SAMENA Telecommunications Council has announced that Microsoft, a global leader in technological innovation, has joined its membership as an enabler of digital transformation, innovation, and accessibility, in the wake of fifth-generation technology.
Expressing his warm welcome to Microsoft on having joined SAMENA Council's community of global ICT players, operators from and within the SA-ME-NA (South Asia - Middle East - North Africa) region, Mr. Bocar BA, CEO & Board Member stated, "SAMENA Council's community of stakeholders in the digital space would not be complete without Microsoft. Like SAMENA Council, Microsoft believes in open dialogue and active participation on a wide array of critical issues and challenges, understanding which is not only important for our industry's future but also for the ultimate stakeholders - the consumers and our future generations. We are truly delighted by this pledge of industry involvement from Microsoft, and strongly feel that this association between SAMENA Council and Microsoft would serve to further both organization's missions."
“UAE’s telecom sector is setting an example to lead the country’s digital transformation agenda and technology will act as a significant enabler in this journey.”, said Khaleelo Khan, MEA Industry Director - Telecoms and Media at Microsoft. “In line with this, Microsoft has recently announced two cloud regions in the country to provide the Middle East governments and businesses with enterprise-grade reliability and performance, combined with data residency and the broadest compliance. With our participation in the SAMENA Council, we look forward to working closely with all the stakeholders and advance the region’s digitization journey, empowering everyone to achieve more.”As a major player in the global digital space, Microsoft will be able to leverage the Council’s regional and international reach, as well as stakeholder relationship-building platforms and activities in its mission to empower humans and organizations, to its strategic advantage within the SAMENA region.
As an important part of SAMENA Council's membership, Microsoft is well placed to help SAMENA create new synergies among local, regional, and international stakeholders on tackling multiple challenge areas, including digital transformation, cross-border data flows, development of digital economy, and digital content, while also fostering AI and IoT-driven approaches in the region.
SAMENA Council believes policies and co-operative approaches can help develop new methods and models of engagement, help frame future-friendly regulations and policies, and cross-stakeholder involvement should be fostered to incentivize and influence more investment in digital development. The digital ecosystem's sustainability challenges and the need for making better use of digital technologies, therefore, demand that all stakeholders collectively communicate on common issues and needs, while providing SAMENA Council the opportunity to provide advocacy support and build communication bridges with regional governments.
About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Microsoft opened its Dubai-based headquarters in 1991, which, today, oversees operations across the region.
For more information (Press only):
Hassan Al Shouli , Microsoft MEA
E : alshouli@microsoft.com
M: +971 50 934 0133
Husain Gandhi, ProGlobal Media
E: h.gandhi@proglobal.ae
T: +971 56 534 8764
About SAMENA Telecommunications Council
SAMENA Telecommunications Council is South Asia - Middle East - North Africa (SAMENA) region’s premier industry association of telecom operators and service providers. SAMENA Council voices network operators’ issues and needs to regulators, policymakers, and international institutions. The most renowned regional telecom operators, including Saudi Telecom, Etisalat, Batelco Group, du, Viva Kuwait, Orange - MEA, Zain Group, Telecom Egypt, Sudatel, Omantel, and Alfa (managed by Orascom TMT), among other leading operators and technology companies, are a part of the Council’s membership. SAMENA Council is a sector development partner to the private and the public sectors, and empowers stakeholders to communicate together and addressing the most pressing industry issues, in order to help create a sustainable business environment for the industry, and to accelerate digital development in regional economies.
As an international non-profit organization, SAMENA Council is contributing to the understanding of cross-stakeholder priorities within the public and the private sectors. The Council has created a unique regional position as the regulatory reach and operator advocacy organization, promoting institution-level engagements with leading private and public-sector organizations.
SAMENA Council was founded in 2006. In February 2018 in Barcelona, Saudi Telecom Company, represented by Eng. Nasser Al Nasser as its GCEO, was re-elected to chair the Board of Directors of SAMENA Council.