Experts Discuss Technology and Media at Al Jazeera Summit
Held under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer Al-Thani, Chairman of Al Jazeera Media Network, AJMN’s “Future of Media – Leaders’ Summit” kicked off today at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Doha with international broadcast industry leaders, CIOs, ICT professionals and media experts discussing how business and innovation are affecting the future of media. The Summit is the first of its kind in the region, on the model of similar events held in the Netherlands and Las Vegas.
Keynote speaker Paul Lee, Partner and Global Head of Research for the technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT) industry at Deloitte, presented research about the ways digital and traditional media are complementing each other. “Digital transformation will never end, but it doesn’t need to be zero-sum disruption,” Lee said. “It doesn’t have to be them versus us; it can be them and us.”
Lee’s speech was followed by a panel discussion on how media organisations are adapting to digital transformation.
Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Abuagla, CIO/CTO of Al Jazeer Media Network, presented on how the organisation has constantly adapted to changing technology over its 20-year history. “Transformation has to be holistic, involving people, processes and technology,” he said. “To become more transformative, you need to become a service provider.”
The day’s other speakers included Rainer Kellerhals, Industry Lead for Media and Cable EMEA at Microsoft, who spoke on cloud and cognitive computing’s impact on newsrooms; Jeff Rosica, President and CMO of Avid Technologies, who discussed transforming and unifying workflows with a platform approach; and Delbert Parks, CIO of Sinclair Media Group, who closed the day with a case study about Sinclair’s digital reinvention of contribution and distribution.
The Summit concludes Thursday with another full slate of thought leaders. Al Jazeera Executive Director Dr. Yaser Bisher will open with a presentation about Al Jazeera’s digital strategy. Mohammed Nanabhai, Deputy CEO at Media Development Investment Fund, will deliver a keynote address on social media’s impact on media, content and audience.
Other speakers scheduled for the final day include Haroon Meer, founder of Thinkst Applied Research; Ken Morse, Media CIO at Cisco Systems; and Mohamed Abuagla, CIO/CTO of Al Jazeera Media Network.
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Al Jazeera Media Network
Al Jazeera strives to deliver content that captivates, informs, inspires and entertains. Launched in 1996, Al Jazeera was the first independent news channel in the Arab world dedicated to providing comprehensive news and live debate. It challenged established narratives and gave a global audience an alternative voice—one that put the human being back at the centre of the news agenda—quickly making it one of the world’s most influential news networks. Since then, it’s added new channels and services, with more than 70 bureaus around the world, while maintaining the independent and pioneering spirit that defined its character. Each subsidiary follows the same principles—values that inspire it to be challenging and bold, and provide a ‘voice for the voiceless’ in some of the most underreported places on the planet.
About Microsoft Gulf
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Microsoft Gulf opened its Dubai-based headquarters in 1991. Microsoft Gulf today oversees Microsoft activities in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the UAE. Microsoft Corporation’s address on the World Wide Web is: www.microsoft.com; Microsoft Middle East’s Web site is www.microsoft.com/gulf.
About Cisco
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide technology leader that has been making the Internet work since 1984. Our people, products, and partners help society securely connect and seize tomorrow’s digital opportunity today. Discover more at newsroom.cisco.com and follow us on Twitter at @Cisco.
About Avid
Avid delivers the most open and efficient media platform, connecting content creation with collaboration, asset protection, distribution and consumption. Avid’s preeminent customer community uses Avid’s comprehensive tools and workflow solutions to create, distribute and monetize the most watched, loved and listened to media in the world—from prestigious and award-winning feature films, to popular television shows, news programs and televised sporting events, and celebrated music recordings and live concerts.
About Tech Mahindra
Tech Mahindra represents the connected world, offering innovative and customer-centric information technology experiences. We are a USD 4.2 billion company with 117,000+ professionals across 90 countries, helping over 837 global customers including Fortune 500 companies. Our convergent, digital, design experiences, innovation platforms and reusable assets connect across a number of technologies to deliver tangible business value and experiences to our stakeholders. Tech Mahindra is amongst the Fab 50 companies in Asia (Forbes 2016 list). We are part of the USD 17.8 billion Mahindra Group that employs more than 200,000 people in over 100 countries
About SAP
As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 345,000 business and public sector customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com. Follow SAP on Twitter: @SAPMENA
About Commvault
Commvault is a leading provider of data management and data protection solutions, helping organizations worldwide activate their data to drive more value and insight for their business. Our solutions portfolio of data protection and recovery, cloud, virtualization, archive, file sync and share enables customers to reduce IT cost, better leverage data, improve IT operations, and increase overall efficiencies. For more info, please visit: www.commvault.com.
About Smart Global
For over fifteen years Smart Global has and continues to support you, international and domestic commerce champions, prominent non-profits, and Sovereign arms with the knowledge, tools and know-how ensuring your successful business entry, continuity and expansion. When you are in concert with Smart Global you are guaranteed that your success is in hand.
About Ministry of Transport & Communications (MOTC)
Established by Emiri Decree in 2016, the Ministry of Transport and Communications is responsible for the development, implementation and improvement of transportation and communications services within the State of Qatar. The Ministry oversees all activities within key sectors of national transport infrastructure, principally road and rail networks, public transportation, maritime and port activities, and civil aviation. Furthermore, the Ministry is responsible for overseeing the development of Qatar’s information and communications network, including extensive cyber-security protection and awareness, e-Government transformation and digital society initiatives.
