Bill Gates likely to attend IT conference in Doha |
|
DOHA - Microsoft founder Bill Gates is expected to attend a conference on information and communication technology to be held in Doha in April next year.
The Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar will host the third International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD). Bill Gates, who is transitioning from company chairman into a full-time philanthropic role, has agreed to deliver a keynote address at the conference.
ICTD is the premiere conference for innovating technology accessible and relevant to developing communities. It is a multidisciplinary forum for academic researchers and practitioners designing computing technology solutions for developing economies.
"This conference is one of the most important new directions for computing. By hosting the ICTD conference here in Doha we can get the Middle East and Qatar more involved in this emerging field," said M Bernardine Dias, assistant research professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
The conference presents state-of-the-art research by technical and social scientists, with original, peer-reviewed papers and a poster session, as well as keynote addresses by leading scholars in the field.
Of the six billion people in the world, four billion are at the base of the economic pyramid, living on less than $2 a day. A lot of such population is represented in Qatar, and these are the people who can benefit greatly from the research and innovations of the ICTD community, said Dias. UC Berkeley in California and Microsoft Research in India hosted the first two conferences.
Both events attracted more than 200 scholars from around the world. Dias expects having the conference in the Middle East, as well as having Bill Gates as a speaker, will draw an even larger crowd in 2009.
The two-day conference will open on April 17, 2009. Gates will give the keynote address on April 18. Dr Hessa Al Jaber, Secretary General of ictQATARictQATAR
and Kentaro Toyama, Assistant Managing Director of Microsoft Research India, will attend as honorary chairpersons.
The organising partner of the conference is ictQATARictQATAR, and the Qatar National Research Fund is a platinum sponsor. All sessions of the conference will be held at Carnegie Mellon's new building in Education City.
© The Peninsula 2008
Comment on this article 
Loading ...-
Zawya encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You agree that when you add content to this discussion your comments will not:
1.1 Contain any material which is libelous or defamatory of any person, is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory or causes damage to the reputation of any person or organisation.
1.2 Promote sexually explicit material, violence, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age or any illegal activity.
1.3 Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
1.4 Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
1.5 Be used to impersonate any person, to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or be likely to deceive any person.
1.6 Give the impression that they represent Zawya.
1.7 Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse. - The content posted on www.zawya.com is created by members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of Zawya. Zawya reserves the right to review all comments prior to posting and edit or delete any contribution, but Zawya is not responsible for and can not be held liable for any content posted by members of the public on www.zawya.com.
- Zawya is not responsible for the availability or content of any third party sites that are accessible through www.zawya.com. Any links to third party websites from www.zawya.com do not amount to any endorsement of that site by Zawya and any use of that site by you is at your own risk.
- By submitting your comment, you hereby give Zawya the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comments worldwide, in perpetuity.
Stories
Companies
| Company Name | Country | Industry |
| Consolidated Contractors Company | Overseas | Construction and Design |
| Saudi Binladin Group | Saudi Arabia | Construction and Design |
| Emirates Aluminium Company | UAE | Metal Production |
| Abu Dhabi Investment Council | UAE | Investment Firms and Funds |
| Emirates Telecommunications Corporation | UAE | Telecommunications Services |
| Al Azizia Panda United Company | Saudi Arabia | General Retailers |
| Barwa Real Estate Company | Qatar | Landlords and Developers |
| Nissan Motor Egypt | Egypt | Transportation Products |
| Ras Girtas Power Company | Qatar | Electric Utilities |
| Saudi Electricity Company | Saudi Arabia | Electric Utilities |
Projects
| Project Name | Country | Sector |
| Ras Girtas Power Company - Ras Girtas IWPP | Qatar | Power and Water |
| IGD - Gasco - Habshan 5 Gas Processing Plant | UAE | Oil and Gas |
| SATORP - Jubail Refinery and Petrochemical Complex | Saudi Arabia | Oil and Gas |
| Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) - Smelter Complex | UAE | Industry |
| Takreer - Ruwais Refinery Expansion | UAE | Oil and Gas |
| Qatar Foundation - Sidra Medical and Research Center | Qatar | Real Estate |
| Aramco/Dow Chemical - Ras Tanura Integrated Refinery and Petrochemicals Complex | Saudi Arabia | Oil and Gas |
| Abu Dhabi Ports Company - Khalifa Port and Industrial Zone (KPIZ) | UAE | Infrastructure |
| SATORP- Jubail Refinery and Petrochemical Complex - Conversion Unit and Sulphur Package (Part 2) | Saudi Arabia | Oil and Gas |
| Dubai RTA - Dubai Metro - Purple Line | UAE | Infrastructure |