Event brings government, business and technology leaders together to map out the digital future of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia, Jeddah — Themed ‘Your Time is Now’, Cisco’s flagship technology forum returns to Saudi Arabia to address how digital transformation is fundamentally changing the business landscape. The event was held at the Hilton Hotel, Jeddah, from 27-28 March, Cisco Connect brings together regional technology and business decision makers to drive the Kingdom’s digitization agenda and discuss the opportunities and challenges presented by the digital era.

Cisco Connect’s agenda reflects the leadership, partnerships and insights that Cisco has built over two decades of operating within the Kingdom. The event highlights how Cisco’s Country Digitization Acceleration (CDA) program, launched nearly two years ago, is contributing towards the progress of the Kingdom in line with the Kingdom’s National Transformation Program and Saudi Vision 2030.

“As we celebrate our twentieth anniversary in Saudi Arabia, we want to bring a fresh perspective on digitization to our customers and partners, as well as the broader business and technology community” said Haytham Al Ohali, Managing Director of Cisco Saudi Arabia. “Cisco Connect Saudi Arabia 2018 showcases breakthrough IT technologies, trends and innovations and highlight how digital transformation is driving change across Saudi industries and society by redefining business models and service provision. The event will also tackle the business challenges that will be created through step changes taking place in the Kingdom’s digitization.”

Cisco Connect Saudi Arabia 2018 showcases how digital technologies are transforming everyday lives and changing the way we live, work, play and learn. It features the latest technology trends and solutions across the Cisco portfolio, including Cisco’s pioneering innovation, The Network. Intuitive, the new intent-based network that constantly learns, adapts and protects. The event also provide leaders from across Saudi Arabia’s government, public and private sector, and ICT and business communities the opportunity to engage and share knowledge with Cisco experts and attend thought-provoking keynote and breakout sessions and panel discussions.

“At a time when change is the only constant, the key to socioeconomic development lies in continual innovation and staying ahead of the disruption curve,” said David Meads, Vice President for Cisco Middle East and Africa. “With a progressive vision and excellent fundamentals, Saudi Arabia stands to benefit greatly from the digital era. The Kingdom is well positioned to leapfrog established economies and prosper immensely from the rapid pace of digital transformation. Cisco is proud to play an active role in supporting Saudi Arabia’s efforts to diversify its economy, improve citizen services and strengthen its competitiveness.”

Cisco Connect Saudi Arabia highlights the digital acceleration initiatives that have rolled out as part of the company’s country-wide Country Digital Acceleration program (CDA) and how Cisco has been working closely with the government to strategically map Saudi Arabia’s digitization journey. The technology leader also provided updates on the implementation and achievements made across some of the key pillars of the program in the areas of education, healthcare and smart city initiatives within the Kingdom.

“Digital transformation is a main pillar of Saudi’s Vision 2030 and a key enabler across many of its initiatives,” added Haytham. “Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration program and our partnership with the government across a wide range of initiatives reflect our strong commitment to Saudi Arabia’s digital development and future. Cisco Connect showcases the incredible progress we’ve made across multiple domains, from developing the technology infrastructure and innovation ecosystem to driving competitiveness, productivity and preparing the workforce of the future.”

Cisco has been working with the Saudi government to enable technology-enabled learning with the roll out of virtual school and smart classrooms platforms. To drive better healthcare provision, telemedicine solutions (diagnosis and treatment through telecommunications technology) have already been piloted across four hospitals in the Kingdom.

Launched in June 2016, Cisco’s CDA program in Saudi Arabia aims to support the Kingdom’s efforts to drive GDP growth, foster innovation, create new jobs and strengthen global competitiveness. The program also aims to stimulate social and entrepreneurial opportunities for the Kingdom’s growing youthful population, with an overarching goal of strengthening Saudi Arabia’s global competitiveness through the creation of a vibrant digital economy.

While STC Solutions remains the main sponsor of the event, Baud Telecom Company (BTC Networks) and Saudi Business Machines Ltd. (SBM) are the Diamond sponsors. The event’s Platinum sponsors are Alfanar IT, BT Al Saudia, Crystal Networks, Ebttikar Technology, Al Moammar Information Systems (MIS) and MMR.

The event also features the ‘World of Solutions’ interactive exhibition where Cisco, along with its partners, features the latest solutions along with demonstrations of Cisco’s innovations spanning the areas such as collaboration, data center, cybersecurity, service provider and enterprise networks.

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About Cisco Connect Saudi Arabia 2018

Cisco’s thought leadership event, Cisco Connect Saudi Arabia 2018, takes place in Jeddah, at the Hilton Hotel, on Tuesday and Wednesday March 27 and 28. Celebrating Cisco’s 20th anniversary in the Kingdom under the theme, ‘Your Time is Now’, this exclusive event addresses the opportunities and challenges created by the digital era. The event will feature sessions that cover the latest technology trends and innovations and which demonstrate how digitization is driving monumental change across the business landscape. It will also focus on how Cisco’s ‘Country Digitization Acceleration’ program (CDA) is contributing to and accelerating the digitization journey of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in alignment with the Kingdom’s National Transformation Program and Vision 2030.

About CDA

Cisco developed the concept of Country Digital Acceleration to stimulate global digitization. Cisco is collaborating with governments in 16 countries to strengthen digital research and education, stimulate digital entrepreneurship, accelerate innovation, develop new economic clusters and improve national infrastructure. Each CDA program has been developed to meet the needs of the respective country. So far more than 250 projects have been launched on smarter transport, smart cities, eHealth and connected education. More information at https://newsroom.cisco.com/cda.

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.

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© Press Release 2018