Dubai - November 15, 2017 – With the patronage of the State of Kuwait’s Communication and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA) and leadership participation and sponsorship from telecom operators such as Viva Kuwait and Zain Group, the "Convergence to Kuwait" conference, will be held on December 4, 2017 in Kuwait City. Convergence to Kuwait will bring together other leading GCC operators and technology providers, including Huawei and Cisco as sponsors, as well to lead discussions on digital developmental matters and future digital transformation goals both in Kuwait and the GCC region. Group CEO of STC, Dr. Khaled Biyari, as chairman of SAMENA Council, will deliver his keynote speech on operators' initiatives and their relevance to the advancement of digital development in the region and to the empowerment of end-users.
The agenda of Convergence to Kuwait, defined in view of the private sector's needs and with regulatory perspectives, is aligned with and will be in continuation of SAMENA Council's conferences and decision-makers' events, held earlier this year in collaboration with regulators and operators in Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. The underlying objective of Convergence to Kuwait conference is to help collectively realize that it is now crucial to take a strong lead on important industry and national matters and to facilitate collaboration to allow the industry as well as national economies to continually foster and benefit from innovation across all fronts and facets of development.
Scott Gegenheimer, Zain Group CEO-Operations and board member of SAMENA Council said, “Collaboration and information exchange are important areas in supporting the development of our industry, and events such as Convergence to Kuwait are necessary for fostering this dialogue and interaction. The pace of digitization is ramping up whilst regulatory modernization is taking on increasing importance, and the ability to meet and exchange ideas on the threats and opportunities facing our industry is key to us all becoming better service providers and offering our customers an even higher quality of service.”
Feeling a strong need for sharing insights on regional digital communication matters and re-defining the role of telecom operators, Eng. Salman Al Badran, CEO of VIVA Kuwait, stated, “Our participation in Convergence to Kuwait 2017 is part of our key role in the industry's progress. At VIVA, we have pledged to enrich the lives of our customers through our innovative strategy and vision not only as a technology leader, but also as a truly customer-centric company."
Given the active participation of SAMENA Council's member operators, Mr. Bocar BA, CEO and member of the Board of Directors, remarked, "We are excited to be hosted in Kuwait by our member operators to continue our ongoing efforts to address the region's digital development policy and business issues. As SAMENA Council believes in fostering and sustaining productive dialogue, Convergence is an important part of what we have strived toward throughout 2017. Under SAMENA Council's Board leadership and participation and sponsorship of Convergence to Kuwait by its technology provider members, Cisco and Huawei, we look forward to making continued progress to address the industry's needs and exercise our sector-development partner's role for regulators."
Convergence to Kuwait's agenda focuses on Regulatory Transformation for Fulfilling the Digital Agenda, Stakeholder Preparation for the 5G World and Harmonizing Efforts in Terrestrial, Satellite, Regulatory Co-operation, and Public Policy Considerations for internet companies.
To encourage participation in building onto this agenda, SAMENA Council openly invites private-sector players to participate in Convergence, while also taking advantage of corporate visibility and branding opportunities.
About SAMENA Telecommunications Council
SAMENA Telecommunications Council is South Asia - Middle East - North Africa (SAMENA) region’s premier industry association of telecom operators and service providers. SAMENA Council voices network operators’ issues and needs to regulators, policymakers, and international institutions. The largest regional telecom groups, including Saudi Telecom, Etisalat, Batelco, Ooredoo, Viva Kuwait, Orange Jordan, Turk Telekom, Zain, Omantel, among other leading operators and technology companies, are a part of the Council’s membership. SAMENA Council is a sector development partner to the private and the public sectors, and believes in bringing all stakeholders closer together to help create a sustainable business environment for the industry, and to accelerate digital development in regional economies.
As an international non-profit organization, SAMENA Council is contributing to the understanding of cross-stakeholder priorities within the public and the private sectors. The Council has created a unique regional position as the regulatory reach and operator advocacy organization, promoting institution-level engagements with leading private and public-sector organizations.
SAMENA Council was founded in 2006. In February 2016, Saudi Telecom Company, represented by Dr. Khaled Biyari, became the chairman of the Board of Directors of SAMENA Council.
Source: http://samenacouncil.org/emails/c2k2017/speakers.html