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The SAMENA Council’s Leaders’ Summit 2019 highlighted the readiness of industry leaders for 5G and identifies collaboration as a necessity to ensure digital inclusion in the fourth industrial revolution

The summit was held in Dubai under the patronage of the UAE Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) under the leadership of director general Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori.

The event featured a special guest-of-honour address by UAE cabinet minister and tolerance minister Nahyan bin Mubarak al Nahyan, and a leadership message from the secretary-general of the International Telecom Union (ITU) Houlin Zhao.

The summit discussed the future of 5G and the foreseeable impact 5G will have on ICT business growth, the development of the digital ecosystem and innovation as the region is preparing for the digital revolution and anticipating the fulfilment of national ICT visions.

Bocar BA, CEO and Board Member of SAMENA Council, “We have always had a highly distinguished congregation in the summit, but this year is special, because the region is about to experience 5G, and representatives from so many regions converged to both contribute insights and to take back perspectives, which could assist in their own technology deployment planning. We, as an industry, have made tremendous progress, and this is especially seen in the UAE.”

As an integral part of the Leaders’ Summit to accelerate 5G’s large-scale deployment, Huawei hosted the ‘5 G is ON’ Forum, which served as an opportunity for 5G industry partners to discuss how emerging 5G-enabled smart services and innovations can help telecommunications operators identify new business opportunities, thereby enhancing prospects for growth.

Leading regional regulatory authorities, global and regional telecom technology providers and operators, as well as global bodies and institutions contributed to the discussions during Leaders’ Summit 2019, such as CITC - Saudi Arabia, TRC - Jordan, TRA - Bahrain, TRAI - India, Saudi Telecom Company, Batelco Group, Etisalat International, du, Omantel, Orange MEA, Sudatel Group, Zain Group, Eutelsat, AT&T, BT Global Services, Huawei Technologies, Ericsson MEA, Tech Mahindra, Ankabut, Dawiyat, GSMA, the World Economic Forum, and the World Bank Group.

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