Summit Agenda

09:00 - 09:05

MC OPENS

09:05 - 09:10

Opening Address On ‘Datacentre Cloud Infrastructure & The Roadmap To A Vibrant Digital Economy In The Mena Region’ By Guest Of Honour

09:10 - 09:20

Welcome Address by Sponsors

09:20 - 09:35

FEATURED FIRESIDE CHAT: Exploring the Growth of the MENA Data Centre & Server Market

• Observing first-hand the surge of data center infrastructure demand brought on during the pandemic
• Overview of strategic government initiatives: increased digitization, cloud adoption, hybrid infrastructure services, 5G penetration
• Strong drivers in MENA: improvements in network connectivity, cloud adoption growth, IoT services uptick, big players present in country like Oracle, Alibaba Cloud, Microsoft Azure, IBM
• Responding to the demand for colocation spaces: wholesale & retail
• Addressing some of the regional challenges:
  • High PUE in MENA region
  • Traditional data centers & excessive operational costs
  • Human capital & skilled talent – how to fill in the missing gaps?

09:35 - 09:50

FEATURED FIRESIDE CHAT: Technology Engineering & Datacentre Workforce of the Future

• How are new operating models in the MENA region impacting datacentre design & growth?
  • Exploring the shifting balance between people, process & technology and the relationship between operations & design
  • Understanding repercussions from the rebound after the pandemic, technological advancements and increased size & scope of MENA datacentres – can influence run both ways?
• Understanding the people challenge: exploring the relentless demand for critical infrastructure & addressing the skilled talent shortages in the right context to bridge the skills gap
• Critical infrastructure and the ‘essential’ workforce – do we need to re-write the plan for business continuity in the MENA region? What have recent changes in deferred maintenance, reduced staffing, remote working & new patterns of demand brought about?

09:50 - 10:00

Datacentre Cybersecurity & Resiliency

• Current cybersecurity challenges being faced by datacentre owners & operators – exploring what’s going on in datacentre mergers & acquisitions market that’s leaving operators with inconsistent, multi-vendor installed base
• Helping owners & operators to achieve a resilient cyber security posture with best-practices
• How can large & complex datacentres in the MENA region with distributed control systems & other critical infrastructure benefit from these strategies?

10:00 - 10:10

Modern Mainframes – Exploring Technological Advancements & Why Mainframe Still Matters

• Latest mainframe offerings as a platform for new growth & long-term applications
• Why are mainframes the hardest & most efficient worker in your large-scale enterprise? High-speed processing with security, reliability & resiliency is the name of the game across banking, government, healthcare and other sectors
• Mainframe as a highly capable machine learning host – tapping into the growing AI ecosystem with tools like Scala, Python, TensorFlow & Apache Spark ML
• Performing big data analytics on mainframe with zero-offloading data to the cloud or x86 server environments

10:10 - 10:50

INTERACTIVE PANEL DISCUSSION: Digital Infrastructure, Operations & Cloud Leadership Panel

• 2+ years since pandemic: satisfying dynamic business needs driven by unpredictable global events – what’s next in store to bring adaptiveness & resilience to empower the power of doing business from anywhere?
• What type of new-world architecture do you have in mind for your enterprise infrastructure as post-pandemic expectations from employees, clients & partners arise to operate seamlessly from any device or location?
• Does the theory ‘S/He Who Automates, Wins’ make sense? If automation is a top priority at your enterprise, how do you about communicating on the value that new automation initiatives might have brought for your team, peers or leaders?
• Supporting change & seamless remote business with new ‘Infrastructure & Operations’ strategies that are transformational – how to improve on business alignment & adaptability?

10:50 - 11:00

Low Code for Real ROI - How can Cloud Leaders get Real Payback?

• Is your business yet to realize cloud ROIs? As a tech leader, is it enough just to have cloud strategy ownership & decision power to monetize?
• Practical solutions & actions to maximize ROI & getting assistance on where to bet for quicker results
• Delivering long term transformation while working on low code app development strategies
• Giving your Dev team autonomy – powering innovation, productivity & efficiency

11:00 - 11:40

INTERACTIVE PANEL DISCUSSION: Enterprise Data Center Strategy & Trends for MENA Region

• Time for retrospect: how did some of the MENA region’s largest public & private sector organizations shift their IT strategies whilst reacting to the surge in demand created by the pandemic?
• Window to the future: How are enterprise IT leaders for the some of the most renowned brands in MENA region looking at adjusting their data center strategies for a post-pandemic world?
• Where is the money currently being invested? Data center capital expenditures & where are they trending?
• How do you evaluate data center solutions & operators? What do you prioritize for your industry / brand when making a consideration? Have any of these factors shifted during the pandemic?
• What does your enterprise IT procurement strategy look like in this market of higher-than-expected inflation? Will this strategy evolve to meet supply constraints & demands of the future?

12:10 - 12:50

INTERACTIVE PANEL DISCUSSION: Decision Making in a Fast Evolving Hybrid World – Strategic Approaches & Best Practices on Enterprise, Colocation, Edge, Cloud & Hybrid

• Allocating IT assets across the myriad of infrastructure technologies out there: cloud, colocation, owned & operated datacentre and edge
• How to take the guesswork, stress & risk out of optimizing your enterprise infrastructure architecture now for many years to come?
• Self-help and how to get a vendor-agnostic view on developing your own strategically tactical hybrid infrastructure roadmap?
• What’s your opinion: usually IT leaders have digital transformation plans but how many of them here in the MENA region have really achieved it at scale?
• What’s a proven process to develop tactics & strategy to optimize IT asset and application allocation?

12:50 - 13:00

Regional TELCOs as Smart & Trusted ICT Partners for Localized Experiences across Digital Platforms, Digital Infrastructure, Digital Trust & Digital Innovation

• Bridging the silos of technology innovation across your enterprise & scaling up digital transformation
• Digital infrastructure: Reliability & resiliency for rapid scalability with cloud management, datacentre solutions, enhanced enterprise connectivity & Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
  • State of the art local datacentres as hyper-connected hubs with seamless connectivity
  • Infrastructure services with a single screen solution – IaaS, Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), BaaS
• Boosting digital trust with in-country data & always-on security – delivering on the promise of the digital economy by providing ‘trust by design’

13:00 - 13:10

Healthcare Digitalization - Service Delivery & Technology Infrastructure with Edge Datacentres

• Observing the global data-led digitalization & modernization of healthcare delivery – how has this translated here in the MENA region?
• Remote-links with doctors, tablets, wearables, ‘bedside’ imaging for clinicians – exploring the possibility of real-time feedback loops with smaller edge sites
• Understanding that when it comes to medical care, technology infrastructure really becomes ‘critical’ – how do datacentre & infrastructure leaders ensure continuous IT operations?

13:10 - 13:50

INTERACTIVE PANEL DISCUSSION: The Human Factor: People & Workforce Strategies to Succeed in the World of Technology Infrastructure & Operations – Datacentres, Networks, Edge, Cloud & High Performance Computing

• Is large-scale Work From Home (WFH) still here to stay in the MENA region? How can we learn from enterprise network best practices to optimize user experiences & improve security?
• Culture hacks in infrastructure technology & operations – what small yet impactful changes to processes or workflows have you implemented? Has it helped with reshaping perceptions & behaviors within the team or greater leadership?
• Skill development – What are some short-term tactical approaches or longer-term strategies your enterprise can adopt? What are some techniques, tools or modules available for technology infrastructure leaders to develop skills within their teams?
• Are people the biggest inhibitors to change? What are some workforce strategies to help dispel myths & using disruption as an effective tool within your organization?
• What are some effective methods to bring diversity and inclusion to your team? What does it take to attract & retain women in IT at your enterprise?
• Leadership lessons: How can you as a technology infrastructure leader be wary of global scenarios to sense and respond to societal change?

13:50 - 14:00

MENA Hyperscale Datacentres – Powering the Technology Shift from On-Premise to Cloud-Based Infrastructure

• Horizontal / Vertical scaling: adding servers / adding CPU & RAM – the answer to increased digital demand with the flexibility to expand or contract
• Resilience: built by design to avoid failures at node or server – improvements based on modularity
• Energy efficiency at the highest level – liquid cooling, AI technology for optimum energy usage
• Automation enabled by AI: self-healing infrastructure & quick recovery of databases without human intervention

14:00 - 14:10

Working Together for a More Sustainable Future – How Planet & Profits go Hand-in-Hand

• Constant changes with data center requirements as business needs continue to evolve 24/7
• Changes often result in trickle-down chain reaction effect across the data center facility – optimization is killed when attempting to minimize risk & downtime
• Effective thermal & electrical optimization programs as the solution
• Implementation of AI-driven machine learning software & predictive analytics to reduce risks for a more sustainable business model

09:00 - 09:05

MC OPENS

09:05 - 09:20

FEATURED FIRESIDE CHAT: Datacentre Markets & Investments in the MENA region – Racing for Technological Supremacy & Exploring the World of Blockchain and Metaverse

• Who’s building what, where and for whom in the MENA market?
• Examining the contextual factors, drive for digital & technologies shaping the MENA region’s datacentre market
• Exploring how the metaverse brings AR & VR technology to create more interactive & immersive social online experiences – the critical race to build the next generation of internet infrastructure & what’s going on behind the scenes here in MENA?
• Does all of this translate to changing our lives with physically reshaping what we know of the internet? Exploring how datacentres are the main engines thrusting Web 3.0 front & center to provide computing, graphics, processing & storage

09:20 - 09:30

EDGE Datacentres - Understanding the Hype, the Boom & Why It’s Here to Stay & Dominate the MENA market

• Where does EDGE fit in? Edge usually begins where hyperscale datacentres end
  • Regional datacentres as the largest types of Edge
  • Network Inner Edge (mobile core) > Network Outer Edge (aggregation points)
  • Network Tower Edge – ‘the last mile’
  • On-prem edge with micro datacentres at customer sites
• Why is the global market for edge datacentres expected to triple by 2024 to $13.5B? Understanding why the time is ripe to participate in the coming boom where low-cost edge datacentres can help close the gap between datacentre traffic vs. useable data created?
• Exploring trends driving edge datacentre growth –
  • 5G’s Arrival: smart city applications or high device density 5G use cases where edge datacentres provide low cost & low latency support
  • Explosion in number of IoT devices: with the increasing number of IoT sensors installed at homes & industrial applications, low latency edge processing is the answer to increasing data volumes
  • Software Defined Networking (SDN) & Network Function Virtualization (NFV)
  • Video streaming with AR/VR: Reducing streaming latency with decentralized low cost edge datacentres

09:30 - 10:10

INTERACTIVE PANEL DISCUSSION: Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) Cross-Industry Spotlight Discussion

• What’s the right strategy for your enterprise? On-Premise, Colocation or Cloud Deployment? Why is it important to plan infrastructure transformation when trying to meet corporate IT goals?
• Is it important to consider the various factors whilst picking the right deployment pathway? Like reliability, telecom networking, compliance, capturing flexibility, enhancing audit & compliance, reducing costs?
• At what point should you be thinking about Hybrid as the right solution for your enterprise? Is it possible to forecast needs (functions, growth & compliance) in an accurate manner?
• Exploring the blurred lines between cloud, datacentre & edge – what is the distributed cloud? Where does the market stand today with cloud providers giving customers local cloud capability whilst taking care of operations, governance, maintenance & updates?

10:10 - 10:20

Powering your Physical Critical Infrastructure: Advanced Technologies for Power Monitoring, Distribution & Management for Anywhere & Anytime

• Cabinet PDUs & associated power distribution busways – exploring the last links in the critical physical infrastructure power chain
• Power monitoring & management, power distribution, capacity planning & environmental monitoring
• Edge computing applications & other options available

10:20 - 10:30

Future-Proofing your Datacentre - New Trends in Facility Design for Improved Sustainability & Balancing the Grid

• Digitalization: Future-proofing with digital ready or digitally enabled equipment validated for operational insight
• Scalability: Going modular with easily replicable block architecture and modular equipment / builds
• Sustainability: Focusing on energy efficient solutions & driving the mission to zero emissions / carbon foot print
  • Exploring current energy in datacentres & power grid conditions
  • Picking cleaner & greener technology like MV UPS, BESS, fuel cell advancements with AFC
  • Exploring the possibility of advanced technologies to provide power back to the grid – what type of returns to expect here in MENA region?

10:30 - 11:10

INTERACTIVE PANEL DISCUSSION: BFSI (Banking, Financial Services & Insurance) Industry Panel

• Why is it important to start leaning in on the shift from modern mainframes to a cloud-based future?
• Understanding costs associated to mainframe maintenance & why making the shift to cloud in a methodical manner is the right decision over a period of time?
• Is cloud the final destination or is it more of an experience and a journey? How are the workhorses of the BFSI industry with core functions like records keeping, number crunching, fraud monitoring still reliant on mainframes?
• How important is developing a culture of innovation & enthusiasm to help with the transition to cloud? How can a product-based agile mindset & strategic collaboration across various lines of business help with a smoother rollout & confidence in migration?
• What is the regional opinion in MENA on postponing the migration of core workloads to the cloud? Are clear benefits visible enough to top level management & bottom-line improvements helping the case with motivation?
• What does it mean to a bank / financial institution in the cloud? What type of commitment or expectations are necessary when it comes to the great cloud mainframe technology migration?

11:10 - 11:20

Let's Cooldown the Conversation: Latest Innovations in Datacentre Cooling Technologies

• How to keep our servers & racks cool without warming up the planet? Progress always comes with responsibility
• Managing today whilst preparing for tomorrow – exploring data center retrofits & expansions based on liquid cooling
• How does liquid cooling technology represent the right fit? And how do energy efficiency metrics really apply – are we still going with PUE? What are some of the infrastructure considerations for liquid cooling from Chip to CDU?
• Liquid immersion cooling – learning and understanding it’s challenges in MENA region

12:00 - 12:40

INTERACTIVE PANEL DISCUSSION: Let's Get It Done! Construction & Delivery of Mission Critical Infrastructure

• Overview of new threats: inflation, supply-chain constraints, skilled labor, commodities, materials & equipment
• What are some of the solutions to these challenges for us in the MENA region? How to keep pace with demand & growth in the industry?
• Discussion of possible alternative concepts: off-site manufacturing, pre-fabrication, co-fabrication & modular – will these work in our region? And will this be enough?
• Why is it important to look at supply chain data with the right depth? Understanding the missing links
• Asking the right questions: do I have productization opportunities in my infrastructure delivery program that could move the needle?

12:40 - 12:50

Digital Flare Mitigation Technology for the MENA region - Innovative Technologies Working Towards Positive Environmental Impacts

• Innovative methods to put wasted energy resources to work – how to get started on meeting & exceeding environmental mandates without sacrificing performance?
• Datacentres already consume more than 1% of the world electricity and this number will only continue to increase with growth in cloud migration & high-performance computing needs
• Capturing wasted energy to power advanced computing systems for applications like AI, Deep Learning, Crypto & Intensive Research abilities

12:50 - 13:00

Securing Physical & Virtual Network Paths To, From & Within the Datacentre using Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) Solutions

• Why are we still using 25 year old VPN/IPSec technology to protect our infrastructure links? Understanding why encrypted VPN is no longer suitable for new-age setups with remote clients, modern networks & virtual infrastructures
• Exploring the high efficiency & performance that Zero Trust security brings to the table for critical network infrastructure
• New & profound challenges for IT leaders & data owners: physical & virtual endpoints coupled with AI routing & east-west data flows. How can data security & data transport align cohesively whilst preserving mandates of ownership & efficiency?
• Zero Trust Network Architecture for auditable data security

13:00 - 13:40

INTERACTIVE PANEL DISCUSSION: Technology Infrastructure Of The Future - Technical Thoughts & Discussions

• Overview of technologies & efficiencies of legacy infrastructure, current scenario / investments & trending solutions – what are some of the best innovations that we could really benefit from here in the MENA region?
• 24x7x365 Connectivity: What’s the best design for fiber infrastructure redundancy? Would you pick Middle of Row (MoR) or End of Row (EoR) or DC layouts? And would you pick in-rack or above rack connectivity?
• Single mode / multi-mode fiber? What are some key differences and what’s value for money?
• What’s your opinion on splicing? What’s better – pulling large fiber to designated splice points vs. pulling fiber to every rack / row?
• Trunking cables: exploring some decision criteria for using trunking cables?
• Fiber contamination, cleaning & inspection – what are some practical stories from the MENA region?

13:40 - 14:20

INTERACTIVE PANEL DISCUSSION: Datacentres & Technology Infrastructure Procurement – Is the Process Broken?

• Exploring the exposure of prolonged global supply chain risk & disruption – what are the effects being felt in our region & industry?
• What delays or impacts to capital expenditure projects & IT equipment availability can we expect in the near-term?
• How has the pandemic and the resulting rebound with increased demand impacted data center planning here in the MENA region?
• Are datacentre operators considering shifting roles to being a developer in order to take advantage of their superior ‘bulk buying’ power?
• Is onshoring the right idea for the time being? Can this be an effective long-term strategy?
• With anticipated component delays across the industry, will ‘circularity’ gain traction?