< PreviousZiad Youssef, VP secure power Middle East and Africa at Schneider Electric, looks at some key strategies for businesses in the region as they look to capitalise on the economic potential of 5G This year has been one of digital transformation. Understand- ably, given the physical restric- tions we’ve all faced. We’ve seen customers do more online in a couple of months than has been achieved in years. The talk has been about artificial intel- ligence, big data, cloud computing and aug- mented reality. These applications have the potential to transform how we operate; they have the opportunity to change the face of business. There’s one element which needs to be added to the conversation. 5G has the potential to unleash these technologies, thanks to speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second, ultra-high reliability and low la- tency. 5G has the capacity to make the con- cept of “massive Internet-of-Things”, or massive IoT. Massive IoT is a concept that refers to ap- plications that are not latency sensitive and have low throughput requirements. What massive IoT does need is a fast network with excellent coverage to connect the 1,000s of devices together and to the cloud. 5G makes the concept of massive IoT possible, and more. We’re seeing what 5G can do through our own experiences at our Le Vaudreuil factory in France. We launched the first deployment of indoor 5G in a factory in the country. We’re run- ning a host of industrial applications, such as predictive maintenance, real-time vid- eo processing and augmented reality, on a 5G network. OPINION SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC 40www.itp.netCommsMEA December 2020 Ziad Youssef, VP secure power Middle East and Africa at Schneider Electric. What we’ve found is already transform- ing our operations; we’re seeing noticeable improvement in our industrial processes and working methods. 5G ensures that the large amounts of data which need to be processed are synchronised in real time, which boosts performance and seamlessly supports remote working. We see 5G and its reliability, speed and durability as the plat- form on which we can and are building our industry 4.0 factories. Making the most of 5G will take collabo- ration, and partnerships between your en- terprise technology team, your operations people, your telecommunications provider and others. In France, we’ve worked with Orange to simplify our IT operations, im- prove support to manufacturing and accel- erate the digitisation of our manufacturing. For 5G’s potential to be fully realised, business must also think about the data center, micro data centers to be specific. 5G makes the concept of massive IoT possible, and more. We’re seeing what 5G can do through our own experiences at our Le Vaudreuil factory in France. We launched the first deployment of indoor 5G in a factory in the country. We’re running a host of industrial applications, such as predictive maintenance, real-time video processing and augmented reality, on a 5G network.” Ziad Youssef, VP secure power Middle East and Africa at Schneider Electric. These are data centers that consist of two or less IT racks, but which contain either a massive amount of computing power or storage, or both. Micro data centers are an essential part of cloud data center architec- tures; they reduce latency and add redun- dancy in a hybrid cloud environment. And they’re the key to achieving 5G’s speeds, through offering latency of less than 1ms. Let me share an example of this. In a test of a 5G network in the US, a 4K movie was downloaded in 19.5 minutes. It took less than one minute more to download the same film on a 4G connection. The question was asked as to why there was only half a minute’s difference. The answer was sim- ple. The only part of the network which was 5G-enabled was the connection between the phone and the nearest mast. The movie was hosted on a data center dozens of miles away. If the movie was hosted locally, say on a micro data center, the network would have realised 5G speeds in that example. In essence, micro data centers allow for true edge computing, bringing computation and data storage closer to the location where it is needed, improving response times and making the most that 5G has to offer. When combined with micro data cent- ers, 5G can deliver instantaneous and seam- less communication and interaction with your web, apps, digital tools, customer-fac- ing platforms, and more. And we’re going to discover more case uses and more benefits from these technologies. I believe that these technologies will become mainstream in 2021, as we push forward with our digital transformations. 5G will change forever both the digital land- scape and how business operates, and it’ll move us into an era of Industry 4.0, allowing us to make the most of applications such as machine learning, big data and automation. We’re ready for the change. Are you? SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC OPINION 41www.itp.netCommsMEA December 2020 Got something to say? If you would like to be featured in Backchat, please message: Chris.Kelly@itp.com Dr. Moataz Bin Ali, vice president, Middle East & North Africa, Trend Micro, looks ahead to GITEX 2020 Trend Micro blocks a staggering 56.9 million cyber attacks in H1 2020 Trend Micro has revealed that it blocked 56,873,271 email, URL, malware and banking malware attacks across the GCC during the first half of 2020. The Covid 19 pandemic has fueled a surge in cyber attacks as hundreds of millions of people were forced to work from home for the first time. In just six months, Trend Micro blocked 8.8 million Covid 19 related threats, nearly 92% of which were spam delivered via emails. In the GCC, Trend Micro blocked 163,774 Covid-19 threats: 127,415 URL attacks, 36,312 email spam attacks, and 47 malware attacks. Trend Micro will showcase ‘The Art of Cybersecurity’ at GITEX 2020. “The GCC’s high rates of cyber- attacks across email, URL, and malware show that cybercriminals are ramping up their exploits of the weak points in organizations’ endpoints, network, and cloud — especially with Covid-19-related threats,” said Dr. Moataz Bin Ali, VP for MENA, Trend Micro. Published by and Copyright © 2020 ITP MEDIA GROUP FZ-LLC. 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The opinions and views contained in this publica- tion are not necessarily those of the publishers. Readers are advised to seek specialist advice before acting on information contained in this publication, which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the readers’ particular circumstances. The ownership of trademarks is acknowledged. No part of this publication or any part of the contents thereof may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without the permission of the publishers in writing. An exemption is hereby granted for extracts used for the purpose of fair review. Trend Micro is set to exhibit at GITEX 2020 under the theme of “The Art of Cybersecurity.” The theme combines Trend Micro’s proven foresight, its XGen security strategy of cross-generational threat defense solutions, and passionate people to make cybersecurity a work of art. During the show, Trend Micro will showcase cybersecurity solutions across cloud (Cloud One Hybrid Cloud Security), user protection for endpoints (Apex One), email and web, detection and response (XDR), Operational Technology (OT) and Industrial Control security (TXOne Networks), and network protection from known, unknown, and undisclosed threats (Network Defense). “As the region’s only in-person technology event in 2020, GITEX is a key event for Trend Micro to spread the importance of cybersecurity in the shift to digital transformation,” added Dr. Moataz Bin Ali. “We are returning to GITEX this year to show how Middle East organisations can reinvent their cybersecurity posture and processes,” he concluded. 42www.itp.net BACKCHAT CYBERSECURITY CommsMEA December 2020Next >