Zain showcases digital strategy, affirms partnership with ‘New Kuwait 2035’ Company participated in ‘IoT: Driving Kuwait’s Digital Future’ conference
KUWAIT: Zain, the leading digital service provider in Kuwait, announced its participation in the ‘IoT: Driving Kuwait’s Digital Future’ conference organized by Oliver Wyman in collaboration with Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East. The event, held at Jumeirah Hotel, witnessed the participation of many public and private sector executives and officials.
The event witnessed the presence of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Communication and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA) Salim Al-Othaina, Director General of the Kuwait Ports Authority Sheikh Yousef Al-Sabah, Director of the Central Agency for Information Technology (CAIT) Qusai Al-Shatti, Zain Kuwait’s Chief Technical Officer Nawaf Al-Gharabally, Zain Kuwait’s Chief Enterprise Business Officer Hamad Al-Marzouq, as well as a number of experts, professionals, and leaders from the ICT sector.
Zain’s participation in the conference came to highlight the company’s leadership in further pushing the digital transformation wheel in Kuwait through empowering a smart life and an efficient business sector. Being one of the biggest integrated digital service providers in the region, Zain considers itself an active partner in creating the future of smart life in Kuwait.
During his opening presentation at the conference, Zain Kuwait’s Chief Technical Officer Nawaf Al-Gharabally said: “the effects of digital transformation has reached beyond the telecommunications sector, extending to healthcare, finance, education, and other sectors.”
Gharabally continued: “By using the most advanced Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, companies across various sectors connect their devices together, giving them unprecedented advantages that boost speed and operational efficiency. Today, we can see many companies failing for not adopting the changes that come with digital transformation.”
Gharabally added: “digital transformation is not only impacting businesses, but even cities and entire nations, and this is currently the focus of our digital transformation strategy at Zain. We consider ourselves an active partner in achieving the goals of the Kuwait National Development Plan that stems from His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s conceptualized vision of a new Kuwait by 2035, where we participate alongside the public sector in executing the seven pillars of the New Kuwait vision to enrich economic development and digital diversity by offering our latest innovative solutions to empower a smart life, a safe community, and a highly efficient business sector”.
During his participation at the panel discussion during the conference, Zain Kuwait’s Chief Enterprise Business Officer Hamad Al-Marzouq said: “Internet of Things (IoT) technologies play a great role in the digital revolution witnessed by businesses around the world, as they offer a wide range of applications that rely on IoTspecific solutions to develop new tools that reinforce services offered by businesses and enterprises from both the public and private sectors.”
Marzouq added: “with the fast-paced advancements in technology, enterprise productivity and service efficiency are changing, and that’s why we at Zain are committed to investing in in IoT areas to offer its technologies and innovative solutions to the government sector and business community in Kuwait. Zain’s digital transformation journey began two years ago with the our partnership with the Ministry of Electricity and Water through the Smart Meters project. In addition, early this year, we launched the all-new Zain LIFE brand, which consists of a portfolio of flexible digital services that include an array of innovative services for consumers and businesses, further enriching Zain’s leadership in offering the latest digital transformation applications.”
According to Oliver Wyman, Internet-connected devices are expected to increase worldwide to between 50 to 100 billion devices by 2020, with a notable increase of 15 billion devices from 2014. These connected devices, including self-driving cars, drones, and heartbeat regulating devices, will be a part of the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) sector that is worth billions of dollars. These devices will also contribute to offering large quantities of data that will help, through analyzing and processing, make enormous developments to systems and services because of the deep valuable information it provides.
The IoT sector in the GCC is witnessing fast-paced growth in as many telecom operators replace their traditional infrastructure with the latest fourth generation (4G) services through fiber optics. Telecom operators in the region have also reached advanced stages of 5G technology testing, which will play a vital role in empowering IoT technologies.
Zain considers itself an active partner in creating the future of smart life in Kuwait, as well as empowering the community though the use of advanced technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Smart Cities, and more. This motivated Zain to take part in this conference to enrich the role played by private sector companies in achieving the developmental goals of the country.
Zain’s strategy is centered around digital transformation leadership and empowering the community to enjoy a smarter portable lifestyle, as well as using advanced technology and Zain’s long experience to enable an easier and more flexible life.