Pleasure to bring you our newest edition of Techitup Middle East Magazine - July/Aug Edition. July marks a special month for us as we complete our 1st year as a media and publishing platform. Could we be more excited??
The last one year has been nothing short of excitement and challenges, but mostly has been a year of great learning and experience. The learning goes on and the experience helps in putting those learnings into actions. A Big Thank you to our audience, clients and supporters from across Middle East Africa and beyond for trusting our platform and considering it as one of the go-to platforms for tech and business news.
Techitup ME July/Aug 2024 Edition will discuss breakthroughs by tech brands in the first half of 2024 and the outlook for H2-2024. The edition brings you important stories from the Middle East ICT Channel, tech features, expert op-eds, enterprise news, consumer tech features and exclusive interviews with tech leaders.
While turning the pages, do keep an eye on exclusive discussions on AI, Quantum & Exponential Tech, Physical Security Industry Trends, API Security and more.
As we have stepped into the second half of 2024, major discussions throughout the year have been about AI, Gen AI and AI adoption as a whole across industries. Hear from experts about their views, and brands that have innovated in their offerings keeping in mind the rising demand and acceptance of AI.
We are also excited to share that we will be launching our Podcast Series this August, and the first episode
should go live soon. This is just another step forward for us to bring people closer to technology and to have meaningful conversations with inspiring leaders and personalities in tech and business.
In the inaugural series Power Women: Code & Courage, you will hear from inspiring women leaders from various fields. More on this soon, through our social pages.
We hope you continue to support us in our endeavors, and we promise to keep feeding you with the best in tech and business.
Stay tuned to our platform www.techitupme.com and our social pages for Everything in Tech & Business. Cheers!
Christopher David Founder & Managing Editor
Techitup ME- A David Media Company
PUBLISHERS:
The David Media FZC LLC
Christopher David Founder & Managing Editor
Nelson Nworie Manager Social Channels
Jignesh Parmar
Head Developer
Ajman Media City Free Zone United Arab Emirates
General inquiries: info@techitupme.com
Editorial: chris@techitupme.com
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CHANNEL
Barracuda Brings Global Support to MSPs Across ME
Mindware Signs VAD
INTERVIEW
Partnership Agreement with DDN Surge in AI Adoption Drives Growth
Vision of the Future with Exponential Technologies
Invicti & TFG Join Forces for Web App & API Security
Physical Security with AI, Cloud, and Next-Gen
TECH FEATURE
Ring Elevates Video Doorbell Lineup with Battery Video Doorbell Pro
IFS Unveils Global AI Optimism Rankings
Huawei Kicks Off Seeds for the Future 2024 Finals
Sobha Realty Announces AED 210 Million Mall Project
NTT Data - Designing Networks for the Digital Era
OMNIX – Check headline incomplete
CommScope Powers Paris’ Le Royal Monceau with RUCKUS Wi-Fi NVIDIA Releases Black Myth:
Barracuda Brings Global Support to MSPs Across Middle East
Barracuda will empower new and existing MSPs with managed service expertise in email security, extended detection and response (XDR) and remote monitoring and management
Barracuda Networks, Inc., is bringing its global support for MSPs to the Middle East. The move will enable channel organizations across the region to better support their customers through a comprehensive suite of managed security services. These services include threat prevention, detection, and response across attack surfaces such as email, endpoint, network, and more, creating layers of security around customers’ data, users, and reputation.
The launch underscores Barracuda’s commitment to supporting Middle East partners in creating or strengthening sustainable revenue streams. In its recent ‘The Evolving Landscape of the MSP Business Report 2024’, the company found that globally, IT service providers expect 44% of revenue to come from recurring managed services in 2024, up from 34% in 2023.
“Security skills and resourcing are key issues for companies, and most MSPs believe businesses are relying more on managed services providers to bridge any gaps, while the MSPs themselves are relying more on outsourcing, particularly in areas such as security operations centres,” said Charbel Ghostine, Regional Channel & Alliances Director, META & East Med at Barracuda. “Seven in ten MSPs say they’d welcome more support from vendors. Barracuda is a partner-first organization and is ideally placed to support MSPs, helping them to thrive in the competitive landscape of 2024 and beyond.”
Barracuda will offer partners in the Middle East its full suite of MSP services, with the following expected be of greatest interest:
Email Security: Comprehensive solutions to help MSPs protect customers’ mailboxes, browsing, files and data against phishing, malware, ransomware, and more.
Extended Detection and Response (XDR):
Solutions that underpin a holistic managed security service that secures customers everywhere, all the time. This enables MSPs to defend their customers against attack vectors, with the support of a 24x7x365
Regional Channel & Alliances Director, META & East Med, Barracuda
security operations centre (SOC).
Security-Centric Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM): As the first RMM tool with a built-in security assessment tool, Barracuda enables MSPs to easily assess their customers’ networks and recommend services that are most suitable.
Barracuda is collaborating with regional value-added distributors (VADs) – Mindware and Ingram Micro – to roll out and support its MSP services. The VADs will facilitate onboarding, offer comprehensive training and education, as well as marketing and sales support in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Egypt, and the Levant.
Charbel Ghostine
TechBridge Distribution Signs Partnership with Brady Corporation
Lockie Managing Director, TechBridge Distribution MEA
MEA, is proud to announce a strategic partnership with Brady Corporation, a global player in largescale industrial identification solutions and workplace safety products. This collaboration aims at benefitting channel partners across MEA by offering innovative, high-quality products designed to meet the unique needs of various industries, including healthcare, aviation, warehousing, oil and gas, and manufacturing.
Brady Corporation is global player renowned for its commitment to quality, innovation, customer satisfaction and sustainability initiatives. Companies around the globe trust Brady for their deep expertise and knowledge across
a wide range of industries and applications powered by world class manufacturing.
Some interesting facts about Brady:
• 88% of Fortune 500 companies use BRADY products.
• 70% of commercial aircraft in the world are identified by BRADY products.
• Committed to sustainability with ISO 14001 certifications.
• Have 675+ patents under their belt.
With a broad portfolio of identification and safety solutions, Brady excels due to its: High-Quality Products: Industryleading labels, printers, software,
and safety devices that ensure durability, reliability, and compliance with international standards.
Innovative Solutions: Brady continually invests in research and development, introducing cuttingedge technologies such as automat ed printing systems and intelligent asset tracking solutions.
Comprehensive Support: Brady provides extensive technical support and training, ensuring that customers can effectively utilize their products to enhance productivity and safety.
Bringing Unparalleled Solutions to the MEA Region
Through this partnership, TechBridge Distribution MEA will leverage Brady Corporation’s extensive product range to deliver comprehensive solutions that address the specific challenges faced by businesses in the MEA region. Channel partners can now access Brady’s superior products and benefit from TechBridge’s local expertise and dedicated support.
This partnership opens new opportunities for Channel Partners to expand their market reach and meet the growing demand for high-quality identification and safety solutions in the MEA region. In addition, they can leverage from access to premium products, enhanced local support & comprehensive training.
Steve
Christophe
StarLink Announces Distribution Agreement with Zscaler
StarLink, an Infinigate group company, is pleased to announce its new distribution agreement with Zscaler, the global company in Zero Trust security. This collaboration marks a significant milestone in both companies’ efforts to address the evolving cybersecurity landscape and provide customers with comprehensive and reliable cloud security solutions.
As digitalization advances and AI applications become more widespread, the complexity and sophistication of cyber-attacks continue to grow. In response to this inevitable trend, StarLink aims to address this challenge by offering the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange platform to its partner network and their clients to deliver enhanced cybersecurity protection.
StarLink has a proven track record of helping enterprises strengthen their cybersecurity resilience. With a comprehensive range of cybersecurity technologies and services, this partnership with Zscaler will further enhance StarLink’s ability to provide tailored solutions that address the unique challenges faced by businesses today.
StarLink &
As digitalization advances and AI applications become more widespread, the complexity and sophistication of cyber-attacks continue to grow."
The distribution agreement between StarLink and Zscaler will empower enterprises in the Middle East to fortify their cybersecurity posture and effectively address key challenges such as remote secure access, employee internet security protection, and data loss prevention. With Zscaler’s comprehensive security cloud platform, enterprises can confidently navigate the public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud environments, safeguarding their valuable assets from end to end.
Distribution Agreement Signing by Ahmed Diab,
Brian Marvin, Zscaler
Mindware Signs VAD Partnership Agreement with DDN
Mindware, recently signed a strategic distribution partnership across the Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META) region with DDN, the global company in artificial intelligence (AI) and multi-cloud data management solutions. Under the agreement, Mindware will help DDN accelerate the adoption of its products and services, designed to support data-intensive environments and applications, by leveraging its expansive channel ecosystem in the region. This marks a significant milestone in Mindware’s AI solutions portfolio, expanding the distributor’s offerings and strengthening its value proposition.
Mr. Alexandre Boutin, AI Director at Mindware comments: “Mindware’s AI Business Unit and its practices have expanded, now catering to a wide range of
customers with diverse needs. As an AI Value-Added Distributor and trusted advisor, we felt the need to incorporate a vendor with a distinctive value proposition to meet various requirements, one of them being an NVIDIA certified ecosystem partner for large SuperPOD projects, within and outside the realms of conventional AI/ HPC applications.”
“With this new partnership with DDN, Mindware will offer solutions that accelerate AI and HPC apps at any scale, that are geared towards enabling organizations to manage large volumes of data efficiently, and to derive actionable insights from that data, ensuring high performance and reliability across various use cases,” he continues.
DDN’s storage and management solutions make deployment, management and scaling simple
for even the largest AI applications, from edge to data centre to any cloud. It is the leading technology for scalability, performance and costeffectiveness to ensure faster ROI and maximum utilization of compute resources.
Ankur Arora, Senior Regional Director for MEA at DDN, says: “The data storage market has globally been experiencing significant growth driven by Large Language Models (LLM), Generative AI and other AI applications. Infrastructures need to be adapted to cope with the increasing compute capabilities and workload requirements. DDN’s unique value proposition is centered around its ability to deliver highperformance, scalable and reliable data storage solutions tailored for complex, data-intensive workloads and environments. We develop our solutions to enable customers and partners to get the absolute maximum productivity from the entire environment.”
“We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Mindware to bring DDN solutions and services to the META region. This collaboration marks a significant milestone in our commitment to empowering businesses with flexible and innovative technology solutions that will drive digital transformation for these enterprises and the region as a whole,” he concludes.
NTT DATA Named Leader for Global Cloud Professional Services
NTT DATA, today announced it has been named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Cloud Professional Services 2024 Vendor Assessment report (Doc #US51406224, June 2024)
The report evaluated 24 cloud professional services providers on key measures of success across two primary categories: capabilities and strategies. IDC recognized NTT DATA for the evolution of its cloud professional services over the last two years, citing its integrated capabilities to create a broader portfolio of IT and connectivity services, wider industry-focused consulting, and more global scale.
IDC recognized NTT DATA for its broad range of digital offerings includes business consulting, data & intelligence, customer experience & design, network and application services, cybersecurity, and cloud and IT infrastructure. The report noted the evolution of NTT DATA’s cloud professional services as a particular strength, as it expanded not only the breadth of its offering, but also its tooling and methods. The company’s other strengths include sales and distribution, as well as its customer retention strategies.
The IDC MarketScape cited cloud clients should consider choosing NTT DATA when seeking “a service provider whose focus is on trust and long-term client relationships.” The report notes that while NTT DATA employs a strategy to deliver greater value based on regional needs, its hybrid culture, and differentiation, is based on its Japanese roots. It also highlighted that NTT DATA’s focus on sustainability and social responsibility is deeply embedded in its corporate DNA, going back to its founding in 1988.
According to the report, clients noted “NTT DATA’s high level of technical capabilities for cloud modernization and migration, as well as for agile development.” Clients also appreciate the results NTT DATA can deliver with regard to the automation of operational areas such as application releases.
Charlie Li
Global Head of Cloud and Security Services of NTT DATA
“We are honored to be recognized as a Leader in the IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Cloud Professional Services,” said Charlie Li, Global Head of Cloud and Security Services of NTT DATA. “This acknowledgement underscores our commitment to delivering business value through a cohesive, full-stack modern portfolio. Over the past two years, we’ve enhanced our AI powered offerings and methodologies tailored to industry needs. IDC’s recognition highlights our strengths in client trust, expertise, and comprehensive cloud capabilities. We remain focused on leveraging our global scale and platform delivered services to drive innovation and exceptional customer experiences.”
Surge in AI Adoption Drives Growth
Talus K Arukalil, Regional Manager MEA at PNY Technologies, Discusses Stellar H1 2024 Growth, Partnership with NVIDIA and GITEX GLOBAL 2024 Plans.
How has H1 of 2024 faired for you what trends are you seeing for the rest of the year?
The first half of 2024 has been a period of remarkable growth for the storage and GPU markets, driven by heightened demand from both consumers and enterprises. The gaming industry continues to be a major driver, with gamers seeking top-tier GPUs for enhanced experiences in eSports and VR/AR. At the same time, the rise of AI-driven consumer applications has further fueled GPU sales. On the enterprise side, the rapid growth in data generation and the increasing adoption of AI and machine learning have spurred demand for advanced storage solutions and highperformance GPUs. As we move into the second half of the year, these trends are expected to continue, with ongoing interest in AI, next-generation gaming, and a stronger focus on sustainable computing in enterprise environments.
What solutions are you currently offering in collaboration with NVIDIA?
PNY’s long-standing partnership with NVIDIA has been instrumental in our ability to offer a wide array of innovative solutions across different markets. Currently, we provide NVIDIA RTX GPUs, which are highly sought after in gaming, AI, and content creation for their real-time ray tracing and AI-enhanced graphics capabilities. For enterprises, we offer NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core GPUs, designed for AI and high-performance computing applications, making them essential in fields like healthcare, finance, and research. Additionally, our lineup includes NVIDIA RTX professional graphics cards, catering to professionals in design, engineering, and other creative industries, as well as NVIDIA Mellanox networking solutions, which ensure fast, secure, and reliable data transfer in demanding environments.
Can you share highlights of your recent partnership with VAST Data?
Our partnership with VAST Data is a pivotal addition to PNY's enterprise portfolio, enhancing our storage solutions. The VAST Data Platform offers exceptional speed, scalability, and simplicity, making it ideal for managing and analyzing large data volumes. This collaboration allows us to provide high-performance storage that supports AI, big data, and cloud computing, while also simplifying infrastructure and ensuring consistent performance across applications.
INTERVIEW
Can you share details about some of your plans for GITEX this year?
We are eagerly anticipating October, where we will showcase our full range of components and NVIDIA Data Center solutions at GITEX 2024. It’s an exciting opportunity for us to connect with partners and customers who are interested in exploring the latest technological solutions or forming new partnerships. As a global partner of NVIDIA in both the enterprise and consumer sectors, GITEX will be a platform to delve deep into GPU technology and accelerated computing. We warmly invite everyone to visit us at Hall 5, Stand No. H5-30, where we’ll be presenting our latest innovations and solutions.
How has PNY's overall channel performance been this year?
Channels and partnerships have always been at the core of our business strategy. In 2024, we’ve seen strong performance across all channels, including both online platforms and traditional retail outlets, with new channels emerging as well. As our product portfolio has expanded, we’ve observed growth in specialized channels, particularly in areas focused on AI. It’s encouraging to see the region’s development in system integrators concentrating on AI and Gaming PCs, as well as largescale solution providers excelling in Data Center solutions and Edge computing. These partnerships have played a vital role in extending our reach and delivering solutions tailored to the needs of diverse customer segments.
As we move into the second half of the year, these trends are expected to continue, with ongoing interest in AI, next-generation gaming, and a stronger focus on sustainable computing in enterprise environments."
Quantum Leap: Vision of the Future with Exponential Technologies
Dr. Zina Jarrahi Cinker, Founder and Director General of MATTER, Chief Creator of XPANSE Abu Dhabi 2024- speaks to Techitup ME about Quantum Revolution, Matterverse, the age of exponential technologies.
Can you talk about the Quantum Revolution, how do you see Quantum Technologies shaping up our future and the impact it can create?
When I think about the quantum revolution, I'm amazed by how far we've come and how much more is on the horizon. Actually, 2025 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of quantum mechanics, and thanks to a lot of our efforts and the global quantum community, it will be celebrated as the United Nations proclaimed International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. This amazing development showcases how critical quantum development and quantum technologies will be as a technological tool to reshape our world.
When we talk about quantum technologies, most people don't realize that we're not talking about one single thing. The realm of quantum technologies includes areas like quantum computing, quantum sensing, quantum cryptography, and quantum communication. Each of these fields is achieving amazing milestones, and they're no longer sci-fi concepts or buzzwords.
What's even more fascinating to me personally is the history of computation as human beings. We started with mechanical machines made of wood and metal using gears and levers. Then we moved to silicon chips and transistors that got smaller and smaller and opened the door to this magnificent digital age we live in. And now we're entering the third uncharted era, where we're manipulating individual atoms to compute! It is mind blowing.
And what has been the potential impact? From discovering new pharmaceuticals and doing quantum chemistry to securing our data and optimizing financial portfolios, we're just starting to scratch the surface of what's possible. The quantum era is just beginning.
What latest research do you see being conducted around the MATTERVERSE framework?
As a condensed matter physicist by background, it is no surprise that I am fascinated by the world of atoms and molecules, or as we call it, the matterverse. Look around you - everything you touch and feel is made of matter. From our brains to our computers, to the clouds and our buildings, everything is made of a hundred or so 'Lego pieces,' or as we call them, elements. That's all that makes life's entire complexity.
The field of matterverse looks at how the different compositions and the way we put together these atoms and molecules can create everything around us. In the past few decades, amazing work has been done in the field of nanoscience and in my own field of graphene and two-dimensional materials. I did my PhD in graphene, which is one single atomic layer of carbon - the thinnest and one of the strongest materials that ever existed. Case in point of some of the advances that are taking place - Now we can create transparent biosensor tattoos where you can control a drone with only the movement of your eyes, or advances in nanoscience where we can have spinach send an email, to the exceptional work at Harvard of resurrecting the cells of an extinct woolly mammoth or storing all of your data inside a strand of DNA! These are all advances resulting from us mastering the world of matter or the matterverse, and they're not science fiction - they're happening now.
To showcase these most cutting-edge advances, we are bringing some of the world's leading scientists and innovators to Abu Dhabi from November 20-22 to XPANSE 2024. It might sound like science fiction, but they are actually happening right now and will be transforming our lives very soon.
How can leaders navigate this era of rapid tech advancements in AI, ML, Quantum computing?
As I often say, we're entering a new age in the history of humankind: the age of exponential technologies. In this age, four areas of technology - nanomaterials and nanoassembly, quantum technologies, AI and machine learning, and genomics and multiomics - are reaching a point of maturity that are not only accelerating one another exponentially but they're also creating hybrid areas of development that we would not expect before.
In this era, we can no longer rely on predictive linear models to know where a technology sector like finance would be in 5 years. Look at the way AI caught many industries by surprise. This wasn't a surprise to those of us in the field; we knew it was coming, and this is just the beginning. The hallmark of the age of exponential technology is that the pace of development is so dizzyingly fast that most industries won't be able to keep up.
Also, we often advise policymakers and leaders that in this age, you can no longer focus solely on your own field. You need to know what is happening on the horizons of all different areas of technology because you never know when they will intersect with yours. In the same way that AI has now intersected with many different sectors, quantum will soon intersect with many more, and these are just a few examples.
The truth is that there are very few places and forums in the world where all those pieces of exponential technology are brought together in one place, around one table. And that's why we created XPANSE - to bring the world's brightest minds in exponential tech and deep science to the same table with decision-makers to put the pieces together and shape the horizons of the future with exponential tech.
Please tell us about XPANSE 2024—Beyond Exponential, your vision and the impact?
XPANSE 2024 is unlike any event you've ever seen before. It's a bold initiative that we launched with ADQ this year, and it's going to be the world's first visioning of the future with exponential technologies.
XPANSE is two separate things combined in one package: Firstly, it's a powerful global forum and event bringing together 2,500 of the world's brightest minds to Abu Dhabi from November 20-22, 2024. We're convening Nobel Laureates, CEOs, industry leaders, scientists, and thinkers to set the horizons of areas like exotic computing, quantum, genomics, embodied intelligence,
next-gen 2D materials, fusion energy, AGI, brain interfaces, organoid intelligence, and more.
Secondly, XPANSE is much more than an event. It doesn't end after 3 days like other events. It is actually a year-round ecosystem-building engine that will work 365 days a year with teams based in Abu Dhabi to connect stakeholders globally and regionally, hatch opportunities, and create collaborations and partnerships to commercialize and advance these exponential technologies.
This is what XPANSE will be: the epicentre for exponential tech, where the world will come every November to Abu Dhabi to see and share firsthand the cutting-edge technologies that will shape the next chapter for cities, citizens, industries, and societies. You have to come and experience it.
It's quite interesting how we ended up choosing Abu Dhabi as a location for the XPANSE forum. Initially, Abu Dhabi was not even on our option list. It took only one trip for me to visit the UAE, Khalifa University, and within the next few months, we decided that we wanted to create XPANSE in Abu Dhabi and not the EU or US.
Dr. Zina Jarrahi Cinker Founder and Director General, MATTER
Invicti & TFG Join Forces for Web Application & API Security
Patrick Vandenberg - Director of Product Marketing at Invicti Security & Ram Reddy, Regional Product Manager- Cyber Security at Tech First Gulf discuss securing Web Applications & APIs
Patrick Vandenberg Director of Product Marketing, Invicti Security
INVICTI: Please talk us through your Web Application and API Security Solutions and the pain areas it is solving for enterprises?
Invicti’s Web Application, or DAST, solutions are well known for their accuracy and coverage of organizations’ web application and web environments. Our accuracy provides a “low-noise” dynamic due to our proof-based scanning, that reduces the distraction for developers in
the vulnerability tickets they are provided to remediate. Now Invicti has introduced our API Security capability that delivers a multi-faceted API discovery mechanism to bring documented and undocumented (shadow) API into inventory for security testing. The power for organizations is they can now have web application and API security in a single solution.
INVICTI: How is Invicti helping businesses respond to critical vulnerabilities discovered through its scanning processes?
Invicti has always been focused on providing accurate results. This enables the developers to focus on the critical vulnerabilities that Invicti is able to verify with its proof-based scanning capability. This eliminates the wasted time and frustration from false positives.
INVICTI: How does Invicti integrate with other cybersecurity tools or platforms within a company's IT infrastructure?
Inviciti has dozens of integrations that enable efficiencies in a company’s appsec program. A few key areas include: -
• Ticket tracking integrations to share vulnerabilities and their remediation guidance with development, such as ServiceNow and Jira.
• Continuous integrations systems that allow security testing to plug into the development workflow, such as Jenkins and Circle CI.
• NEW API integrations to support API inventorying, with API management systems such as Amazon API Gateway, Mulesoft Anypoint Exchange, Apigee API hub.
• And a host of other integration types, such as SSO, Communication, Web App Firewalls, and more.
TFG: What kind of growth trends are you expecting in the Web Application and API security market across MEA region, looking at your H1 2024 review?
The rise of service-based architectures has led to a surge in APIs. According to ESG’s report Securing The API Attack Surface, 76% of organizations average 26 APIs per application. As this number continues to grow, organizations will find it increasingly difficult to keep track of them.
To help solve this very real issue plaguing security and development teams, Invicti’s market-leading API security and application security testing platform allows you to discover and bolster your ability to find APIs, test them for vulnerabilities, and fix security issues before they become expensive security incidents. You get visibility across the entire UI and API attack surface, making AppSec proactive rather than purely reactive.
TFG: With the ever-evolving IT & Security landscape, what advice do you have for businesses across MEA to take ownership and improve their Web Application/ API security?
Every modern enterprise needs a robust web application and API security program, but establishing an effective one is often complex and challenging. Many organizations attempt to simplify the process by focusing only on securing their most critical web assets, leaving countless other websites, APIs, and applications inadequately protected. To truly own and enhance an AppSec program, businesses should invest in a strategy and solution that balances comprehensive coverage (identifying as many web assets and vulnerabilities as possible), accuracy (minimizing false positives), and speed (completing discovery and testing quickly). And remember—starting your security journey can be relatively straightforward but sustaining that initial momentum and ensuring you're heading in the right direction is significantly more challenging. Consistency and guidance are essential for staying on course, maintaining focus, and adhering to industry best practices.
According to
ESG’s report Securing The API Attack Surface,
76% of
organizations average 26 APIs per
application. As this num-ber continues to grow, organizations will find it increasingly difficult to keep track of them."
Revolutionizing Physical Security with AI, Cloud, and Next-Gen Analytics
Firas
Jadalla, Regional Director – Middle East, Turkey & Africa, Genetec discusses Physical security industry trends and how AI & Analytics are revolutionizing the inudustry
Firas Jadalla
Regional Director – Middle East, Turkey & Africa, Genetec
What are the most significant trends shaping the current Physical security industry and what’s your outlook of H2-2024 and beyond?
The physical security industry is currently being shaped by several significant trends. The industry will continue to experience a surge in demand for high-resolution cameras, intelligent video analytics, and cloud-based solutions. This 2024 Genetec State of Physical Security Report captured this trend, which further revealed that the physical security market is rapidly embracing cloud and hybrid solutions. According to the survey, 40% of end users from the Middle East region reported that more than 30% of their physical security setups are now either in the cloud or use a combination of cloud and on-premises solutions. This is a significant jump from the 24% reported in last year's survey. Additionally, cloud-based solutions like Security-as-a-Service (SaaS) are becoming more prevalent,
offering scalable, cost-effective, and remotely accessible security management options.
Physical security leaders are also increasingly integrating IT expertise into their departments. Organizations now look to optimize collaboration between IT and physical security teams. Simultaneously, Security Operations (SecOps) are broadening their function to address physical security risks, leveraging data from both groups.
Looking ahead to the second half of 2024 and beyond, these trends are expected to continue driving the industry forward. AI advancements will likely lead to even more accurate predictive analytics and automated responses, reducing reliance on human intervention. The proliferation of IoT devices will further enhance situational awareness and response capabilities. Cloud adoption will increase, driven by its flexibility and cost benefits, while ensuring data security and compliance will remain a top priority.
Overall, the physical security landscape will become more intelligent, connected, and resilient, providing robust solutions to evolving security challenges. IT will continue to bring physical security within their group and begin overseeing physical security mandates. This unified and connected view will help teams get a complete picture of systems and changing threats while enabling them to use data more effectively.
How has Artificial Intelligence revolutionized or influenced the Physical Security landscape so far and how much AI is good AI?
AI has significantly influenced the physical security landscape providing organizations with intelligent, efficient, and proactive measures to protect, mitigate and enhance their overall security posture. These cover surveillance and monitoring, access control, threat detection, predictive analysis, automation and response, among others.
At Genetec, we use a subset of AI called deep
learning for purpose-built solutions that rely on identifying trends and dependencies between features present in the data itself. Some of the use cases include:
• Speeding up investigations: Scouring video of a specific time period to find all footage with a red vehicle.
• Automating people counting: Getting alerted to maximum occupancy thresholds in a building or knowing when customer lines are getting too long to enhance service.
• Detecting vehicle license plates: Tracking wanted vehicles, streamlining employee parking at offices, or monitoring traffic flow across cities.
• Enhancing situational awareness: Reducing false alarms and noise, qualifying threats based on specific parameters, and pointing the security operators to the most pressing situations.
• Streamlining business outcomes: Analyzing data from different IoT sensors and various physical security & business systems to improve operations.
Can you tell us more about your Security Center SaaS, what pain points is it addressing for industries?
The Genetec Security Center SaaS is a unified security platform that integrates video surveillance, access control, and other security systems into a cloud-based solution. The physical security industry has been eagerly anticipating an enterprise-grade offering that can be implemented in the cloud or in a hybrid deployment based on customers’ needs and requirements. Security Center SaaS not only fills this important gap in the market, but it redefines the possibilities for cloud-based physical security. Because of its open architecture, the enterprise-grade SaaS solution gives organizations the complete freedom to choose the door controllers, cameras, and devices that work best for their business.
It also features powerful forensic search tools designed to simplify and speed up investigations. These tools extract crucial information from the rich metadata collected by the system's connected edge devices. For the channel partners, Security Center SaaS features powerful and comprehensive systems management tools, making it easier and faster to configure, provision, and deploy complex, multi-site enterprise systems at scale.
How are customer requirements changing across industries in the physical security space?
As businesses evolve at a rapid pace, there is a growing
demand for more intelligent and proactive security solutions. Customers now expect integrated systems that offer real-time monitoring, advanced analytics, and seamless interoperability between different security components such as surveillance cameras, access control systems, and intrusion detection devices. The rise of remote work and dispersed operations has also led to an increased need for cloud-based security solutions that provide flexibility and remote access capabilities.
Additionally, there is a heightened focus on data privacy and cybersecurity, with customers seeking solutions that not only protect physical assets but also safeguard sensitive information.
As threats become more sophisticated, customers today expect AI-powered rapid and effective response mechanisms. Overall, the shift is towards more comprehensive, adaptable, and resilient security solutions that can address the complexities of modern operational environments while ensuring robust protection and compliance with regulatory standards.
With the rise in connected security devices, how does Genetec address concerns related to data privacy and security?
In today’s fast-evolving business landscape, where AI-driven analytics and automation are redefining security operations, organizations should never have to choose between data privacy and security. By equipping physical security professionals with essential strategies, Genetec is spearheading a paradigm shift toward a more resilient and trustworthy security ecosystem.
A fundamental rule of data security is to collect and store only essential information. The potential impact of a security breach can be reduced by minimizing stored data. It is also important to review and audit data and dispose unnecessary information responsibly. Businesses should regularly update protocols, stay informed and continuously educate their teams on best practices. Physical security leaders should put in place robust policies to ensure long-term data safety. Enforcing a transparent chain of custody through technology, such as a Digital Evidence Management System (DEMS), will ensure accountability and traceability at every stage of the data lifecycle.
Genetec is committed to supporting businesses to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness and build trust without compromising security.
Ring Elevates Video Doorbell Lineup with Battery Video Doorbell Pro
Home security brand, Ring, announces the latest addition to its line of video doorbells – Battery Video Doorbell Pro. Building upon the capabilities of its predecessor, the new, advanced battery-powered doorbell provides greater value and convenience for homeowners.
Home security starts at the front door and Battery Video Doorbell Pro is the newest to Ring’s doorbell lineup with advanced features that build on a promise of peace of mind. Battery Video Doorbell Pro retains what customers know and love about the Battery Doorbell Plus such as Live View, Two-Way Talk, Advanced Motion Detection, Customizable Motion Zones, Privacy Zones and Colour Night Vision, but also introduces radar-powered 3D Motion Detection with Bird’s Eye View and Bird’s Eye Zones, 1536p HD Headto-Toe video, Low Light Sight, Color Pre-Roll, Quick Replies and Noise Cancelling Audio+. Moreover, they can enjoy a more reliable connection with enhanced dual-band Wi-Fi. Radar-powered 3D Motion Detection with Bird’s Eye View and Bird’s Eye Zones allows customers get an aerial perspective to pinpoint and receive alerts only when movement is detected in specific areas, providing precise information for each motion event.
One of the key features of Battery Video Doorbell Pro is its image quality, which goes beyond
1536p HD video. Dynamic Image processing and high-efficiency compression ensure that the video delivers lifelike color and sharpness, whether watching in Live View or reviewing a recording. Low-Light
Sight technology, including enhanced imaging sensors, delivers superior clarity and clear color, even in low-light conditions. Additionally, Color Pre-Roll captures motion four seconds before a motion event is triggered giving customers a more complete view of what's happening outside their door.
"Battery Video Doorbell Pro represents an important step forward in our ongoing commitment to innovation," said Mohammad Meraj Hoda, Vice President – Emerging Markets, Ring. "With its advanced features and superior image quality, it redefines the standard for batterypowered doorbells, giving customers even more flexibility and versatility. I’m excited about bringing these new features to our customers as we continue to bring them peace of mind."
Battery Video Doorbell Pro seamlessly integrates with other
Ring devices, allowing customers to create a whole-home security system. Subscribing to a Ring Protect Plan provides access to features such as cloud storage, Person and Package Alerts, Rich Notifications, and Modes. With a Ring Protect Plan, customers can also save, share and download video recordings of their events for up to 180 days.
Additionally, customers can receive motion alerts on compatible Alexa devices. Alexa can be requested to respond to the visitor and "talk" to the visitor through a compatible Amazon Echo device. For example, by connecting Battery Video Doorbell Pro to an Echo Show device, customers can receive alerts on their Echo Show or simply say “Alexa, show me the front door”, to drop in on Live View and see what is going on in their front garden.
IFS Unveils Global AI Optimism Rankings
Pedersen Chief Product Officer, IFS
Research from IFS, has revealed the Global AI Optimism League Table. The global study Industrial AI: the new frontier for productivity, innovation and competition involved 1,700 senior decision makers from Manufacturing, Telecommunications, Aerospace & Defense, Services, Construction & Engineering, and Energy & Resources companies. It found that optimism about artificial intelligence (AI) is a direct indicator of AI strategy maturity within their business. The study found firms between $200-$500m the most optimistic about AI, while the UK and USA were the least optimistic countries. As UAE ranks 6th, the research implies that
UAE is almost ahead than anticipated.
Global businesses face a narrow window of opportunity: the widespread adoption of AI is expected to profoundly impact growth, productivity and competition with repercussions for the balance of power among nations. The findings of this study serve as a wake-up call for businesses lagging in AI adoption, emphasizing the need for a clear AI strategy to stay competitive in the global market.
CASH ISN’T ALWAYS KING
An easy assumption to make with AI is that the more financial resources available, the more optimism there would be about what could be done with AI. However, the research reveals that businesses with revenues of over $500 Million ranked only third in terms of optimism due to a clear polarization in strategy, data readiness, and skills. Indeed, the polarization in AI readiness has led to 25% of this group believing AI benefits will materialize within 12 months, while the laggards don’t expect to see benefits for at least three years. Large enterprises showed the widest gaps in time to benefits of any of the company size groups surveyed.
In contrast, the survey revealed mid-sized ($50$200m) firms being less optimistic about AI purely because they have fewer resources and skills to deploy to the technology today, and therefore are planning over a longer period of time to drive benefits from a maturing technology.
Christian Pedersen, Chief Product Officer, IFS, commented: “At the surface level, the lack of optimism across some respondents may suggest we are at the edge of a trough of disillusionment, particularly following the all-encompassing hype that AI enjoyed for much of the last 18 months. What we are actually witnessing is enterprises differentiating themselves with AI. Organizations that have established a strong data foundation, invested in skills, and embedded sustainability into their strategy are optimistic because they can see
Christian
the benefits coming into view quickly. It is vital that leaders see AI as a strategy, not a tool.”
FACTORS PAVING THE WAY ON THE SMOOTH PATH TO AI
Delving into what fuels optimism around AI, the research suggests that companies’ architectural readiness directly correlates with their overall optimism about the technology. Respondents who report being more architecturally ready are more likely to be optimistic about AI. This indicates that companies with a strong cloud-based foundation are further along in their AI journeys and are most likely to believe that the tangible benefits of AI will become a reality sooner.
Pedersen continued, “Our research provides direct evidence that the market is dividing into those who have embraced AI and those who have not.” Pederson emphasized that the projected rewards of AI, potentially unlocking $4.4 trillion in annual corporate profits, are pressuring businesses to adapt. However, without a clear strategy, AI initiatives risk stalling.
EMERGENCE OF INDUSTRIAL AI FOR PRODUCTIVITY, INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABILITY
Innovative products and services (31%) and data accessibility (30%) are the most common areas senior decision-makers expect AI to make large differences, followed closely by cost reductions (29%).
Interestingly, at a country level, the USA (32%) and Germany (31%) were the only nations most likely to believe that AI will lead to consistent business growth.
The survey reveals a positive correlation between skills and AI optimism. The nations most likely to identify as having invested heavily in skills for several years are generally more optimistic about AI overall. France (49%), UAE (53%), Norway (48%), Australia (46%), Sweden (46%) and Japan (45%) are leading the way here.
Sustainability planning also correlates directly with overall AI optimism. The less wide-ranging a country’s sustainability strategy was with regard to AI, the less likely they were to be optimistic about AI in general. UK (5%), Canadian (6%), Danish (6%) and Finnish (4%) respondents were least likely to have an AI strategy for sustainability in place and all feature in the bottom half of the optimism league table.
“The lofty expectations for AI bely a fundamental
misunderstanding of how it is supposed to drive value. The real power lies in Industrial AI, where data flows through every part of your business, combining structured, interlinked datasets to uncover insights, optimize every process and marry the digital with the physical world. That’s where the true value lies. If a business doesn’t have a strategy to reach that point, then they need a partner who can guide them on that journey,” concluded Pedersen.
The
IFS Global
AI Optimism
League Table by Country
Huawei Kicks Off Seeds for the Future 2024 Finals
Huawei opens the Seeds for the future 2024 regional finals for Middle East & Central Asia in an exquisite opening ceremony in Tashkent Uzbekistan. Seeds for the Future is Huawei’s global flagship Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program, for university students from ME&CA region and the 2024 regional finals are being held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from August 11 to 17.
The Seeds for the future 2024 regional final is supported by the Ministry of Digital Technologies of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the IT Education Association and telecom, regulatory and labor authorities & vocational training bodies. The Finals kicked off with an opening ceremony, held at the Ministry of Digital Technologies in the presence of senior government officials and industry leaders, highlighting the event’s significance. The week-long event brings
together university students from across the ME&CA region under one roof, to enhance knowledge, collaborate, drive global digital inclusion, and develop global Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) talent. This year’s edition of the competition will see the participation of around 150 students from leading universities representing 14 countries in the region, including Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Uzbekistan.
Seeds-for-the-Future-2024Finals Delivering the opening address, H.E. Sherzod Shermatov, Minister of Digital Technologies of the Republic of Uzbekistan, welcomed the young talents and dignitaries saying, “The launch of the Seeds for the Future today is one of the greatest steps towards the expansion of global
collaboration in ICT field. We are glad to have a partner like Huawei that understands the need of nurturing digital talents and creating an advanced platform for building a digital and green world.”
Seeds-for-the-Future-2024Finals Commenting on the program’s launch, Shunli Wang, Vice President of Huawei Middle East and Central Asia, said “We are thrilled to host the 2024 regional Seeds for the Future initiative and look forward to seeing regional ICT talents in action. Publicprivate collaboration is crucial for building the ICT ecosystem and nurturing ICT talent. We hold a shared responsibility to empower upcoming ICT talents and contribute to the development of the regions we operate in. Young talents from across the region represent the future of our industry. Embrace this opportunity, challenge yourselves, and let your creativity shine. May this program inspire groundbreaking ideas and lasting friendships.”
Since its launch in 2008, Seeds for the Future has impacted and benefitted over 18,000 students from 141 countries, underscoring the program’s importance in developing global ICT talent. With endorsements from more than 360 senior officials and heads of state, the program has collaborated with over 500 universities and colleges to cultivate a new generation of ICT leaders and innovators.
ServiceNow, Boomi to Elevate Customer Experiences with AI
ServiceNow and Boomi have announced a strategic commitment to jointly elevate customer experiences through AI-powered self-service with solutions including ServiceNow Technology Provider Service Management. In addition, as a key customer of ServiceNow, Boomi will use ServiceNow App Engine to deliver streamlined customer support and improved self-service. ServiceNow will also integrate Boomi’s next generation and industry leading Application Programming Interface (API) Management (APIM) capabilities with Automation Engine for complete visibility across a user’s API landscape and enhanced governance.
Boomi’s use of the Now Platform and ServiceNow’s AI-powered TPSM offering will transform its customer support and expand self-service. Through ServiceNow’s unified platform, Boomi will help eliminate silos and simplify internal processes to drive better, faster, and more efficient collaboration while helping reduce manual work through intelligent automation. Boomi will also use ServiceNow’s App Engine to build workflows into its Master Data Hub, its cloud-native data management platform, for a simplified, more intuitive user experience.
“As customer expectations evolve, businesses require simple, agile, and easy to use solutions to meet those needs,” said Paul Fipps, president, global industries and strategic growth at ServiceNow. “We’re thrilled to be working with Boomi to help them revolutionize their customer experience with the Now Platform and to collaborate on innovations that will advance business automation. By combining Boomi’s industry leading API Management with ServiceNow’s suite of intelligent automation solutions, we’re also bringing an even more robust toolset to creators and app developers.”
“Simplifying and streamlining complex business processes is at the core of what Boomi aims to achieve for our customers,” said Steve Lucas, CEO at Boomi. “By integrating our intelligent Integration and Data Hub platform with ServiceNow’s powerful automation solutions, we’re able to deliver self-service workflows, eliminate silos, enhance collaboration, and drive
Paul
Fipps
President,
Global Industries and Strategic Growth, ServiceNow
operational efficiency. This collaboration not only empowers Boomi and ServiceNow customers to harness the full potential of AI and automation but also sets the stage for a new era of seamless, personalized business transformation, all built on reliable and trusted data.”
ServiceNow will also bring Boomi’s advanced, lightweight APIM solution to its customers, to help deepen ServiceNow’s suite of intelligent automation solutions. Purpose built to streamline experiences for application creators, Boomi’s modern APIM platform provides a centralized view across a user’s API landscape, empowering creators with complete visibility to quickly discover, provision, and secure their APIs no matter where they reside. The new offerings are expected to be available later this year.
Sobha Realty Announces AED 210 Million Mall Project
Sobha Realty, has commenced the construction of first of its kind Mall for its flagship community Sobha Hartland in the heart of Dubai. With an estimated cost of AED 210 million, the project blends the vibrancy of retail space with the serenity of an urban park, while ensuring exceptional experiences for residents and visitors. The mall is scheduled to be completed in second half of 2026.
The new mall is being meticulously designed to set new standards for a luxury mall, which perfectly combines nature, culture, gastronomy and recreation. The mall’s exquisite features will provide an inspiring and memorable experience, promoting a sense of community and elevating the quality of life for residents of Sobha Hartland.
Ravi Menon, Co-Chairman of Sobha Group, said: “We are
delighted to unveil our new mall, which is a testament to our longstanding commitment towards elevating living experiences for our residents. The project underscores our vision to create integrated and community-focused spaces that seamlessly combine convenience while offering multi-tier retail stores, gourmet dining and diverse entertainment options. Beyond a retail space, the mall is designed to be a pivotal hub for community engagement that offers an ideal blend of nature, culture and recreation that will elevate the living quotient of community members and visitors.”
With a built-up area of approximately 339,000 square feet and a gross leasable area of around 115,000 square feet, the project will house a variety of amenities, including a supermarket,
gym, play courts, a soft play/ entertainment zone and diverse restaurants offering a wide range of food choices. It will feature 35 retail shops and F&B outlets, along with over 10 unique dining options, establishing a new gastronomic destination for the community.
In line with its commitment to sustainability, Sobha Realty has designed the mall featuring greenery, water features, natural lighting, energy-efficient lighting, solar panels, green building materials and a skylight roof for natural light. Furthermore, innovative technologies such as interactive displays, smart lighting systems and digital wayfinding will be integrated to enhance visitor experiences.
Additionally, the mall will feature a variety of unique architectural elements, such as a vibrant bowl with a cascading void stretching from the basement to the roof, creating a dramatic retail experience and a media screen strategically placed on the facade to enhance visibility. The biophilic design includes green walls, water features, floating pods and natural lighting to foster a serene atmosphere. The skylight roof will allow natural light to illuminate the interior and support plant growth.
The project marks Sobha Realty’s strategic foray into the UAE’s retail sector, emphasizing its commitment to delivering exceptional living experiences.
CommScope Powers Paris’ Le Royal Monceau with RUCKUS Wi-Fi
Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris, has successfully completed the upgrade of its Wi-Fi network in time for guests visiting the French capital this summer, with the help of RUCKUS Networks by CommScope.
The exclusive hotel has deployed more than 330 RUCKUS access points (APs) within its 149 guest rooms & suites and back of house, three high density public area APs in its Katara Cinema, six outdoor APs and two RUCKUS SmartZone Wi-Fi Controllers. The deployment of RUCKUS access points will elevate the guest experience through enhanced connectivity speeds, low latency, improved security and increased reliability and capacity. Guests will benefit from robust, reliable Wi-Fi that supports high-density environments, perfect for streaming or video calling friends and family back home, as well as other bandwidth-intensive applications.
In addition, the RUCKUS SmartZone controller will simplify network management, providing the hotel’s IT team with advanced solutions to optimize performance and swiftly address any issues. This upgrade underscores Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris’s commitment to offering a world-class stay, combining luxury with cutting-edge technology to meet the evolving needs of its guests.
“I am thrilled to announce our recent upgrade to RUCKUS Wi-Fi technology, supported by a dedicated 4Gb fiber connection exclusively for our guests,” commented Hedi Elkilani, IT Director of Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris. “This significant enhancement underscores our commitment to providing an unparalleled digital experience for our esteemed guests. With RUCKUS’s advanced Wi-Fi solutions, we are now able to deliver seamless, high-speed internet connectivity throughout our property, ensuring that every guest enjoys the same level of performance and reliability they expect at home. This upgrade not only enhances our guests’ ability to stream, video conference, and stay connected but also supports our vision of offering a world-class, tech-savvy environment that meets the evolving needs of today’s travelers.”
Bart Giordano
SVP & President, Networking, Intelligent Cellular and Security Solutions, CommScope
“When traveling far and wide, guests expect a premium experience, including a fast, easy and uninterrupted Wi-Fi connection,” stated Bart Giordano, SVP & President, Networking, Intelligent Cellular and Security Solutions, CommScope. “Our deployment with Le Royal Monceau is a great example of how RUCKUS Networks’ Wi-Fi technology and expertise in network infrastructure offers real value to premium hospitality venues and guests, delivering the caliber of stay that today’s hotel guests expect.”
The deployment of RUCKUS Wi-Fi solution throughout Le Royal Monceau concluded in July 2024, facilitating uninterrupted access to these connectivity benefits to guests checking in during the heightened summer travel months.
King’s College Hospital Boosts EHR Performance with Oracle
King’s College Hospital London, in Dubai, has become one of the first UAE-based health systems to migrate its Oracle Health Electronic Health Record (EHR) to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. With Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, King’s College Hospital Dubai is improving the security, performance, and usability of the EHR resulting in a better experience for its patients and providers.
King’s College Hospital Dubai is now providing more than 1,000 concurrent users across its facilities with access to more efficient workflows and improved system performance. Moving to the cloud has also provided the hospital network with the scalable foundation it needs to simplify integrations and meet its goal of innovating in critical areas such as
population health.
Following its rapid migration to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, King’s College Hospital Dubai is seeing positive results across the hospital including cutting the time it takes to access patient information by 50%, a 20% reduction in reviewing each patient’s medical chart, and a 25% overall reduction in time spent in the EHR due to faster screen loads and transaction response times. The overall increased speed and responsiveness of the system is helping to streamline processes so clinicians can complete tasks more quickly and free up more time to spend with patients. The performance gains also enable more comprehensive and real-time updates to the patient record, which strengthens communication and care coordination across all
caregivers to enhance patient care.
“With Oracle Health, we’ve seen substantial improvements in our clinical processes, including an increase in the system’s speed and responsiveness and a noticeable deduction in the time spent reviewing patient charts across various specialties,” said Kimberly Pierce, chief executive officer, KCH Dubai. “Oracle’s cloud offering has the technological infrastructure we need to fully embrace future advancements in areas such as generative AI that will benefit our patients and how we deliver care while better supporting our practitioners.”
With Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, King’s College Hospital Dubai can also now rely on Oracle’s real-time threat detection and monitoring, autonomous systems, and team of experts to help protect its networks against the constantly changing cybercrime landscape. In addition, OCI will support scalability of healthcare technology as KCH Dubai expands with new facilities and specialties, ultimately growing its overall operation and capacity to care for its community.
“The combined power of OCI and our EHR is enabling KCH Dubai physicians to be more productive, waste less time in medical records, and refocus more time on patient care,” said Seema Verma, executive vice president and general manager, Oracle Health and Life Sciences.
ADNOC Distribution Records
Double-digit Growth in Q2 2024
ADNOC Distribution, announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2024. The Company reports a 15.0% YoY increase to $267 million in Q2 2024 Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA), and a 12.9% YoY rise in net profit to $170 million.
Excluding the impact of the UAE corporate tax, net profit would have increased by 24.5% YoY to $187 million. Strong financial performance in Q2 2024 was driven by higher fuel volumes, increased contributions from international operations, and growth in the nonfuel retail business.
The Company’s non-fuel retail gross profit increased by 13.5% YoY in Q2 2024 to $56 million, driven by contributions from the expanding car wash business, supported by new initiatives such as tunnels and upgraded automatic car washes, as well as enhanced convenience store offerings and other car services. Growth was further supported by higher inventory gains and significant progress in cost optimization, with $10 million in like-for-like OPEX savings achieved in H1 2024.
Eng. Bader Saeed Al Lamki, CEO of ADNOC Distribution, said: “ADNOC Distribution continues to achieve strong financial results. The strong Q2 2024 results, marked by double-digit growth in EBITDA and net profit, highlights our effective
pursuit of the Company’s five-year strategy, focusing on domestic growth, international platforms, future-proofing the business, and investing in convenience and mobility. We are well-positioned to build on this momentum in the second half of the year, leveraging our increasingly diversified revenue streams to continue delivering value to shareholders.”
“To constantly meet changing consumer demands, we are committed to the pursuit of pioneering AI, technology, and innovation-enabled growth to continuously unlock value. To that end, we are embedding AI within our operational framework, developing wide-ranging digital solutions, yielding significant and measurable efficiencies.”
The Company generated a strong free cash flow of $330 million in Q2 2024, a 7x increase compared to
Q2 2023. In H1 2024, the Company’s free cash flow stood at $488 million, representing 46.7% YoY growth, while maintaining a robust balance sheet with a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 0.53x as of 30 June 2024. This strong financial standing positions the Company favorably for future growth and shareholder value creation.
The H1 2024 dividend of $350 million is expected to be distributed to shareholders in October 2024, subject to the discretion of the Board of Directors. This is in line with the Company’s approved five-year dividend policy that sets an annual dividend of $700 million (20.57 fils per share), or a minimum 75% of net profit, whichever is higher. This policy ensures longterm visibility of shareholder distributions, reinforcing ADNOC Distribution’s commitment to consistent shareholder value.
Designing Networks for the Digital Era
Dispelling 8 common myths about networking in the digital era
While it’s true that organisations who wish to thrive in the digital era must effectively modernise their networks by planning a transformation map that navigates network complexity, there are some myths around this journey that are misleading, and counterproductive to organisational progress. Here, Prashil Gareeb, Vice President of Managed Networks from NTT DATA MEA, dispels eight networking myths and provides insight into use case scenarios based off industry research gathered from hundreds of clients.
MYTH 1: THE RATIO OF INFRASTRUCTURE HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE WILL REMAIN THE SAME.
Myth dispelled: Software is gaining importance. Software-defined networking is on the rise. While hardware remains a critical platform on which software runs, key features in areas such as networks, security, operations, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) can now be enabled by software. Software-defined networking should be a top priority for organisations over the next two years as it can:
• Support transformation and increase agility by enabling frequent updates and rapid provisioning.
• Supporting almost instantaneous rollouts, at scale, to hundreds or thousands of users.
It’s important to remember that Enterprise Agreements must be put in place when separating hardware from software as new financial models such as subscription services may emerge. It’s crucial to understand and mitigate the challenges that come with these models.
MYTH 2: THE NETWORK IS A LESS IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF MODERN IT INFRASTRUCTURE.
The myth dispelled: The network remains critical. Networks are the foundations on which modern businesses run which is why it’s one of the reasons it’s seen as the most critical element of any IT
Prashil Gareeb Vice President of Managed Networks, NTT DATA MEA
infrastructure. Without a network there can be no collaboration or globalisation, and in turn, no success.
Network transformation is crucial in three key areas:
• Technology: to upgrade technology to keep pace with advancements and deliver better performance.
• Operational: to improve capabilities through automation, machine learning and applied AI.
• Financial: to procure and manage infrastructure in a way that cuts costs.
MYTH 3: ALL SECURITY IS MOVING TO THE CLOUD.
The myth dispelled: Security is needed on-premises,
in the cloud and in-between. Not all critical intellectual property (IP) and business data is hosted in the cloud, which is why it must still be protected. Hybrid and remote ways of working must allow for protection of off-site devices and locations. In an agile world, there are also complexities around potential attack services so security must be integrated across many layers: on-premises, remote, endpoint devices and cloud.
A zero-trust approach builds an end-to-end security methodology by reducing the attack surface and limiting access to only those who need it.
MYTH 4: AIOPS WILL TAKE OVER THE OPERATIONS OF YOUR INFRASTRUCTURE.
The myth dispelled: AIOps plays a role in supporting IT teams, not replacing them AI, although opening up vast infrastructure improvement potential, doesn’t have the ability to self-drive infrastructure and should not have complete control over the network and security environments. While there is a role for AI in network operations support, the need for human involvement by those who have an understanding of relevant processes and who can apply their specific skills and logic to any situation cannot be understated.
MYTH 5: NETWORKS AREN’T IMPORTANT TO HYBRID WORK MODELS.
The myth dispelled: Networks are the key to providing consistent, high-quality experiences across locations. As more and more organisations move to remote or hybrid work forces, network performance is pivotal to delivering the highest experience for employees and customers.
Network features that enhance ways of working:
• Wayfinding
• Location services
• Robust high-definition video
• Sophisticated collaboration tools
• Environmental monitoring
• Capacity management
To provide the same high quality employee and customer experience, no matter where the employee sits, requires seamless collaboration across locations and can only be achieved with a superbly architected network.
MYTH 6: IT INFRASTRUCTURE IS PART OF THE SUSTAINABILITY PROBLEM, NOT THE SOLUTION.
The myth dispelled: Infrastructure plays a huge role in supporting sustainability initiatives. Networks are increasingly being used in new and innovative ways to support sustainability, particularly in smart buildings. Some of these include, among others:
• LED lights and other low-voltage components powered by the network to reduce cabling and enable more efficient power usage.
• Cameras and sensors to monitor temperature and occupancy, adjusting conditions to save resources.
• Intelligent devices to detect water levels under roads, spot wildfires when they start and register tsunami threats.
MYTH 7: WI-FI IS DEAD, AND 5G WILL BE USED FOR ALL CONNECTIVITY USE CASES.
The myth dispelled: Wi-Fi and 5G each play an important role in connectivity.
Wi-Fi has been used for decades and 5G should not be seen as a Wi-Fi replacement. Instead, network designers should consider how Wi-Fi and 5G can work alongside each other to allow for seamless service within the network. To determine the best option, organisations should consider use cases along with connectivity requirements and as complexity increases it could even become a case of managing multiple networks to drive performance.
MYTH 8: TECHNOLOGY SKILLS ARE ABUNDANTLY AVAILABLE.
The myth dispelled: Technology skill gaps continue to grow and affect organisations.
It’s predicted that IT skills shortages will affect 90% of organisations by 2025, resulting in USD 6.5 trillion in lost business. It’s crucial that IT teams understand that that there are different levels of technology skills and that gaps in fundamentals are severely impacting the industry. The technology industry needs to focus on talent, from developing the skills of internal staff to assisting with training programs for students. This is especially pertinent with the rise of AI, machine learning, automation and programmable infrastructure.
Robust Patch Management: In the Fight Against Ransomware, it’s Time to get Back to Basics
In the Arab Gulf region, ransomware has become an epidemic. Since 2019, Saudi Arabia has been a top target for RansomOps gangs. And the GCC remained the most affected territory in the Middle East and Africa, as of 2023, showing a 65% increase over 2022 for instances of victims’ information being posted to data-leak sites. According to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, maintained by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, approximately 20% of the 1,117 exploited vulnerabilities are linked to known ransomware campaigns. Attackers have become more relentless and more sophisticated, just as regional security teams have become more overworked and overwhelmed by their new hybrid infrastructures.
In today's climate, senior executives approach discussions about cyber risk with the expectation of hearing unfavorable news. Indeed, matters have escalated of late with the emergence of humanmimicking AI. We used to take comfort in the fact that at least artificial intelligence could not be creative like people could. But that was before generative AI came along and left us speechless — with delight or dread, depending on our day job. For security professionals, it is the latter because every new technology that arrives will eventually get exploited by threat actors. AI and its generative subspecies can make it easier to find vulnerabilities, which implies there will be a surge in the volume of zero-days. And GenAI can pump out convincing phishing content at a scale unreachable by human criminals.
But in a break with tradition, I offer good news. In the daily struggle with ransomware threats, the answer lies in the daily fundamentals of IT admin. Patch management is the keystone of cyber resilience. As each vulnerability becomes known and fixes are released, that dreaded countdown begins again. Whether threat
By Saeed Abbasi Product Manager, Vulnerability Research, Qualys Threat Research Unit
actors have beaten vendors to the punch by publishing an exploit before the patch was released or not, organizations must be prepared to act strategically when fixes become available. It may be that a patch fixes an error that poses no risk to the enterprise, in which case patching would not have much impact on reducing cyber risk. Hence, organizations need to look at prioritizing patching the assets that cause the most existential risk to the company, maximizing their patch rate (a measure of how effectively vulnerabilities are addressed) and minimizing their mean time to remediation (MTTR) for such “crown jewel” assets.
WINDOWS MEAN DOORS
The Qualys Threat Research Unit (TRU) uses these metrics often in anonymized studies of organizations’ cyber-readiness. Our 2023 Qualys TruRisk Research Report found that weaponized vulnerabilities are patched within 30.6 days in 57.7% of cases, whereas attackers typically publish exploits for the same flaws inside just 19.5 days. That 11-day window is where our concerns should be concentrated. It should spur us to revisit patch management and — if we have not already — to integrate it into our cybersecurity strategy so we can start to close our open doors to attackers.
If we imagine a graph of MTTR plotted against patch rate for every vulnerability, then we can imagine four quadrants, defined by combinations of “high” or “low” for our two metrics. Our sweet spot is in the bottom righthand corner, where patch rate is high and MTTR is low. We could call this quadrant, the “Optimal Security Zone”. If a vulnerability is in this zone, we are unfazed by it. It is low-risk because it is patched and resolved quickly. In the top right, we find that patch rate is still high, so we call this the “Vigilant Alert Zone”, but incidents take a longer time to remediate (high MTTR). But while this is a higher source of concern, it is less worrying than if a vulnerability falls in the bottom left quadrant — the “Underestimated Risk Zone”. Here, we find overlooked vulnerabilities (low patch rates) but unexpectedly short remediation times. These flaws can quickly become risks if left unaddressed. Finally, we come to our red-flag quadrant, the “Critical Attention Zone” (top left), where vulnerabilities have low patch rates and take a long time to resolve.
Combining metrics like this can give us important crossover information that allows us to triage our patch management effectively. By exploring the critical areas first, we can examine overlooked vulnerabilities and discover either that they pose little threat and are less of a source of concern, or that they could lead to a ransomware incident, in which case they become a top priority on our to-do list. With RansomOps groups now leveraging advanced automation tools, the importance of optimal patch management cannot be overstated. Ensuring that systems are updated and secure is critical to prevent potential vulnerabilities.
ACTION STATIONS
Starting today, then, GCC organizations should look to
their vulnerability management strategy and determine an approach that is able to stand up to armies of threat actors, working as a unified industry, equipped with advanced AI, to disrupt, disable, and damage the region’s innovative spirit. We all need to make sure that our vulnerability gaps are closed and our defenses tightened against these malicious actors. Technical and business stakeholders must collaborate on crafting roadmaps that make sense to their operational uniqueness.
The hope remains that one day, cyber criminals, a persistent threat today, will be effectively countered by innovative security technologies. However, we must confront the fact that attackers are becoming more sophisticated, their campaigns are escalating in scope, and the resources available for cybersecurity defense are often constrained.
The solution does not lie in an unknowable panacea, but in the day-to-day fundamentals — robust patch management that uses the four-quadrant principle and aims for the highest possible patch rate and the shortest possible resolution time. The top practitioners in any field — sports, business, the arts — will always extol the virtues of the fundamentals. If it works for them, then why not for us? So, let’s get back to basics and send the ransomware actor packing.
We used to take comfort in the fact that at least artificial intelligence could not be creative like people could. But that was be-fore generative AI came along and left us speechless."
Your AI JourneyHave You Packed Everything You Need?
The GCC has been experimenting with, piloting, and adopting artificial intelligence technologies for some time. Saudi Arabia has the National Strategy for AI and Data, Qatar has an Artificial Intelligence Committee, and the United Arab Emirates was the first nation to establish a ministry dedicated to AI. All this government apparatus was in place before generative AI arrived, which, in many ways, redraws the roadmaps.
In a region where governments and businesses are focused on issues such as health, public safety, sustainability, and economic stability, AI has a powerful pitch to make. It can accelerate time to market and time to value; it can enhance efficiencies from the back office to the factory floor, and from the warehouse to the field. It can alleviate risk by making market volatility, cyber threats, and even ROI more predictable. It can speed up R&D. AI is set to be the new standard foundation of competitiveness for enterprises everywhere.
It is understandable to be inspired by AI’s seemingly endless possibilities. But it is in the implementation that value can become elusive if the right upfront investments are not made in resources and technology. The GCC’s focus on sustainability and societal enhancement also means that organisations must pay due attention to the environmental impact and energy strain associated with AI, especially the large-language models found in GenAI. However, hope lies in some research that suggests AI may be an important tool in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by up to 10% by 2030.
So, enterprises must design an AI journey that adds the right value for their unique business model in a way that is measurable and therefore able to justify past and future budgets. And they must invest in the infrastructure that will allow them to offset carbon emissions to meet regulatory requirements.
THE RIGHT FOOT FORWARD
The transformative benefits and value of successful
AI projects far outweigh the challenges. Most industries are still in the early stages of adoption, but implementation is gathering steam as new use cases are defined and we move beyond the conservative thinking that prevails within many organisations. In preparation for this shift, regional enterprises must start thinking about what is required to ensure solid foundations are in place for an AI-based future.
To ensure the success of the AI, journey, here are the key issues organisations must address:
By Omar Akar Regional VP, CEE & META, Pure Storage
ACCESS TO GPUS
Supply chains must be assessed and factored into any AI roadmap from the outset. Access to GPUs is critically important as without them, AI projects cannot succeed. As regional AI adoption soars, the already significant demand for GPUs will affect the supply chain, and some organisations planning AI implementations may need to look to service providers for access to the technology.
POWER CONSUMPTION AND SPACE IN DATA CENTRES
Successful AI projects need massive datasets, which creates challenges for already stretched data centres, particularly in relation to power consumption. Modern AI implementations can demand power densities of 40 to 50 kilowatts per rack — well beyond the capability of many data centres. AI is a game changer for the network and power requirements of today’s data centres. A much higher density of fibres is required, together with greater, higher-speed networking than traditional data centre providers can deliver. Power- and spaceefficient technologies will be crucial to the success of AI projects. Flash-based data storage can help mitigate this problem, as it is considerably more power- and spaceefficient than HDD technology and requires less cooling and maintenance than traditional hard drives. Every watt allocated to storage reduces the number of GPUs that can be powered in the AI cluster.
MODEL VARIANCE
Unlike other data-based projects that can be more selective in the storage and access of data, AI projects need extremely large data sets to train models and extract insights to fuel new innovation. This presents major challenges, especially when it comes to fully understanding AI models and predicting how the introduction of new data may change outcomes. AI professionals are still grappling with the issue of repeatability but a best practice to help understand data models and very large datasets is to introduce “checkpointing”. This ensures models can be easily returned to earlier states, thereby facilitating a better understanding of the implications of data and parameter changes. The ethical and provenance aspects of using data from the Internet in training models are also yet to be sufficiently addressed. The same goes for the possible impacts of removal of selected data from an LLM or RAG (retrieval augmented generation) vector dataset.
SKILLS GAPS
Any GCC organisation will face talent shortages on its AI journey. There is a worldwide shortage of data scientists and other AI professionals. As a result, AI-skilled people are difficult to secure, and command premium salaries. This is likely to remain a significant issue throughout the coming decade. So, organisations will need to not only invest heavily in talent through recruitment, but also upskill or reskill their existing workforce.
The GCC shows remarkable maturity in its AI journey, including its identification of use cases, its recognition of the need for infrastructure investment, and its prioritisation of the skilling and upskilling of its workforces. Progress has been made in part through identification of a fundamental truth — that the AI journey is best taken in allegiance with others. Whether for skills, infrastructure, or consultation, partnerships can be the difference between success and failure. Across the region, cloud service providers, managed service providers and others have an opportunity to step forward and join hands with AI innovators to make their journeys smoother. In collaboration, partners in AI can build the future for the region — insights-driven, sustainable, and globally competitive.
Enterprises must design an AI journey that adds the right value for their unique business model in a way that is measurable and therefore able to justify past and future budgets. And they must invest in the infrastructure that will allow them to offset carbon emissions to meet regulatory requirements."
Modern Applications Enable Enterprises to Transition from Legacy to Digital
Faced with a technology debt covering monolithic legacy applications and architectures, Walid Gomaa CEO at Omnix International, describes how regional enterprises can accelerate their digital transformation initiatives through best practices.
Walid
CEO, Omnix International
Regional enterprises in their quest to generate digital revenue, expand their markets, and address new customer persona, have no choice but to leverage modern applications and deliver through digital platforms, while continuously innovating for performance. IDC estimates that there could be as many as 750 million cloud native applications built by 2025. Consequently, application modernization is increasingly
becoming a top concern for CIOs due to its growing complexity and urgency.
Modern software applications have now become complex and require enterprises to continuously assess their systems and network infrastructure as well to ensure there are no availability gaps to deliver high engagement digital experiences through the cloud.
Although most IT decision-makers recognize the importance of prioritizing application modernization in their forward-thinking IT strategies, only a quarter of them have realized this crucial objective. Typically, this entails modernizing applications, updating underlying data infrastructure, and upgrading system hardware.
Conversely, attempting to achieve modern-day digital business objectives using legacy applications and infrastructure poses several challenges and pain points for IT administrators:
• Legacy applications have extended release and upgrade cycles.
• They are slow and less adaptable to customer requirements.
• Legacy systems experience more frequent and costly downtimes.
• Legacy applications pose higher security risks.
• They contribute significantly to an enterprise's technical debt.
• Legacy applications often serve as critical business applications with monolithic architectures and software development practices. So, what steps should CIOs take to accelerate their application modernization initiatives?
Gomaa
ASSESSMENT AND PRIORITIZATION
Commence by conducting a thorough evaluation of current applications to identify those most crucial for modernization. Prioritize based on criteria such as business impact, technical indebtedness, and alignment with strategic objectives.
DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY
Craft a comprehensive strategy that clearly outlines the objectives, timelines, and resources required for application modernization. Ensure that this strategy closely aligns with the organization's overarching IT and business goals.
EMBRACE AGILE AND DEVOPS PRACTICES
Embrace agile development methodologies and DevOps practices to streamline the modernization process, enhance collaboration between development and operations teams, and expedite delivery cycles.
ADOPT MICROSERVICES ARCHITECTURE
By embracing microservices, monolithic and inefficient legacy systems can undergo transformation into efficient and adaptable solutions. Microservices encapsulate legacy software, facilitating modernization with the aim of enhancing business processes and enriching customer experiences. These services dismantle sprawling, monolithic applications into smaller, more manageable components with clearly defined boundaries. This approach aids in enhancing the performance and maintainability of legacy applications.
LEVERAGE CLOUD AND CONTAINERIZATION
Harness cloud services and containerization technologies to modernize applications, enhance scalability, and boost flexibility. This facilitates simpler deployment and management of applications within contemporary cloud environments.
APPLICATION REFACTORING
Application refactoring aims to make the codebase easier to understand, modify, and extend, ultimately leading to better performance, reliability, and agility of
the software application. This can involve tasks such as optimizing algorithms, simplifying complex code, removing redundant code, improving error handling, and updating outdated libraries or frameworks.
Organizations contemplating application modernization must evaluate their existing technology stack and pinpoint outdated or ineffective components requiring an upgrade. Their emphasis should be on providing intuitive, responsive, and feature-rich experiences across various devices and platforms. Security and compliance considerations should take precedence throughout the modernization journey. Implementing rigorous security measures safeguards sensitive data and ensures adherence to industry regulations and standards.
Additionally, organizations should strategize for the future by embracing technologies and architectures conducive to ongoing innovation and adaptability. Modernized applications should be engineered to seamlessly integrate emerging technologies, respond to market trends, and capitalize on business opportunities.
Although most IT decision-makers recognize the importance of prioritizing application modernization in their forward-thinking IT strategies, only a quarter of them have realized this crucial objective."
NVIDIA Releases Black Myth: Wukong GeForce RTX 40 Series Bundle
NVIDIA has announced its new Black Myth: Wukong GeForce RTX 40 Series bundle this week. Hundreds of games and applications feature RTX technologies, and new games integrating NVIDIA DLSS, NVIDIA Reflex and advanced ray-traced effects are released or announced each month.
In partnership with Black Myth: Wukong developer Game Science, buyers of eligible products from select retailers and etailers (including GeForce RTX 4090, 4080 SUPER, 4080, 4070 Ti SUPER, 4070 Ti, 4070 SUPER and 4070 graphics cards and desktop PCs, and laptops with a GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, or RTX 4070 Laptop GPU) will receive a Steam copy of the game to play when released on August 20th.
Players will find eligible GPUs, desktops and laptops at numerous system builders and retailers worldwide. Visit the Black Myth: Wukong bundle homepage to see the complete list of participating partners.
Once gamers have bought a qualifying product,
they will receive email instructions on how to redeem the bundle. They can add Black Myth: Wukong to their Steam account and prepare to embark on a thrilling journey through Chinese mythology as the Destined One, exploring a vast and enchanting world filled with challenges and wonders.
PC players with GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs or laptops will experience the ultimate Black Myth: Wukong with DLSS and full ray tracing, thanks to the addition of incredible AI-powered RTX technologies and the power of GeForce RTX.
After launching with NVIDIA DLSS 2, Wuthering Waves will introduce support for DLSS 3 and Reflex. This will enable GeForce RTX 40 Series gamers to further accelerate frame rates and allow all GeForce gamers to reduce system latency, making gameplay more responsive. This way, the player’s rebuilt civilization will stand firm on the foundation of powerful NVIDIA technology.
More DLSS integrations will arrive soon for a host of games.
AMD: AFMF 2 Now Available in Technical Preview
MD launches a new AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition technical preview, which introduces AMD Fluid Motion Frames 2 “AFMF2” with frame generation technology designed to increase frame rates and gameplay smoothness across thousands of games. AFMF 2 is supported on AMD Radeon RX 6000 and 7000 series graphics cards and select AMD Ryzen Processors with Radeon Graphics and adds new optimizations and tunable settings for a better frame generation experience, including: AI-optimized Enhancements – AMD Fluid Motion Frames 2 provides significant improvements to frame generation by using AI-optimization when developing
the updated algorithm, resulting in improved frame generation smoothness. In addition, to enable more control over how AFMF works with your games, AFMF 2 introduces two new modes where the optimal settings are automatically enabled but advanced users can adjust them to their preferences.
Performance Improvements
– AFMF 2 features a new “Performance” mode that reduces the overhead of AFMF 2 to help make high frame rate gaming experiences more achievable on a wider range of devices. This is especially beneficial when using AFMF 2 with integrated graphics cards and is now the default “Auto” setting on supported AMD Ryzen Processors with Radeon Graphics.
Lower Latency Frame Generation – experience significant improvements in reducing latency added by frame generation with the latest version of AFMF. These improvements apply across the board when using AMD Fluid Motion Frames 2, no matter the settings mode, resolution, or hardware used.
Other Updates and Improvements – AMD Fluid Motion Frames 2 now supports borderless full screen mode when using AMD Radeon™ RX 7000 and Radeon 700M series graphic cards. Also, AFMF 2 now supports games that use Vulkan and OpenGL, further increasing the already vast number of games that can be used with AFMF. Additionally, we’ve enabled interoperability with AMD Radeon Chill.
Samsung Unveils Exclusive Galaxy Z Flip6 Olympic Edition
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a Worldwide Olympic and Paralympic Partner, revealed the Olympic Edition of its newly announced Galaxy Z Flip6, exclusively designed and customized for all athletes competing at the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024. The Galaxy Z Flip6 Olympic Edition continues Samsung’s over three-decade-long legacy of providing its cutting-edge technology and mobile innovations in support of the Games and represents a series of firsts.
The new Olympic Edition for Paris 2024 is the firstever Olympic Edition to feature Galaxy AI. Designed to elevate the athletes’ Games-time experience from the moment they arrive in Paris, it is the first to come preloaded with a full suite of exclusive services and useful apps. In addition, it marks the first time Samsung’s newest product is being made available to athletes before its official market launch. The Galaxy Z Flip6 will also take center stage at the Olympic Games as the first Olympic Edition to play an integral role on the podium. It boasts the new Galaxy Z Flip6’s compact and versatile design, in a striking yellow colorway adorned with the Olympic rings and Paralympic agitos in gold. To dress up the phone, Samsung partnered with the Parisian Men’s Luxury Maison, Berluti, who designed the Team France’s official outfits for the Paris 2024 Opening
Ceremony, to create an exclusive Flipsuit Case that will accompany each device. Made from Venezia leather, each Flipsuit Case has a unique patina featuring a vibrant color mix inspired by the Olympic rings, celebrating the Olympic spirit and values of excellence and unity.
“Samsung has pushed the boundaries of mobile technology in support of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and its athletes for nearly three decades,” said Stephanie Choi, EVP & Head of Marketing of Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics. “We are honored to deliver our newest Galaxy innovation to the inspiring athletes of Paris 2024 – and give them the opportunity to experience the powerful and intelligent Galaxy Z Flip6 firsthand, even before its official market launch. We are excited to see how our technology opens up athletes’ Games-time experience like never before — from creating meaningful connections, to sharing and capturing lifelong memories while in Paris and beyond.”
Enhancing the Athletes’ Experience at Paris 2024 with Devices Powered by Galaxy AI
Samsung’s decision to provide its latest addition to the Galaxy portfolio to Paris 2024 athletes before its official market launch stems from the crucial role Galaxy AI technology plays in accelerating a new era of communication, productivity, and creativity on a smartphone.
