Business Review Middle East - August 2016

August 2016

www.businessreviewmiddleeast.com

WOMEN IN

TECHNOLOGY Dell’s Hina Sarwat on the role of women in tech

THE REGION’S AWARD-WINNING BUILDINGS

WHY BUSINESSES SHOULD BE CREATING GLOBAL EMPLOYEES

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IN THIS ISSUE

EDITOR’S COMMENT

W E L C O M E T O T H E A U G U S T 2016 issue of

Business Review Middle East. For all businesses in the region, technology is crucial and our cover feature this month looks at the role of women in the technology sector, with Dell’s Hina Sarwat explaining the company’s WISE initiative. We also take a look at some of the region’s most striking buildings, as chosen by the judging panel of the International Property Awards.

One of the award winners, Perkins + Will, is interviewed in the magazine, highlighting the company’s long history in the region and approach to fostering talent.

We do hope we enjoy the issue; please share any feedback with @BusinessRevME on Twitter.

Lucy Dixon Group Editorial Director lucy.dixon@bizclikmedia.com

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CONTENTS

F E AT U R E S

PROFILE

06

Women in technology

TECHNOLOGY

LIST

The region’s best buildings

12 4

18 Creating a global employee

August 2016

C O M PA N Y P R O F I L ES Perkins+Will

DU

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CONSTRUCTION

Technology

Ministry of Health Israel Healthcare

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PROFILE

We spoke to Dell’s Hina Sarwat to find out what the Middle East has to offer women working in the technology sector

WOMEN IN T W ri t t e n b y: L U CY D I X O N

TECHNOLOGY

PROFILE

Earlier this year, Dell was involved in the MENA Connecting Women in Technology (CWIT) event in Dubai, alongside LinkedIn, Facebook and Ericsson.

In attendance was Dell’s HINA SARWAT, who heads up WISE - a group within Dell that focuses on the role of women Business Review Middle East: Can you describe WISE? HS: WISE (Women in Search of Excellence) is a Dell Employee Resource Group that represents a community of both women and men team members whose interests align with accelerating the role of women in the workforce. I lead the WISE chapter in UAE. BRME: Tell us about the CWIT event HS: Together with LinkedIn, Dell, Facebook, and Ericsson we held the first ever MENA “Connecting Women in Technology” (CWIT) event in Dubai.

The collaborative initiative focuses on attracting and retaining women in the technology industry. The event was a 8 August 2016

positive success with 80 technology executive attendees. There were some positive discussions, which generated some strong directions forward. We are planning to have many more events and look forward to collaborating with a wider audience of technology companies in the region as well as the larger community.

BRME: What are your thoughts on the wider issue of women working in technology – particularly in the Middle East?

HS: Dell believes that to be a successful company and a great place to work, our business must be able to leverage the similarities and differences of all team members. There is a lot of talent amongst women in the

WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY

“There is a lot of talent amongst women in the Middle East and I think one of the most important areas to focus our energy at the moment is in driving awareness around the opportunities available within the technology industry�

Middle East and I think one of the most important areas to focus our energy at the moment is in driving awareness around the opportunities available within the technology industry.

BRME: What can the technology sector gain by employing more women?

HS: Diversity at Dell is a business imperative, and women play a wonderfully important role in capturing and bringing about that diversity. First, it is critical that our employee base reflect the cultures and backgrounds of our customer base. Second, we 9

PROFILE

“I believe what women require and what the technology industry offers in the Middle East today fits wells in terms of new working environments” believe that bringing together diverse perspectives, views and ideas creates a more innovative environment in which each individual and each team can learn, grow, and do their best work.

BRME: Does Dell actively try to recruit more women?

HS: Our philosophy at Dell is to hire the best person for the role. We 10 August 2016

actively recruit women by sponsoring professional conferences, career fairs, and community events with multicultural organisations.

BRME: Are there any startup tech companies in the Middle East run by women that you particularly admire?

HS: What I admire most is the

WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY

entrepreneurial spirit of women in the Middle East, it really wouldn’t do justice to pick one or two. There are so many inspiring young females who have given up their careers to pursue their own business. I admire their high level of courage and admire their motivating example for other women to partake as well.

BRME: What do you think the future holds for women in technology in the Middle East – what are the current trends that you think will be developing?

HS: It is extremely promising when we look at current talent resources especially with gen-y and gen-z. I believe what women require and what the technology industry offers in the Middle East today fits wells in terms of new working environments. To make sure we have the talent pool in the industry we need to emphasise on creating awareness in K-12 on STEM and industry should offer programs to student to create awareness around it. At Dell we have various programs to that promote the same.

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TECHNOLOGY

Creating a global employee

Why do employees need to be ‘global’?

Business Review Middle East has the answers Wr it ten by: S A R A H U N K E L B A C H , a graduate of CEMS (The Global Alliance in Management Education) who now works as Corporate Manager CoE Recruiting & Employer Branding at Henkel

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TECHNOLOGY I HAVE HEARD it said that face-to-face meetings and physical mobility could soon be a thing of the past, as many companies have teams scattered worldwide, meeting physically just three days once a quarter.

At Henkel we have just finished our first virtual CEMS Business project, where our team in Dubai only communicated with students in India through digital channels.

Whilst I still believe that effective collaboration is always improved through face-to-face interaction (nothing can beat laughing together when it comes to relationship building), close international cooperation is far easier nowadays through a whole range of these diverse communications networks.

As a result, being ‘global’ is no longer just an option for ambitious companies but a must. As industries and corporations become increasingly interconnected, very few midsize and large companies, or even start-ups in certain areas, can survive with a solely ‘national’ outlook.

Firms look globally for the best suppliers and supply chain hubs, the most promising customers and consumers, the most talented employees or their next acquisitions or partners.

Higher transparency through the internet also leads to a quicker flow and dispersion of new business ideas, which means that companies have to mobilise globally more quickly, to avoid having their concepts copied before they are ready to expand or launch.

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August 2016

Globalisation is not only one of the most important issues facing companies today, it is also a topic which comes more and more significant in our private lives. Society expects people to be more aware of global developments and trends, otherwise they are easily categorized as backward or ignorant.

So, while local specialist skills will always be needed - from lawyers to teachers – it is hard for companies to become truly global without employees who share an international vision.

Successful companies of the future will be the ones who employ globally-connected digital natives, for whom the nation-state concept is outdated, but who are still caring for the differences in cultures and preferences across the world. For them, worldwide collaboration is the only answer to many societal and economic challenges, including global warming, poverty, migration and unemployment.

What does a ‘global’ employee look like?

For me, a global employee is a versatile person, at ease working in a diverse, ever-changing environment.

By far the two most important attributes of a global employee (which require one another) are openness and empathy: the ability to adapt quickly to new environments, topics and people, whilst relating to people from different backgrounds quickly, on a deeper level, and

C R E AT I N G A G L O B A L E M P L O Y E E

adopt good ideas wherever they come from.

Global employees go out into the world with open eyes, an open mind and an open heart.

They also understand and relate to people from different cultures, seeing difference as an advantage rather than something negative.

They know whatever solution they come up with together with their joint knowledge, backgrounds and experiences, will be better than anything they could imagine themselves.

Successful global leaders, or those aspiring to leadership, must additionally be able to respond to a multiplicity of management styles simultaneously, manage stability and flexibility at the same time, as well as engage a dispersed workforce and build relationships through virtual means of communication.

‘We have just finished our first virtual CEMS Business project, where our team in Dubai only communicated with students in India through digital channels’

Can an employee learn how to be ‘global’?

Whilst employees clearly have to embrace and buy-in into a global mind-set (which may come more naturally to some than others), I do firmly believe that ‘global-ness’ is something that can also be taught and nurtured.

Even though I was always interested in seeing the world, I only felt truly global thanks to my CEMS experience which started at the beginning of my master and still continues now many years after graduation.

Through the CEMS Master in International Management, I learned about the concept of 15

TECHNOLOGY

Here are a few pieces of advice on how an employer/leader can foster this international mind-set among employees: • Throw employees in at the deep end – exposing your workforce to gritty international assignments is the best way to expose them to other cultures.

This can be in the short (few weeks) or longer term (several years).

• Be open to exchange within and between business areas and opening up new networks with other global companies, providers, suppliers, customers, in order to help employees to see the bigger (global) picture.

• Expose employees to global networks to build their contact books – the chance to build international networks and get that face-toface experience through conferences and events is invaluable.

• Involve your employees in global/cross-country teams to benefit both in form of better results as well as a holistic understanding of problems and more suitable solutions. Give these teams the time to develop empathy, trust and a team spirit next to their business outcomes.

• Encourage proficient use of English as a common global language and nurture language education wherever possible. If you can properly understand one other, regardless of location, you can use synergies and avoid misunderstandings.

A common language is a necessity for a fruitful exchange between people.

• Foster sabbaticals and unpaid leave, to give employees the time to explore the world or work on social projects e.g. in the Emerging Markets.

This not only boosts your retention but also brings you re-charged employees with valuable new ideas, contacts and experiences.

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C R E AT I N G A G L O B A L E M P L O Y E E

‘By far the two most important attributes of a global employee (which require one another) are openness and empathy: the ability to adapt quickly to new environments, topics and people, whilst relating to people from different backgrounds quickly, on a deeper level, and adopt good ideas wherever they come from’

About CEMS

global citizenship, as the program is a living example that collaboration beats competition.

CEMS exposed me to several international exchanges of different lengths, regional and global events, collaboration with fellow students from different cultures on a daily basis and helped me to become more fluent in languages. It facilitated a global network of personal as well as professional connections across the globe and brought me in contact with many innovative

multinational companies, such as my former employer P&G and my current one, Henkel.

Investing in employees in this way will pay off. Globally-minded employees will generate business growth, innovate through diversity of ideas and work more efficiently through adopting global best practice and approaches.

Moreover, employees will recognise that their company is investing in them for future global success and will (hopefully) invest more of themselves into the company as well.

CEMS is a global alliance of academic and corporate institutions dedicated to educating and preparing future generations of international business leaders.

The CEMS academic and corporate members work collectively to develop knowledge and provide education that is essential in the multilingual, multicultural and interconnected business world.

The joint CEMS Master’s in International Management is the main vehicle for achieving this goal.

Common to all activities is the aim of promoting global citizenship, with particular emphasis placed upon the following values: • The pursuit of excellence with high standards of performance and ethical conduct; • Understanding and drawing upon cultural diversity with respect and empathy; • Professional responsibility and accountability in relation to society as a whole.

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LIST

NEW HEIGHTS

Business Review Middle East showcases four award-winning architectural developments in the region Since 1995 the International Property Awards has been recognising outstanding developments in both the residential and commercial sectors. And the Middle East has its fair share of noteworthy developments – from Dubai’s Burj Khalifa to Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Tower –the region has long been a leader when it comes to innovative architecture.

Here, we take a look at four of the best developments from the last year’s crop of awardwinning architectural projects.

LIST

01 Adventz Tower by LW Design Group Location: Dubai Category: Best International Architecture Multiple Residence 20

August 2016

NEW HEIGHTS

02 Capital Gate by

Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company Location: Abu Dhabi Category: Best Commercial HighRise Development Arabia

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LIST

03 DT1 by Perkins+Will / Ellington Group Location: Dubai Category: Best Residential High-Rise Architecture Arabia 22

August 2016

NEW HEIGHTS

04 Naseeb Maritime

Company by Roma International Location: Kuwait Category: Best Office Architecture Arabia

About the Awards The International Property Awards are open to commercial and residential developments around the globe. The prestigious awards recognise excellence in categories including architecture, interior design and development. The organiser of the awards also runs IPAX Africa & Arabia, an exhibition and networking summit taking place in Dubai from 21 to 22 September 2016.

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Building

Written by N Produced by J

g trust

Nye Longman Jordan Platten

PERKINS + WILL

With over 40 years of operations in the Middle East, Perkins + Will has cemented its presence in this key market by building trust, developing talent and working innovatively

E

ven for architecture and design companies with the experience and track record of Perkins + Will, establishing a competitive presence in the Middle East can be challenging to say the least. It has not only been able to achieve this (doubling its business each year for the past five) but has also worked on such prestigious projects as the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid football stadium in Dubai, and the regional headquarters of global giants like LinkedIn and Google. Business Review Middle East speaks to Steven Charlton, Principle Managing Director at Perkins + Will and discovers how he has led the company to its enviable position.

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August 2016

Operations With a list of services covering architectural and interior design, strategic and urban planning, landscaping, and branded environments, it is clear why the company has a strong demand in the Middle East. The company’s specialist expertise also covers healthcare, education, corporate, civic, technology, sports and travel verticals.

But faced with a market that necessitates a strong physical presence in order to do business, it was not until five years ago – when its Dubai office was founded – that Perkins + Will was able to scale impressive growth.

“We went from the initial start-up

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Consorts diverse range of certified products are suitable for a variety of building uses, such as hospitality, schools, healthcare and commercial spaces.

T +971 (0) 4 446 0900 F +971 (0) 4 446 0999 E info@consortme.com www.consort-hw.com 3903/04 Mazaya Business Avenue, Tower BB2 Jumeirah Lakes Towers PO Box 19186, Dubai, UAE

CONSTRUCTION

team and we are now touching 100 plus people in the Dubai office. It’s been quite an aggressive growth period – especially in the wake of the recession,” explains Charlton.

“People thought we were crazy but it’s worked out very well.”

“We are pretty much doubling every year since we started. We are getting to a comfortable point in the market, and because of this we moved to a new 10,500 square foot office last September and are now working on strategic efficiencies and working smarter and more efficiently.”

The company is also refining its internal processes and capabilities in order to deliver on its increasingly strong reputation for effective delivery. He says: “We’ve gone from searching for the next job to a position where clients come to us knowing they get an exceptional standard of design and quality.

“There are of course inefficiencies that arise from doubling every year and we wanted to make sure we are improving everything.

From improving the way clients are greeted in the office all the way to the design process and documentation. It’s about looking at every single thing and making them better – marginal gains.”

The value of people In a market crowded with many of the world’s largest architecture and design companies, the need to attract and develop a highly skilled workforce is pressing; Perkins + Will is pursuing this with an innovative approach. Charlton ensures that his workforce is able to develop creativity outside of typical projects and that team members can develop their careers holistically.

“I always say that you’re selling people and their ideas when you sell design,” Charlton muses. “The

2,400

Number of employees at Perkins + Will

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PERKINS + WILL

CUNDALL’S ENGINEERING CONSULTANCY SERVICES COVER THE ENTIRE LIFE CYCLE OF ANY BUILDING Clients such as Perkins & Will, find our ‘total solutions’ approach saves them time, money and effort. Our core services include Building Services, Civil and Structural Engineering and Sustainable Design. www.cundall.com

stronger the team you have the wider it goes. We’re bringing in talented new employees in every month it’s a very dynamic environment.

“If you have exceptional people you get exceptional results; everything becomes a well-oiled machine. We employ the best in the region - people want to join us from other firms,” Charlton explains. “We help our people

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August 2016

find out what they want to be and then we help them get there.

“We give people opportunities to do interesting projects; we want our people to try things and experiment.

We also ensure that there are experienced people around them to keep them in the right direction and reign them back when needed.”

With offices in every global region, and with over 2,400 staff globally, Perkins + Will is able to deploy the right expertise to take on a wide variety of projects – an aspect of its operations that not only enables it to fulfil the demands of the market, but one that enriches careers as well.

For the employees at the company, Charlton explains, personal and professional development is worthy of serious time and investment.

“Employees can dedicate a percentage of their time to projects that are not paid for. Any employee can submit a research proposal and we select them globally every quarter – employees can have time away from paid work to focus on these.

“Initially it’s about just trying

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PERKINS + WILL

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August 2016

CONSTRUCTION

ideas, new technologies, software and new ways of looking at things. But if successful it can be an incubator for genuine and systemic changes in our industry.”

In addition we have staff from various offices working in the studio at any one time, currently LA and, Boston teams are in our offices and we have people in Chicago – we move people around a lot which opens their eyes to working in different regions and cultures.”

Global company – local presence

local presence – a facet that Perkins + Will has not overlooked.

“When we first set up the office here, people always asked ‘how long have you been here? How big is your office and what projects have you done here?’ Even though we had experience elsewhere, it didn’t matter to them. They want to see the office and make sure we are real. We grew it organically.

That took hard work and long hours - it has paid off now. We have the back catalogue and an office which aligns with our aspirations - those questions are now answered.”

Backing up its exponential growth with a dedicated strategy to invest in people – both in and outside of the business – Perkins + Will is set to develop an already impressive presence in the Middle East. Having developed a profound understanding of its target region, the company’s reputation as a trusted partner can only grow.

Perkins + Will is headquartered in Chicago, IL, USA

“We tendered on a project recently and the client said – ‘why should we choose you?’ To which I said: ‘Just call one of our clients, choose any client’” says Charlton. And this is no small matter to consider when working in the region; many local companies prefer to partner with businesses that have a dedicated

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Working sma

art

Written by Tom Wadlow Produced by Heykel Ouni

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DU

UAE telco du is providing services beyond traditional telecoms, taking the lead role in transforming Dubai into the world’s first truly smart city

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n 2006, the thought of starting a new telco in the UAE - a country where mobile market penetration was already over 120 percent - and competing against a very strong incumbent player while growing to take almost 50 percent mobile market share may have seemed unthinkable.

Fast forward seven years and du has achieved precisely this.

With a mission to bring people and businesses together by offering mobile and fixed telephony, IPTV and broadband to homes and offices, du now conducts over AED 12 billion’s worth of vital communications work a year with a strong EBITA of AED 5.4 billion.

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This translates into 7.7 million mobile customers, with 674,000 fixed line subscribers on its books.

Mobile data exceeded 33 percent of its total Mobile revenues. Delivering its broad scope of services is a 1,700-strong workforce, comprising nationals of more than 60 countries from around the world – a global team of experts.

Now the company is embarking on its most ambitious project to date. Dubai Smart City will connect residents, business and government in ways never seen before, leveraging the power of the Internet of Things to enhance usability and efficiency of vital services spanning utilities, parking

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predictability

DU

1.7k

The total number of employees working for du (2015)

and health. It will also contribute to achieve the vision of Dubai’s ruler and Vice President of the UAE, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to transform Dubai into the smartest and happiest city in the world.

Lift off Playing a key strategic part in du’s journey from the beginning has been Anis Tabka, Senior Vice

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President – Sourcing, Contracts & Supply Chain Management. Vital areas that have been developed

by Tabka, allowing the company to grow so impressively, are its procurement and strategic sourcing strategy, end-to-end supply chain experience and positive attitude towards supporting the business to meet its needs while enforcing corporate governance.

Tabka, who has 21 years of

experience in the telecoms trade, mostly in the USA and Germany with Siemens on the commercial side, emphasises the importance that finding the right expertise to work with both internally and externally has had on business development.

“Traditionally the industry in the MENA area was not well-equipped in terms of expertise,” he explains.

“When I came in 2005 most of the

professionals I was sourcing in the region came from other functions.

One of the biggest challenges I faced was finding technical procurement professionals who are familiar with the telco world and having the business thinking on how it is important to look at the whole value chain whenever negotiating deals rather than just focusing on price negotiation.

“I was able to convince my

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DU

management of the value of putting a strategic spend category strategy matching our corporate roadmap and also of the benefits of partnering with some strategic vendors can bring. We needed a proper procurement strategy and a Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) methodology put in place and Executive Management allowed us to run with it and make it happen.�

This has paid off and du was the first Telco in the Middle East to get awarded in 2010 the prestigious Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply award from the UK. Going above and beyond the norm in corporate governance has also allowed du to stand out in what was an extremely saturated and monopolised telecoms market in the UAE. Three core values lay at the heart of du’s corporate governance

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system: friendly, honest and confident, with an emphasis on nurturing responsible practice and accountability which will result in sustainable business.

Underpinning this is a strong code of ethics set by the Board of Directors, with business objectives based on community and national development needs.

Dubai: smart city This is no better demonstrated

S U P P LY C H A I N

than by du’s work to turn Dubai into a smart city. The UAE has one of the highest mobile penetration rates in the world, and Dubai is witnessing a steady population growth, making the need to be ‘smart’ all the more pressing.

Du has been selected as strategic partner to the government’s Smart Dubai Office, responsible for implementing and managing the smart city platform. “This will be the first of its kind in the world,”

Tabka says. “All services and applications will be connected and running together so the citizens of Dubai will be able to make better use of their data.

“For example, someone about to leave their home will be able to find out exactly where to park and the best route to get there before they get in the car. Many of the smart cities around the world have deployed separate IoT applications such as smart homes, smart metering and smart transport, but none have integrated as many used cases under one centralised digital platform as Dubai. Du will be hosting such a platform and managing it on behalf of the city.”

The project aims to establish collaboration in six ‘smart’ focus areas: smart life, smart transportation, smart society, smart economy, smart governance and smart environment, guided

w w w. d u . a e

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DU

“All services and applications will be connected and running together so the citizens of Dubai will be able to make better use of their data” – Anis Tabka, Senior Vice President of Sourcing, Contracts & SCM, Corporate Affairs

Building A Better Connected World Huawei is a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider.

Our aim is to improve efficiency through a better connected world. Driven by customer-centric innovation and open partnerships, Huawei has established endto-end ICT solutions portfolio that gives customers competitive advantages in telecom and enterprise networks, devices and cloud computing. www.huawei.com

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S U P P LY C H A I N

by principles of communication, core services are flattening; integration and cooperation. that’s why our management has Du will be responsible for creating decided to set up a new Digital one common infrastructure from Business Unit to boost our cloud which all smart services can products and complex Managed grow and interact, bringing the Services offerings in the market. city’s data into one place in a “Our Dubai Smart City project secure environment, is a perfect example introducing best-ofof this. This does not breed smart services, involve a traditional all designed to work sourcing strategy nor together and sharing the traditional large data that brings a proprietary software The amount of new level of insight to players we are used to. revenue in AED Dubai to benefit the The Big Data and IoT generated by du public, entrepreneurs worlds are challenging (2015) and government. our Modis Operandi: Such non-traditional it’s now all about telco work also Open Source software requires Tabka to realign vendors, SaaS (software as a his sourcing strategy.

Service) solutions, Cloud services Tabka explains: “Major Telcos are and strong systems integration. having to look into other revenue We worked very closely with our alternatives such as digital business technical colleagues to find the as revenues in their traditional best in class partners to meet

12.35 billion

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DU

Smart Dubai requirements and use our experience to integrate it all together and deliver a complex project such as this.

“There are far more joint ventures, partnerships, revenue shares and corporations working together to deliver this strategic project in the long term. We all drive to deliver the best services and evaluate each other much more closely and in much greater detail, as we are both taking risks. These are very close relationships that involve constant communication and flexibility from both sides and HPE [Hewlett-Packard Enterprises], our main partner and system

2006

The year that du was founded

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August 2016

integrator for the Dubai Smart City project, is a good example.”

Du’s smart city credentials are already in evidence, shown by its city-wide public WiFi provision and smart street lights, using motion sensors to increase visibility when vehicles approach. However, integration of app-based services on this scale presents a larger set of challenges to overcome.

“We need to be flexible on how we put this huge ecosystem in place, and my job is to help bring all the different component parts together in the best way,” Tabka adds. “How do we set up revenue sharing, who do we choose to partner with, how do we optimise costing for du and the City?

“We need to convince partners to invest in this as a long term partnership, and we also need to convince the providers of existing smart technology in the

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S U P P LY C H A I N

“Major telcos are having to look into other revenue alternatives such as digital business as revenues in their traditional core services are flattening; that’s why our management has decided to set up a new Digital Business Unit to boost our cloud products and complex Managed Services offerings in the market” – Anis Tabka, Senior Vice President of Sourcing, Contracts & SCM, Corporate Affairs

city that an integrated approach is the way forward. There will be changes, there will be challenges.

“For example, security is one of the biggest challenges facing us.

The hackers out there are only going to get smarter. We are going to be seeing all the traffic and data from all of these different government functions and services provided by private entities – electricity, parking, home consumptions, supermarket shopping. How do you secure this and not endanger the integrity of the customer’s

data we are integrating? It’s a big challenge and we are working with our main partners the Smart Dubai Office, Dubai Data Establishment and our community of selected technology partners to bring the best suited solutions to secure this.”

Track record Based on du’s recent track record in innovation and service delivery, the challenges presented by Dubai Smart City will no doubt be overcome.

In March, du won ‘Security Implementation of the Year’ at the

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DU

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August 2016

S U P P LY C H A I N

2016 Network Middle East Innovation Awards for its Secure Web Hosting in the cloud. The company was also recognised for Best Enterprise Mobility Solutions and the Best Cloud Security Solutions at the inaugural Cloud MENA Awards 2016 in April.

In terms of delivering a value for money service, du announced earlier this year that it is reducing its GCC roaming charges, offering more affordable connectivity and communication for customers as they travel for business and leisure.

Customers can also benefit from a joint venture with Ticketmaster, receiving a 15 percent discount on some of the region’s biggest events.

These end user benefits would not be possible without the work of key partners in day-to-day activities, and Tabka is eager to emphasise the many positive working relations du has with other businesses, and how important these will be in the future.

He adds: “Aramex, for example, are our main logistics provider helping us from traditional warehouse operations to distribution channels, fulfilment and end-to-end customer activation. They are going through their own digital transformation and are embracing the concept of crowd sourcing more and more. We are very happy to be working with innovative companies such as Aramex.

Our other key partners include HPE, Huawei, Atos and Cisco.

“As for the future, we will be growing more and more and we will need new technology partners embracing the world of Open Source and innovations to add to the business. I would love to get involved with more exciting new projects like the Smart City, opening up new areas and opportunities for growth.”

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Tunisian Heights for Cancer Since 2004, du’s Anis Tabka has been raisingmoney for cancer charities. He started with running the Boston Marathon in support of the children’s cancer department Massachusetts Memorial Hospital and then started taking part in various mountain climbing charity fundraisers. In 2012, Tabka was inspired to set up his own charity and Tunisian Heights for Cancer was created.

He says: “I wanted to support my fellow Tunisian youth who are suffering from that disease but are not getting the same financial support as is the case in the West.”

The aim of the charity is to support young Tunisian kids from disadvantaged families who can’t afford proper cancer treatments and Tabka focuses on both raising awareness and funding during his mountain climbs. He adds: “The first Tunisian project I was involved in was in association with ATEL (Association Tunisienne des Enfants Atteints de

Leucemie) on the project of extending the paediatric wing of the Hospital Aziza Othmana in Tunis. This allowed more children to be treated in that facility.”

Tabka’s achievements include being the first Tunisian to climb to some of the world’s highest peaks. “I’ve climbed Kilimanjaro in Africa, Elbrus in Europe, Denali in North America, Aconcagua in South America - each time I am on an Expedition, I try to raise funding for the charity.”

His next expedition is scheduled inNovember to Mt. Vinson in Antartica.

To find out more, visit the charity’s Facebook page

Israel’s healthc

Written by N

Produced by C

care innovation

Nell Walker

Craig Daniels

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Israel’s Ministry of Health has been undergoing a technological overhaul, led by CIO Shira Lev-Ami; she explains why this was necessary, and describes the challenges she has faced

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s chronic diseases evolve and take centre stage, patients live longer, and unhealthy lifestyles become a greater threat, healthcare systems have to change.

Israel, like much of the world, has had to transform its own systems in order to keep up with changes, putting pressure on the nation’s Ministry of Health.

Shira Lev-Ami, the Ministry of Health’s Chief Information Officer, has spent her five years with the organisation faced with the challenge of altering both the mindset of

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colleagues and the processes by which the ministry operates. LevAmi’s multi-disciplinary background which includes earning three masters degrees (political science, law, and business administration) led to jobs in many different corporate sectors, before she decided on a meaningful career in the public health sector.

“I started working for non-profit organisations, learning how to create philanthropic strategies,” she explains. “I wanted to create infrastructure that otherwise would not exist. It was always my hobby

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Shira Lev-Ami CIO

Shira Lev-Ami is leading the national eHealth strategy definition and implementation.

She holds three masters degrees from Tel-Aviv University: Political Science, Business administration and Law. She served as an officer in a Technology Unit and as an organisational consultant in the IDF. Lev-Ami comes from a business background at the Fishman Group headquarters (where she worked on IPOs and other business transactions), and at Shaldor – the leading Israeli strategic business consulting firm.

She has experience with third-sector strategy and process at Yad-Hanadiv, one of Israel's largest philanthropic foundations, as Director of Grant-operations and strategy implementation. w w w. h e a l t h . g o v. i l

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For more information, visit us at allscripts.com/MOH

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Copyright © 2016 Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc.

M I N I S T R Y O F H E A LT H I S R A E L

H E A LT H C A R E

to think ‘how can this process be swimming pools, and so on for improved?’ Eventually I applied for sanitation quality – use a pencil and a job with the government where notebook for their work.” While she I could make a difference.” was up to the challenge, managing The Ministry of Health’s outdated 300 different projects needing information systems proved an uphill to be planned and implemented battle to change for Lev-Ami. Israel’s simultaneously was daunting.

Ministry of Health involves “The necessity for around 100 business revolutionising IT was units, each with clear, but moving different processes forward quickly in a and information government setting systems. When is sometimes viewed Lev-Ami joined as an oxymoron: Number of Employees the ministry, government at Ministry Of Health almost all of those processes require units came to her, long tenders and Israel demanding their work overcoming many processes be supported by bureaucratic obstacles. It can adequate information systems. be very discouraging, and explains “It’s hard to believe that in the why a lot of younger and more year 2016, we still have core technologically-minded people processes managed manually. For don’t necessarily want to work example, the ministry’s inspectors for the government. You need – monitoring restaurants, schools, a lot of optimism and to believe

40,000

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“ I wanted to create infrastructure that otherwise would not exist. It was always my hobby to think ‘how can this process be improved?’” that there’s always a way.”

The challenge for Lev-Ami’s team is providing the best possible service to all of these units, through creating common technological platforms as the means for synergy: “If you do a good job planning ahead and building enterprise-wide solutions, re-using the common features for any additional required process becomes easy. It’s like a city architecture: design a new city well, and traffic will flow seamlessly; trying to expand a road that was built for carriages in the 18th century will prove much more difficult.

“We’re now in a better situation, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us just to make sure we’re supplying the basics.”

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The Israeli Ministry of Health, as part of the National ‘Digital Israel’ initiative, aspires to promote the Israeli healthcare system through the use of digital technologies. “We had to make a significant leap in the way we supply health services,” she says. “There’s a saying: trying to provide medical services in the 21st century using 20th century methods would require an impossible amount of doctors. The transformational part of what we’re doing is looking at the health system and the technologies to move it forward.

“As a ministry leading the transformation, we have an array of tools to utilise. We combine the use of regulatory guidance with government incentives,

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The Health Ministry Uses TIBCO Computerized Systems for Improved Service in Israel’s Emergency Rooms The Health Ministry operates thousands of interfaces between various systems within its jurisdiction and with its partner organizations. To run those interfaces wisely and efficiently, the Ministry has initiated a lateral computerized project for integrating management system interfaces. The Yael Group will implement a TIBCO system that will provide an integration solution between the Ministry’s various systems, between the Ministry and the health system’s organizations, and between the Ministry and other government offices, publics bodies, and hospitals.

The aim of the project is to implement a uniform platform for managing the interfaces in

a controlled and efficient fashion between the Health Ministry and external parties, including the Ministry’s internal interfaces.

Currently, the Ministry is promoting an important TIBCO-based project that is focused on an application that enables patients waiting in emergency rooms to track the progress of the various stages of treatment via their mobile phones. This new service is designed to assist patients and their family members and help relieve the hectic management of emergency rooms. The project provides an initial indication whereby the Health Ministry is demonstrating its vision to lever the use of advanced digital solutions to provide optimal service for the citizens of Israel.

Shira Lev-Ami, the Health Ministry’s data systems manager says: The aim of the project was to improve treatment in Israel’s emergency rooms comprises part of the Heath Minister’s vision for improving the public health service.

Technological implementation is part of the broad interface computerization project, run by the Ministry’s computing unit, together with assistance from Yael Software’s integration experts. This project positions us at the cutting edge of technology and innovation and will assist us in bringing our solutions and services to the citizen, and enables us to furnish better service. Thus, we can further the health revolution which is today at the forefront of the public and national agenda in Israel.

Nachum Rozenbaum nachumr@yaelsoft.com +972-54-3183081

SAS® Health Care Analytics Assists the Israeli Ministry of health with Analytics and Big Data Solutions for a Higher Standard of Health Care.

Better Clinical Performance.

Better Care.

Better Patient Results.

H E A LT H C A R E

network, which she has put into place over the past few years.

It is where all public healthcare organisations - providers and hospitals - are able to connect to one network which carries personal medical records. While it is simpler to build one database and fill it with information for all to view, for privacy reasons, it had to be designed in a way that had no central repository.

“People get medical treatment in very many places, and the challenge lies in how we make sure all of these treatments are connected, and designed to stimulate investment that crucial medical information in digital health arenas which are can’t fall between the cracks. We under-utilised. In other areas, took responsibility for providing the we’re creating technological infrastructure, not just the regulation, infrastructures ourselves, paving and succeeded in tackling the the highways for digital health continuity of care challenge. The next applications and innovation.” step is utilising the national health One of Lev-Ami’s biggest recent information exchange in a way that projects has been reinventing the enables system-wide innovation.” national health information exchange Another nationwide project has

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“The people who work for the Ministry of Health are people who want to do good. They work from the heart” been focussed on the emergency departments. Over a quarter of Israel’s population visits an ER at least once a year, as a patient or chaperone, many leaving with a bad experience. Targeting shortening waiting periods in the ER, Lev-Ami’s team is deploying a sophisticated system to improve the process.

Optimising the ER workflow, while providing patients with information on their precise location in the medical process and estimated wait times, has proved vital in improving patient experience: “We’re developing an ER app which we view as a medical version of Waze, providing transparency on real-time ER situation for patients and decision-makers alike”.

The healthcare sector is built

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around the concept of ‘do no harm’, which unfortunately goes handin-hand with ‘make no change’.

However, Lev-Ami and her team have managed to turn the Ministry of Health’s IT system on its head, which has had the added benefit of vastly increasing trust in the Ministry’s leading role among Healthcare teams, as a valued partner.

“The Ministry of Health is a crucial organ for Israeli society, focussing on providing quality and equal healthcare,” Lev-Ami concludes.

“To make a process move forward you have to be both a visionary, and very proactive. In the end, the staff working for the Ministry of Health are people who want to do good.

People here work from the heart.”

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