Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 23 | Page 35

MARKETING | EVENTS | PUBLISHING ANALYTICS | PR | DESIGN | ARABISATION PUBLICATION Providing Unparalleled Technology Intelligence ISSUE 23 // www.intelligentcio.com Intelligent Education Partner Intelligent Supporting Partner Intelligent Cabling Partner Intelligent ERP Partner Intelligent Data Centre Partner Intelligent Security Partner Intelligent Energy Partner PIONEERING JORDAN PROJECT Tourist destination becomes first in the country to roll out Fibre-to-the-home HIGHER EXPECTATIONS How Higher Education is adapting to the technological demands of students GITEX 2017 SPECIAL Find out who is doing what at this year’s Middle East technological showcase PROTECTING THE PROTECTORS Fortinet Security protects Abu Dhabi Monitoring and Control Centre which keeps an eye on public safety. The multi-layered security system defends its Falcons Eyes network from email threats, malware and zero hours attacks says Khalfan Matar Alhassani. COUNTRY FOCUS | INDUSTRY WATCH | LATEST INTELLIGENCE EDITOR’S NOTE I t’s finally time for the professional pioneers to tantalise us with the latest technological transformations at this year’s GITEX. Business and IT leaders will flock to this year’s exhibition to get a glimpse into the future as exhibitors will demonstrate how the digital revolution will be driven forward. For 37 years visionaries intent on early adoption have descended on Dubai to discover the innovations set to change the world. The exhibition is expected to attract nearly 150,000 visitors, nearly 5,000 exhibitors from 97 countries over more than 92,000 square metres. Not surprisingly, we have an extensive preview for what you can expect at this year’s event. Among those companies telling us their exhibition plans are Aruba, Avaya, CommScope, Epicor, F5, Fidelis, Infobox, ManageEngine, Nexans, Pure Storage, Ring, SAP, Softnet, Sophos, Veeams and VMware. Of course, we will be there delivering coverage of the event on our website so keep yourself up-to-date by visiting www.intelligentcio.com/me. This edition we look at how technology is transforming the oil and gas industries in the Middle East as energy companies go digital. We discover the importance of ‘Availability’ and how threats are countered in the industry. www.intelligentcio.com In the energy industry investments in cloud and IoT technologies are increasing rapidly but data protection standards are coming under scrutiny. This edition’s ‘Country Focus’ features Bahrain where we take a look at its national carrier Gulf Air. The airline has revamped its online customer- experience utilising Microsoft Azure Cloud. This has enabled Gulf Air to deliver world-class web and cross-device services while future-proofing its online platform. In practical terms this has meant giving customers access to information and services around the clock, from anywhere in the world, with incredibly-fast response times. of the future will be more responsive to customer needs and avoid the problem of network capacity and other infrastructure sitting idle and not generating revenue. In ‘Final Word’ we find out why BYOD doesn’t have to be the biggest headache for CIOs. Manish Bhardwaj of Aruba tells us how it’s possible to protect the network even with more and more business users staying connected to the corporate network from anywhere, any time. As always we look forward to hearing from our readers so please feel free to email me at [email protected]. In ‘Trending’ Jose Vasco of Aruba tells us about six new technology trends that have emerged in the field of higher education this year. We find out how the Internet of Things is swiftly expanding beyond student devices with those populating educational institutions expecting speedy performance from their devices and apps, enabling them to work, teach and learn seamlessly indoors and out. We hear how it is only a matter of time before universities start using data collected from students’ mobile devices as they move around the campus. Enjoy the read and we hope to see you at GITEX! In ‘Talking Business’ Ravi Mali of Ciena informs us how the network Mark Bowen Editor INTELLIGENTCIO 35