Speakers

Hazim Alaeddin, CEO, Kulacom Communications SPC
coming soon.

Michael Collins, Injazat Data Systems
Michael Collins possesses more than 10 years of leadership experience and as an Information Technology Professional has led multi-disciplinary technical teams servicing diverse clients at the global and regional account level. He has built a strong reputation as a principle-centred leader with a motivational management style. As a results-oriented achiever he has an excellent track record for identifying opportunities for accelerated growth and delivering measurable improvements within service delivery. He has extensive experience in successfully establishing and managing off-shore service delivery centres for multiple global accounts and has participated in numerous customer advisory boards and presented at several technology seminars.

As the Lead Technologist for Injazat’s Data Centre Services, Collins is responsible for developing Software +Services & Cloud computing- related offerings hosted from the region’s first Tier IV design certified Data Centre. He has in depth experience in implementing Process Improvement and Quality Management methodologies including CMM, ISO, QMS and ITIL. He has attained certifications in Microsoft, HP and VMWare technologies. Collins was previously tasked to drive high priority Service Improvement Initiatives to completion within a key Injazat Oil & Gas client as the company’s Service Delivery Manager. Prior to joining Injazat, he acted as the Technical Delivery Leader for Integration Engineering at EDS New Zealand, where he managed a team of multi-disciplinary engineers in providing solutions to General Motors worldwide in various technologies. He was also EDS’ Asia Pacific Software Packaging Leader.

Basel Dalloul, Chairman & CEO, Noor Group
Basel Dalloul founded NOOR Group in 2000 in response to the Egyptian government’s announced goal of becoming the hub of the information technology (IT) industry in the Middle East. As Chairman and CEO, he has set the overall direction of NOOR, introducing the most comprehensive information technology and Internet-related services in the MENA region and changing the ground rules for Internet access, service, speed, and reliability in both the consumer and business marketplaces. In launching NOOR, he has brought the first region-wide, full-service IT development program to the area. A visionary, successful entrepreneur, and widely recognized authority in the emerging digital economy, Basel saw the IT revolution coming and founded Magnet Interactive Group, Inc. in the United States in 1989. Under his direction, the company pioneered new technologies and applications for the Internet and for interactive multi-media in such critical areas as interface design and multi-media integration. During the 1990s Magnet became one of the most respected and successful interactive multi-media companies in the United States, with offices in Washington, DC and Los Angeles, CA and approximately 400 employees. It was acquired by Andersen Consulting, now Accenture, in 2000 and merged into AKQA, Europe’s largest independent Internet development and consulting firm. Magnet’s more than 200 national and international awards attest to its leadership in setting high levels of quality standards and programmatic versatility within the young industry. Prolific in its portal development throughout the business sector, Magnet provided multi-media services and Web solutions to some of the most admired corporations and organizations in the world, including Microsoft Network, America Online, Prodigy, IBM, Mercedes-Benz North America, Nissan, Harvard Business School, Eastman Kodak, DuPont, Merck, Bayer, General Foods, Pillsbury, Kellogg’s, M&M/Mars, PaineWebber, Wells Fargo Bank, Citibank, Bank of America, Twentieth-Century Fox, MCA/Universal Studios, Discovery Network, Univision, Time-Warner, Time-Life Books, National Geographic, The Vatican, and SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corporation), and others. Basel was instrumental in establishing industry-wide alliances and strategic partnerships in the US’s fledgling multi-media industry throughout the 1990s, bringing together such companies as Akamai Technologies, Andersen Consulting, Macromedia, Microsoft, Netscape, Twentieth-Century Fox Home Entertainment, and media conglomerate WPP. He has continued this strategy with NOOR, bringing together such global technology powerhouses as Cisco Systems, Juniper, Paradyne, IBM, Microsoft, NCR, and Sun Microsystems to build the Middle East’s most extensive IT infrastructure from the ground up. He holds a Bachelor of Science in finance from American University and a Juris Doctor and MBA from Georgetown University, both in Washington, DC. Basel also studied electrical engineering and computer science at Rice University in Houston, TX, and undertook comparative studies of American and British common law and procedural law at Oxford University in England. He co-taught a course in entertainment law and the Internet at Georgetown University Law Center and is a frequent speaker and seminar leader at IT conferences worldwide. His personal interests have involved him as a member of the American University Board of Trustees; the President’s Council; the Board of Trustees of the Washington Hospital For Women, the advisory council for RIF (Reading Is Fundamental), the advisory council of the Best Buddies Foundation, and the Board of Directors of the Duke Ellington School for the Performing Arts. He is fluent in Arabic, English, and French.

Ibrahim Lari, Chief Executive Officer, Injazat Data Systems
Ibrahim Lari is the Chief Executive Officer of Injazat Data Systems, a Joint Venture company between Mubadala Development Company (MDC) and Electronic Data Systems (EDS), an HP company and a leader in global IT outsourcing.

Backed by a degree in electronic engineering, Lari started his career as an IT & Automation Engineer at the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). He engaged in several senior positions in a number of ADNOC Group companies, the last of which was as IT & Automation Vice President for petrochemical plants company BOROUGE. Lari played a key role as the VP of IT and Automation at Dolphin Energy, a joint venture among Mubadala, TOTAL of France and Occidental Petroleum of the US, where he successfully orchestrated the Dolphin project, one of the largest multi-national gas production & transportation projects in the Gulf

Simon Lee, Managing Director, Sapience Capital
Mr. Lee has over 15 years of experience investing in the private markets with a deep focus on information technology, data communications, and energy companies in the US, Western Europe and Asia. He has been a General Partner at several notable investment firms including Sapience Capital Partners, Infotech Venture Partners and Baker Capital. Within IT, Mr. Lee has led a number of successful investments in the internet infrastructure space, including Interxion, the largest neutral data center provider in Europe with 24 facilities covering 11 countries. He is currently active in the Middle East and North Africa, having founded and serving as a Board Member of Qala Technologies, an emerging technology infrastructure company focused on the MENA market. Mr. Lee is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and the Harvard Business School.

Jamal Faraj Al Nahdi, Director, Qatar Data Centre
Jamal Faraj Al Nahdi is Director of the Qatar Data Centre, the world-class facility that provides the network backbone for Qatar’s business community, managed by QTEL. He moved to this role in 2009, following a decade of service at QTEL. Among his roles, Jamal has worked as a Product Management Specialist; Senior Engineer, Data Networks; and Engineer Data Network Operations. He holds a Bachelors of Sciences, Electrical Engineering from Qatar University.

Steve Wallage, Managing Director, BroadGroup Consulting
Steve has extensive experience in market sizing, entry and strategy projects. With more than 19 years of experience as a technology analyst specialising in the worldwide telecommunications markets, he spent six years as a principal analyst at Gartner Group, tracking the voice, data and IP services markets for the carrier, vendor and financial communities. Steve's career is rooted firmly in analysis. He has worked at 451.com, and earlier at the Northern Business Information division of McGraw-Hill, where he managed the European research team. Prior to this, he was Research Manager of the Telematica programme owned by Logica. He has also worked for IDC in Australia and for IBM's marketing department. He is a regular speaker and moderator at international industry and vendor events and a commentator on telecom and IT issues for business television in the UK and Europe. Steve holds a degree in Business Administration from Bath University, UK.