< PreviousBee’ah launches new tech com- pany Evoteq Evoteq, SHA ink pact for healthcare digi- talisation ‘16‘17Sharjah launches digitalisation project with Evoteq ‘17Bee’ah and Evoteq Intro- duce AI platform for offices ‘16 What is your company’s history-including Middle East History? Evoteq is a young and dynamic organisation. We focus on digital transformation in the UAE and the wider region, developing digital platforms and solutions for a range of industries and public entities. Led by a team of experts, our operations are focused on increasing the productivity and efficiency of governmental and commercial entities through innovative technologies. One way we do this is to introduce and integrate artificial intelligent (AI) features to workplaces, transforming technology experiences for users and build the digital capabilities of companies to equip them with the tools needed for a competitive advantage and business growth in their sectors. What is your company’s core competence? Our digitalisation portfolio consists of several pillars extending across a range of industries including smart transportation, building smart city management systems, digitising the public sector and corporate services and fortifying supply chains. Evoteq and Johnson Con- trols launch joint AI platform MILESTONES IN EVOTEQ’S HISTORY Company> Evoteq Company type> Digital transformation Jihad Tayara, Evoteq CEO Company profile ‘19 We are building Sharjah’s first tier 3 data centre as a solid foundation to the Emirates ambition to emerge as a smart city and are also digitalising hundreds of services and processes for the Sharjah City Municipality and Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry. We also launched an advanced serialisation and tracing system, SmartTrack, which tracks products from manufacturers to the end-user. Within the smart transport sphere, we are working with Sharjah City Municipality to enhance services and performance related to driver behaviour, parking and traffic congestion. We recently announced the Sharjah Smart Parking Initiative that uses AI and mobile applications to facilitate finding parking spaces in specific areas. What are some of the trends impacting your sector? Government agendas such as ‘Think AI’ and the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031 that aims at positioning the UAE as a global leader in artificial intelligence by 2031 are accelerating the integration of AI across major sectors. There is also a strong movement for the public sector to digitalise their services and the success of smart // COMPANY PROFILE / EVOTEQ // WWW.NETWORKMIDDLEEAST.COM /// 40 / NETWORK MIDDLE EAST / DECEMBER 2019 /Evoteq appoints Jihad Tayara as Chief Executive Officer ‘19 Evoteq is working with Bee’ah on its new state-of-the-art headquarters as part of the ‘Office of the Future’ project. Sharjah Chamber and Expo partner with Evoteq Evoteq introduces smart parking so- lution for Sharjah Bee’ah launches waste manage- ment portal Evoteq launches Sharjah’s first Tier 3 data centre in the emirate ‘19‘19‘19‘19 government initiatives will catalyse more change in private companies as they seek to emulate artificial intelligence and digital performance. IoT and its use will also be a major focus in the upcoming years as the next phase of the region’s journey, changing long-term strategies and making digital transformation an urgent priority. Discuss the latest solutions from your company and the impact you see in the market. We are very excited about our latest project in collaboration with Sharjah City Municipality, working on a new solution for Sharjah’s parking management system to transform the parking experience for motorists across the Emirate. Sharjah Smart Parking will utilise AI to provide parking spots that can be booked through mobile phones, allowing citizens and residents to identify and reserve spaces in parking lots efficiently and quickly. Not only is this a gamechanger for parking management, but it also creates value for residents and improves their quality of life by reducing the time and effort involved in parking. What is your presence in the Middle East? We are currently working with several commercial and government entities to enable their digital transformation. We are headquartered in the UAE. Describe some of your biggest successes in the region. Evoteq is currently working on implementing digital solutions for one of the smartest buildings in the world. We are working with Bee’ah on its new iconic Zaha-Hadid designed headquarters, as part of our ‘Office of the Future’ project. As the first fully- integrated AI office building in the UAE and MENA region, the cutting- edge building will be equipped with a sweeping array of cutting-edge solutions. Promoting energy-efficiency, improving productivity at the workplace and optimising visitor and employee experiences, the new HQ will set the global standard for smart buildings. What are your regional goals for the rest of the year and beyond? Our major focus will be to continue working with governments and companies in the region and beyond to develop tailored technology platforms in line with the needs of the current digital economy. We are also assessing the requirements to develop smart cities across the region. Finally, we want to deliver value to our clients across the board by bringing our considerable experience to the table and deploying innovations. // COMPANY PROFILE / EVOTEQ // DECEMBER 2019 / NETWORK MIDDLE EAST / 41// WWW.NETWORKMIDDLEEAST.COM /Published and Copyright © 2019 ITP MEDIA GROUP FZ-LLC. MEDIA PO Box 500024, Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 4 444 3000 www.itp.com Offices in Abu Dhabi. 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The opinions and views contained in this publication 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 reader’s 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. Five minutes with… Emile Abou Saleh, REGIONAL DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST, TURKEY & AFRICA, PROOFPOINT 1 What is your current role in the ICT industry in the Middle East and what are your responsibilities? As the regional director, Middle East and Africa for Proofpoint, my core responsibil- ity is to ensure my team delivers the best support to our partners and customers while accelerating our go-to-market strat- egy across the Middle East region. Ad- ditionally, it’s my responsibility to ensure my team is fully aligned with Proofpoint’s mission of protecting organisations’ great- est assets and biggest risks: their people. 2 What is the best thing about your job? What drives me every day is the chance to support our clients and partners to stay ahead of today’s attacks, while protecting their people. Additionally, it is with great pride that I receive the continuous recogni- tion from our partners and clients that trust us to protect their businesses against today’s most advanced cyber-attacks. 3 How innovative do you think the cybersecurity industry in the Middle East is and how can it improve? New technologies are flourishing in the region. Artificial Intelligence will help in tackling and defend- ing against numerous po- tential threats. In fact, many organisations will use AI to improve modes for detect- ing and responding to inci- dents. Additionally, we will start to see more AI-based tools that provide threat-hunting, attack analysis and incident response to proactively search for potential issues. 4 What are the upcoming trends or products in your sector? We predict that business email compromise (BEC) scams will continue to be a global issue as more than 99% of cyberattacks need humans to click and act—and BEC attacks rely squarely on individuals to take action by preying on human psychological responses to urgent matters such as wiring money and sending confidential data, often to satisfy some immediate but fictional business need. Hence, it is paramount for organisations to take immediate steps to significantly reduce the chances that a BEC attack is successful by educating their employees and deploy- ing solutions that place the individual at the centre of their security strategy. 5 Does your company utilise virtualisation or cloud computing? At Proofpoint, we offer a cloud-based platform to pro- tect companies against the number one threat vector - email - as well as emerging vectors such as social media and cloud apps. 6 What are your out-of- office hobbies? Car racing, reading news and updating myself on the latest trends in the market. Top 5 Favourite film? Black Panther iOS or Android? iOS Favourite gadget? My iPhone Favourite band/ musician? Fairuz Favourite book? Radical Candor by Kim Scott // FIVE MINUTES / EMILE ABOU SALEH // WWW.NETWORKMIDDLEEAST.COM /// 42 / NETWORK MIDDLE EAST / DECEMBER 2019 /Next >