Interactive TV, Online, Mobile and New Media. Currently holding the position of President of Rotana Digital Entertainment.

A seasoned senior leader with a proven track record of with long experience in working effectively in a multi-cultural environment, having had the experience to work and engage with clients in different regions including North America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia.

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Mr. Mohamed Elnawawy
Vice President for Corporate Strategy
Telecom Egypt


In May 2009 Mohamed was appointed as Vice President for Corporate Strategy (CSO) for TE. Before that and since November 2006 he held the position of VP, International, Wholesale and Regulatory Affairs. He joined the Telecom Egypt Group in November 2001 as the Chairman and Managing Director of TE Data, SAE which is the TE subsidiary responsible for the TE Group’s retail IP transit and managed data services.

Previously, in Jan 1992 Mohamed co-founded InTouch Communications Services, SAE a local ISP in Egypt where he resided as Chairman and Managing Director till April 2000. After that for 18 months, Mohamed consulted for the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.

Mohamed holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science and a Master of Laws (LLM)

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Mr. Steven Hall
CEO
CNBC Arabiya


Steven Hall, a seasoned broadcast executive, has extensive experience in journalism, commercial development, branding and marketing, having been at the helm of a wide range of media enterprises in Europe and the Middle East. He also possesses a depth of understanding of the Middle East region, having worked in Arabic television for many years with MBC News and with Abu Dhabi TV's News Centre being involved with the planning and start up of the operation as Head of Production.

Steve was appointed CEO of CNBC Arabiya in February, 2008, developing a new vision for the channel coinciding with its 5th anniversary year.

Identifying a need to consolidate CNBC Arabiya’s position as the market leader in business television while significantly enhancing the channel’s relevance and reach, Steve devised and implemented a new vision for CNBC Arabiya, driving forward theme driven stock market coverage, widening the channel’s demographic and audience appeal through heightened interaction between on-air talent, expert guests and enhancing bureaux input across the programme platforms.

Staging a major re-launch in November, 2008, CNBC Arabiya’s programming was revitalized with the addition of 12 new programmes, including two major new anchor shows, Al Bousaleh and Al Haseelah as well as programming focusing on women business leaders, green business, Islamic finance, private equity, and personal finance.

CNBC Arabiya significantly upgraded its web presence in May, 2009 by launching a true financial portal (cnbcarabia.com) to add complementarity and reinforcement of its broadcast product. 2010 will see further enhancements in new media services across the region further adding value to the broadcast and web products.

Mr. Hall's educational background includes degrees form Oxford University
(M. Phil.) and California Lutheran University (BA)

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Dr. Ahmad Hiasat
Telecom expert / consultant

Dr. Ahmad Hiasat, has been the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) of Jordan since March 19, 2006 until January 26, 2010. He is a staunch advocate of TRC’s vision to create an advanced environment for ICT and Postal services in Jordan, which is efficient, competitive and provides access to all beneficiaries. Dr. Hiasat supports transparency and impartiality in dealings with all stakeholders and believes that these are essential qualities found in all of the TRC’s activities. Prior to heading-up the TRC, Dr. Hiasat held the position of Dean of the King Abdullah II School of Electrical Engineering - Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT). Dr. Hiasat joined PSUT in 1996, where his early work was as a faculty member in the Engineering school, being involved in teaching and research in topics related to new technologies. In addition, he worked as Part-Time Technology-Consultant to the Minister/Ministry of Education of Jordan for the "Education Reform for Knowledge Economy" (ERfKE) project (2000-2005), where he worked with many international agencies and technology companies on the strategic planning and implementation of the ERfKE project. Dr. Hiasat progressed in academic standing, and currently holds the rank of “Full Professor”. His work has been widely published and he has authored or co-authored over 30 papers in the ICT field. These papers have been published in prestigious international scientific journals such as IEEE Transactions & IEE Proceedings. Furthermore, he has played an active role in several specialized international conferences, seminars and workshops on ICT related issues. Ahmad Hiasat started his career as a senior communications engineer with the Royal Jordanian Air Force from 1985 to 1993. He was awarded the "Abdel Hameed Showman Award" for Young Arab Researchers in Engineering Sciences in the Arab World in 1999, the "Oakland University Certificate of Merit" Rochester, MI, USA in 1995, and the "King Hussein Award" for Outstanding Academic Achievements in 1984. Dr. Hiasat holds a Ph. D. in Systems Engineering from Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA; an M. Sc. in Communications Engineering; and a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Jordan.

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Mr. Ihab Hinnawi
Chief Executive Officer
Umniah


 

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HE Minister of ICT Mr. Marwan Juma

Marwan Juma is currently holding the position of Minister of Information and Communications Technology. Prior to this position he was the Chief Executive Officer of Xpress Telecommunications, one of Jordan’s leading mobile operators and the first Arab company to introduce the iDEN technology in the region which combines the abilities of ordinary mobile phones with the instantaneous Direct Connect (walkie-talkie) service. Juma is also the founder and Chairman of Sama for Integreated Systems, better known as dot.jo, one of the country’s leading web development houses.

Juma was the outgoing Chief Executive Officer of Batelco Jordan, the country’s second fixed line operator and the leading data communication provider. In addition, Marwan was the Chairman of the local chapter of the Young Arab Leaders Organization, the region’s leading youth NGO. He also serves on several prominent boards including the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development, the Jordan Education Initiative, the King Abdullah Award for Excellence in Government Performance and Transparency. Juma served on the “National Agenda’s” Royal Steering Committee entrusted with developing the country’s strategy for the coming ten years.

Marwan Juma was also reelected as the Chairman of INTAJ, Jordan’s Information Technology Association in 2009, and a founding contributor to Jordan’s national initiative for establishing Jordan’s IT Industry, known as the “REACH Initiative”. The REACH Initiative is a five-year action plan to advance Jordan’s nascent IT sector, and strengthen its position to compete in local, regional, and global markets.
Holder of a Master in Management degree from North Carolina State University in the United States, and two Bachelor degrees in Business Management and Economics, Marwan has been an active player in Jordan’s Information Technology sector since 1990. Upon completing his studies, he joined Ideal Group, (the Apple Computer and Compaq distributor in Jordan), and moved up the ranks to become Vice President. In 1995, he took over as the General Manager of NETS, Jordan’s first e-mail and second Internet Service Provider. Six years later, NETS, and a second data provider, Firstnet, and Bahrain Telecom, a regional leading telecom provider completed the first IT merger in Jordan and formed Batelco Jordan.

An outspoken character, Marwan has lobbied long and hard towards the establishment of a world-class telecom infrastructure in Jordan, and has been an ardent supporter for increased private-public partnerships to further enhance and accelerate the country’s modernization and economic development.

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Dr. Ibrahim A. Kadi
Senior Advisor
Communications & IT Commission (CITC)


Prof. Ibrahim Kadi is Senior Advisor at the Communication & Information Technology Commission (CITC), the ICT regulatory authority in Saudi Arabia. He has over 30 years of experience in academic, professional, industrial and regulatory fields. His areas of expertise include Communication engineering, Knowledge Economy, Information Security, and Socio-economic Impact of Technology.

He was a Professor of Communications at King Saud University (1984-2004). He served as the ITU Representative to the Arab States and Head of the ITU Arab Regional Office (2002-2003). Prof. Kadi was Vice President for Engineering and R&D of Advanced Electronics Company (1991-1994) and served as an Executive Consultant (1994-2004). Prof. Kadi currently serves as an independent Member of the Board Risk Management Committee at the Saudi Stock Exchange Co. (Tadawul), He is a member of the Advisory Board for Academic Accreditation, of KSU College Engineering. Prof. Kadi performed consultancy services to government agencies, private sector and international organizations.

Prof. Kadi holds a Ph. D. from Stanford University (1984), an M.Sc. from the University of Michigan (1984), and B.Sc. from Riyadh University (1978), all in Electrical Engineering.
Prof. Kadi has published over a 120 scientific papers, general-interest and literary works, and spoke at numerous national and international conferences. He is a member of the Saudi Computer Society, International Association for Cryptologic Research, Saudi Association for Mathematical Sciences, and Saudi Economics Association. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE.

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Mr. Peter Kaliaropoulos
CEO
Batelco

 

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Mr. Hakam Kanafani
Chief Business Development and Synergy Office
Oger Telecom


Hakam Kanafani is a University Trustee Scholar and holds Beta Gamma Sigma honors. He graduated from the University of Maryland, college Park with a B.A. and a B.Sc.. Kanafani holds an MBA with a 4.0 GPA and post graduate work in Economics. He continued his Executive Education Harvard Business School (financial Analysis and Valuation).

Mr. Kanafani is the Chief Business Development and Synergy Officer for Oger Telecom (over 45m million subscribers under management). He also represents Oger Telecom as a Member of the Board of Directors for South Africa’s GSM operator “Cell-C”, Turkey’s leading broadband provider “TT Net”, Innova Systems, ASSIST Inc. and ARGELA Solutions in Turkey and USA.

Upon graduation, Kanafani joined the Information Technology team in NASA, Goddard Space Flight, Maryland. He was then named as the COO for United Auto Technologies, Orange County, California. Kanafani then moved to the Middle East as the Business Development Director for Egypt’s oldest running private holding company “MM Sons Conglomerate” (established 1895). He spearheaded the conglomerate’s efforts to establish successful, rapidly growing ICT enterprises including Egypt’s first GSM distribution and sales network and Egypt’s first satellite Internet provider.

Kanafani was then recruited to become CEO of JAWWAL, Palestine’s first private cellular network. He was then promoted to the holding company level as PalTel Group’s COO and led the Group’s in strategy, acquisition and financial consolidation.

Mr. Kanafani is a founding member of the Dubai based Young Arab Leaders and heads the business development committee for the Cairo based Arab Business Forum for Information and Communication Technology. He is also a Young Global Leader, an organization within the World Economic Forum in Geneva, Switzerland. Kanafani wrote several papers and research material covering the fields of Information Technology Communications and International Management. He was featured in the Independent, Forbes magazine and other periodicals. During his college days, Kanafani was the President of the Organization of Arab Students and was on the Maryland Water-polo team. Kanafani is a fan of Ahly Football Club in Cairo and is married to Fatenn Mostafa. He is a proud dad of; Marwan, Ahmad and Jenine.

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Mr. Mohammad Omran
Chairman
Etisalat


Mohammed Omran, was reelected Chairman of Etisalat in 2008 having previously served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer – a position he attained in 2005.


He also serves as the Chairman of Thuraya, one of the world’s leading, satellite, geo-mobile communication systems with coverage spanning approximately two thirds of the planet, a position he has held since 1997.

Mohammad Omran joined Etisalat in 1977, one year after it was formed. He achieved his first senior position as the Area Manager in Ras Al Khaimah in 1982. He was then appointed Deputy General Manager for Etisalat in 1984 and became Etisalat’s Senior Executive Vice President in 1999. He was later named the company’s Chief Executive Officer in 2004.

Under his leadership, Etisalat has been named best telecommunications company in the Middle East five times in the last three years and was named ‘Best Intenational Carrier’ at the 2008 World Communications Awards. Mr Omran is well-known as one of the most influential figures in the telecommunications industry in Asia, the Middle East and Africa and has received awards for his contribution to the sector at the Abu Dhabi Economic Forum, Telecom World Middle East Awards and Comms MEA Awards.

Mr. Omran received an Engineering Degree in Electronics and Communications from Cairo University, Egypt, in June 1977.
 

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Mr. Sami Smeirat
VP Orange Jordan, CEO Jordan Data Communication Company Ltd

Mr. Smeirat is the Vice President of Orange Enterprise and CEO JDC LTD. He has held this position since 2007. In 2003, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Wanadoo until it was re-branded to Orange internet. He also led the exclusive partnership with Equant as their distributor in Jordan, and the re-branding of Global One to Wanadoo. Prior to that, he was the co-founder of Cyberia Jordan in 2001, in which he worked as the deputy CEO and Chief Commercial Officer; the Corporate Sales Manager at Global One since 1996, before moving to manage Consumer and Corporate Sales from 1999; and an Assistant of Teaching and Research at the University of Jordan for two years. Mr. Smeirat holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Jordan, a MSc in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from NYIT (Jordan).

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Mr. Qusai Qaryouti
Business Development Manager
ESKADENIA Software


Mr Qaryouti has an extensive experience in the Telecommunications and Information Technology fields.

The past eight years have been invested in technical, sales and business development positions at ESKADENIA Software, with special focus on the area of telecommunications.

Work responsibilities at ESKADENIA started with Software Development and matured into Marketing, Sales and Business Development strategic responsibilities.

Mr Qaryouti has spoken at a number of telecom events in the Gulf and North Africa.

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Mr. Santino Saguto
Managing Director
Value Partners Dubai


Santino joined Value Partners in July 2004 as Partner and responsible for the company’s operations across Italy, Greece and the Middle East and Africa region. In April 2008, Santino was handed the responsibility of setting up and running the operations of the Dubai office which opened in mid 2008. His experience in international management consulting services with leading telecommunications and media companies has been instrumental to Value Partners in establishing its presence in the region.

Prior to joining Value Partners, Santino was the Vice President of the Communications and High tech Global Industry Group at A.T. Kearney in Milan and prior to that he was Senior Principal at Booz Allen & Hamilton. He has also worked for several international organizations including Telecom Italia Group (Italtel), Eli Lilly, Procter & Gamble, Harvard Smithsonian Institute and has started his own consulting company. In addition, Santino has specialized industry experience across areas such as fixed and mobile telecom, media, technology, regulatory issues and sports. His recent work has been focused on digital convergence and the development of new technology platforms, including IPTV, 3G, online, DVB-H. Some other areas in which he has gained extensive knowledge include organization restructuring; strategic business transformation, marketing and new services; regulatory issues and alliance development. His extensive international experience results from having worked in more than 30 countries across Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa.

Santino holds an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and a degree in Electronic Engineering from University of Palermo. He is married with a daughter.

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Dr. Kamal S. Shehadi
Chairman
Telecommunications Regulatory Authority Republic of Lebanon


 

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Mrs. Majd Shweikeh
VP Orange Jordan, CEO Petra Jordanian Mobile Telecommunication Company Ltd

Mrs. Shweikeh is the Vice President of Orange Mobile and CEO PJMTC Ltd. She has held this position since January 2006. Mrs. Shweikeh is also a Board Member of the Social Security Corporation Investment Unit, and a member of the International Women Forum and the Young President's Association.

Prior to that, she was the Chief Financial Officer and member of the Operating Committee since 2000; Finance Manager at DHL, the international carrier service, since 1992; Project Accountant for budgeting and project planning at the American International Contractor Inc. (AICI) from 1988 to 1992; and an Auditor with Arthur Anderson. Mrs. Majd Shweikeh holds a first class Honors BSc in Finance from Yarmouk University, and she received the Certified Management Accountant certification from the USA.

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Mr. Hosam Sokkari
Head of BBC Arabic Online
BBCArabic


 

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Mr. Osman Sultan
CEO
DU


 

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Mr. Jihad (Jay) Srage
Vice President
Business Development – Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia


Jihad (Jay) Srage serves as the vice president of business development for Qualcomm’s Middle East operations. In this role, he leads Qualcomm’s business operations in the region and manages the Company’s strategic relationships with regional customers, including network operators, infrastructure equipment providers, mobile handset vendors and value-added service developers.

Prior to joining Qualcomm in 2008, Mr. Srage spent more than 10 years at Texas Instruments (TI), most recently overseeing marketing operations for TI’s wireless terminals business unit. Mr. Srage also co-managed TI Ventures, the company’s venture finance fund, where he directed TI’s investments in start-up companies focused on the wireless and telecommunications industries. In previous roles, he was involved in marketing and business development for TI’s digital audio business unit.

Mr. Srage earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago, a Master of Science in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, and a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the American University of Beirut.

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Mrs. Wassila Zitoune
VP Orange Jordan
Fixed and internet Business Unit


Mrs. Wassila Zitoune is the Vice President Orange Internet and Fixed. She has held this position since July 2007. She was formally responsible for Marketing Strategic Segmentation in 1993, then as Senior Product Leader in GSM and Paging activities from 1995 to 1998, then as a Sales Director in Paris. She was appointed in 2001 as the francetelecom.com channel director until 2004 before implementing and leading the Commercial Processes activities in France for all distribution channels from 2004 to 2006. She joined AMEA early 2006 as Executive Project Manager for International Business Development.
Mrs. Wassila Zitoune is a Civil Engineer and holds an MBA in Marketing from HEC Business School - France.

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