Etisalat builds a modern network
“At etisalat, we are already actively working with industry players for example the financial sector who stand to benefit the most from the technology. Our partnership for ‘UAE Trade Connect’ has UAE banks on the blockchain platform, helping them focus on addressing risks of double financing and invoice fraud before turning to other areas of trade finance,” he said.
‘Shahada’ is another revolutionary effort on blockchain for the education sector that will securely issue credentials, avoiding forgery of paper-based certificates and creating an education passport, he said.
Etisalat is also extending its efforts on blockchain to its loyalty programmes, enhancing the experience for consumers to convert their loyalty or reward currencies. This technology is also coming in play to customise communication and messaging for subscribers centralising customer information and verifying it.
In reply to a question, he said the application of cutting-edge robotics, AI and biometric technologies has also played a key role in improving business operations. “There was an emphasis on transforming the brick and mortar experience to digital retail providing a digital experience to the customer. Digitisation in retail and self-service touchpoints expanded the rollout of ‘Smart Stores’ by upgrading the current stores,” he said. “There
was an increased focus on driving the subscriber online with a revamp of our portal and application. Transactions today are also seamless with virtual technologies being implemented for consumer transactions. Etisalat’s new digital stores are an illustration of our efforts,” he said.
Support to entrepreneurs
Mahmood said innovation is now embedded in “our operations, becoming an integral element of everything we do within and outside the company”.
“Etisalat’s early adoption of technologies, striking the right partnerships with technology leaders and entrepreneurs in close partnership with government and private sector were key factors to push us to innovate and lead in this space,” he said.
Mahmood said there is a serious effort internally in building an AI capability, etisalat has partnered with Microsoft, Accenture and EBTIC to build a team to lead the AI stream for the company and the industry.
“The team currently consists of young Emiratis working on internal use cases focused on increasing operational efficiencies mainly with planning infrastructure and optimising the network. The longterm plan is to focus on building the capabilities of the next generation of Emirati youth and AI use cases for internal use and will continue to increase efficiency, boosting productivity, and enhancing customer experience,” he said. As a telco, etisalat has taken the lead in creating a unique innovation hub, a first of a kind in the region, giving all visitors an opportunity to experience solutions applied to real-world scenarios and get a comprehensive view of technologies that deliver concrete business outcomes, he said.
Training next generation
Mahmmod said etisalat’s focus is always to keep people at the heart of its strategy.
“We are currently focused on making investments in our teams to bring in special skills to facilitate digital transformation in the organisation. The focus is on reeducating our existing workforce and looking for specialised skillsets like data scientists, data architects, and subject matter experts across each vertical,” he said.
Etisalat has made great strides in training a large segment of talented Emiratis on various advanced practical and scientific skills as well as hands-on experience on emerging technologies. It was great to see inspired and curious graduates develop their skills on artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IOT) big data and cyber security and adapt them to real life situations.