Turning visions into reality – making techno-humanity society pragmatic

I remember joining Microsoft over 20 years ago, working with growth companies comprising of a few intellectuals with an idea. Today, those companies have grown into becoming multinational organisations with a staff complement of over 700 people. All the credit goes to their determination and we are proud that our teams have contributed to the growth of those organisations in UAE and the Gulf region.

Using technological platforms, we’ve enabled them to achieve their goals, become competitive, and ultimately continue their strive for success. Today, we leverage our partners to help us scale and enrich our technology.

We want to empower every organisation and individual on the planet to achieve more, but we’re grounded enough to understand that this is not just our efforts alone—our partners play an equal or at times even a larger role to enable our customers to amplify their overall capabilities.

It’s a topic that intrigues me greatly, and this will be our theme at this year’s GITEX, taking place in Dubai from 6 – 9 October, the event will see stakeholders discuss the creation of a new techno-humanity society that enforces mindful balance between the unbridled power of technology and the human mind, and setting collaboration guidelines for man and machine.

Synergising the mind and technology economy

Technology has shifted the boundaries and now envisioned to revolutionize the impact on social, economy and key areas of business. The impact is powerful, real and sustainable.

Dubai’s transition to a Smart City is one such example. The Emirate initiated the ICT Strategy of Dubai in 1999, followed by the e-government agenda in 2000. Since then, Dubai has invested in major infrastructure that includes tourist attractions, facilities and IT infrastructure, and is now an efficient digital economy that is celebrated worldwide for bridging the gap between citizens and governments.

In my recent experiences with partners and customers, I’ve also seen the consensus around automation and artificial intelligence (AI) shift from uncertainty to excitement. Organisations and institutes in UAE are realizing the power of AI to change people’s lives in ways that do not necessarily replace humans, but augment their capabilities to empower them and achieve more.

Tech is the skill that differentiates competition

If you’re an SME, today through the cloud you can market your solutions across the world. You can have meetings with people located in multiple countries and access your files from anywhere on any device at any time.

In keenness to support these businesses, we have launched two new datacenters in the UAE which will benefit them in scalability, availability and resiliency -while maintaining data residency, security and compliance needs.

What this shows us - is how technology is becoming a major enabler in organisations. We know that technology cannot – and should not – replace humans and traits such as communication, empathy and comprehension. But I am confident that individuals who know how to use technology optimally will bring major value to any organisation looking to amplify its existing capabilities.

I look forward to discussing these and other topics with our customers and partners at the GITEX Technology Week 2019.