SAMENA Telecommunications Council has partnered with Huawei to host this year’s SAMENA Council Leaders' Summit 2022 for the ninth consecutive year. The annual gathering of Telecoms multi-industry leaders will take place on May 9^th, 2022, under the chairmanship of SAMENA, and with the patronage of the UAE’s Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority.

Held under the theme of “Thriving with Resilience & Integration in the New Opportunity Realm”, the Leader’s Summit will welcome Chairmen and CEOs from the private sector and top decision-makers from regional regulatory authorities, global bodies and institutions, as well as the participation of global leaders and entities focused on institutionalizing and fostering cross-sector digitization and collaboration.

The summit will focus on the business opportunities availed through the integration of technologies, infrastructure investments, connectivity, and spectrum availability to benefit vertical industries and economic sectors, in alignment with the region’s government visions.

More specifically, Huawei will highlight the role of 5G, cloud and digital power in tackling the sustainability needs of the telecom industry and how an integrated intelligent ICT architecture will light up the future. Huawei will further delve into cloud's integral role in enabling the digital economy and data sovereignty through its ‘Everything as a Service’ model.

Experts will also address how network technology is changing industries and the society, in turn, changing the demands of data in the network, as well as explore connectivity requirements for the 5G era and explore new trends and innovations that will drive new advanced networks. Operators can improve networks capabilities and performance by taking advantage of new technologies and larger bandwidth spectrum such as 6GHz frequency band and the introduction of intelligent capabilities into industrial mobile networks.

As networks evolve given the increased demand for reliable connectivity, ultra-low latency, and the need for speed, coverage, and capacity, security will be a key discussion point during the Summit. Huawei will highlight how security needs to be fully considered before commercial use, and the importance of aligning with global network standards set by bodies such as 3GPP and the GSMA. These bodies have formulated the NESAS/SCAS global security standard certification system for network equipment that many Middle Eastern countries already include in their national network security policy.

Steven Yi, President of Huawei Middle East, said, “Digital transformation has pivoted to new heights, with 5G era infrastructure and communications technologies taking center stage. Through the Leaders' Summit 2022, Huawei will fulfill its commitment to bringing technological advances to even more industries and create new value by helping governments and enterprises go digital while operating more intelligently.”  

Bocar BA, CEO & Board Member, said: “The Leaders' Summit 2022 aims to signal normalcy in business and to help open doors for leadership discourse on critical industry, policy, business, and societal matters as digital transformation accelerates. We look forward to connecting with industry leaders and experts after a hiatus of two years for the physical edition of the Leaders' Summit 2022, and anticipate that we may productively address technology, sustainability, and cooperation-building challenges on multiple fronts.”

During the Summit, UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (UNESCO IITE) and Huawei, will announce the launch of a new joint insight report on ICT in higher education and technical and vocational education (TVET) in the Middle East and Pakistan called “Talent Ecosystem for Digital Transformation”. The report’s findings have revealed the importance of developing ICT talents and creating relevant ecosystems to enhance ICT skills in the region and expand access to career opportunities in the digital world.

To foster an industry-wide culture of inclusion and inclusiveness, Huawei is committed to creating value for telecom carriers and helping enterprises accelerate their digital transformation. The company places great importance on continuous R&D investments. The company's R&D expenditure reached about USD 22.38 billion in 2021, representing 22.4% of Huawei’s total revenue.