Since the inception of Zain-SA operation in 2008, we are first and foremost a customer centric organization as a part of our business strategy. Keeping our customers’ needs in mind, we have set up our organizational level Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and goals to ascertain the real experiences of our customers and tailor our solutions and Services to meet their telecom requirements. In recent time telecommunication systems have made tremendous advancement, by introducing new breeds of the technologies, like UMTS, HSPDA, HSPDA+, and LTE. These technologies offer to enterprises, corporate businesses and governments to use and deliver a greater range of services and more interactive applications to their customers and users. The emerging Telecom technologies are moving faster than ever before so as the gadgets at users end.

The management and deployment of efficient networks for next generation Networks, particularly for broadband services, is critical for every country. It enables operators to maintain a competitive advantage in the current market environment. Demand for VoIP, Mobile TV, Mobile Banking, Pervasive computing, data services and multimedia streaming is steadily increasing in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from the business and retail sector, and operators needs to address the technology measures and strategic implications required to carry out a successful roll-out plan and program.

The customer centric approach from Zain will consolidate a lot of Convergence capabilities to allow our users a transparent use of applications. Many other parts of the network will undergo radical change. Billing and operations support systems, for example, will have to be able to track and monitor services across the architecture in ways that they don’t have capability at present. The NGN architecture will provide a standard interface for user to choose the service and use it as much as needed. The quality of service will be improve, under the NGN architecture, carriers also will have a common approach on implementing QOS, an attribute that currently is handled in multiple ways. That does not mean carriers will lose the ability to use QOS as a major attribute in differentiating services. Instead, the NGN design eventually will put standard attributes and definitions around QOS.

Ahmed Al-Faifi is a distinguished engineer with diversity of experiences in the telecom industry. Ahmed has worked for regulator, vendor and operator which all contributed to build a unique experience and knowledge from different stakeholders of the telecom business.  Within the industry Ahmed has been responsible for business planning and strategy, project management, operation management, sales and business development. Among other leading employers, Ahmed’s worked for MoDA in different managerial positions, Ericsson as director new accounts and business development, CITC (regulator) as manager for mobile licensing, and joined Zain KSA at startup as chief officer for planning and business development. Ahmed has also taken the position of the chief technology officer (CTO) and currently he is in charge of the operations as chief operations officer (COO). Al-Faifi attained a BSc from KSU University in 1996 and MSc from KAAU University in telecom engineering. Al-Faifi also holds a diploma from Ericsson in mobile technologies.

Dr. Hosein Badran holds the position of  Regional Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Distinguished Systems Architect,  with Cisco Systems International, covering the Middle East and Africa region. With close to 25 years experience in the telecommunication and networking industry as well as academia, he has spent the last twelve years with Cisco Systems were he has held several management and technical consultancy positions. As a Regional CTO, Dr. Badran is closely engaged with major operators on the deployment of new IP NGN technologies, as well as with government agencies, telecom regulators and ministries for the promotion of new ICT-related country transformation initiatives.

Before joining Cisco, he worked with Nortel Networks in Ottawa, Canada, as a member of the Magellan Passport development team on traffic engineering algorithms, then with the International Network Engineering team on the development of the network engineering guidelines for multi-service networks with major operators world wide. He then worked with FORE Systems in Dubai as a Senior Consulting Engineer covering the Middle East region.

He also worked in different capacities at Siemens AG in Munich, Germany, and at Ecole National Superierure de Telecommunications (ENST) in Paris, France.

Dr. Badran holds a PhD in ATM Networks from Queen’s University in Canada (1994), M.Sc. in Tele-traffic Engineering from Cairo University in Egypt (1987), and B.Sc.(Highest Honors) in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Cairo University (1985). He held teaching positions at both Cairo and Queen’s universities. Dr. Badran has been a Senior Member of the IEEE since 1998. He is a Cisco WiMAX Ambassador and an International ATM Forum Ambassador.

He has represented Cisco at several regional and international forums, including , WSIS, ITU Telecom Africa, and Egyptian Ministerial Task Force on IPv6 Deployment.

Dr. Badran has been selected to be the official Cisco representative to the newly formed ITU Council Working Group on Child Protection (CWG-CP), and represents Cisco at the FTTH Council Middle East.

It is somewhat surprising to realize that many important and brilliant experiments in the history of science, though extremely influential in their day, have been neglected as time has passed.  Looking back on these “lost” discoveries can provide wonderful insights into the methods and philosophy of science, and perhaps help researchers chart a better course through their own efforts.  In addition, the people, places, and circumstances of past scientific discoveries are fascinating and entertaining in their own right!

In this talk I will try and highlight these ideas by looking at two distinct periods of optical history, and two experiments that have played a huge role in the development of optics but are usually not talked about in a traditional optics curriculum.

We begin by looking at the camera obscura work of Ibn al-Haytham during the Islamic Golden Age, circa 1000 C.E., and also note the work of some other important researchers of the time.  Al-Haytham’s Book of Optics both preserved the knowledge of ancient Greek researchers and introduced his own discoveries and innovations, and it was an influential text through medieval times.  A curious set of circumstances led to al-Haytham’s work, which will be discussed.

We conclude by considering the work of François Arago on stellar aberration in the early 1800s.  Arago, coming through a very rough patch of his life involving multiple imprisonments, attempted and failed to measure variations of the speed of light from stellar objects.  This experiment may be said to be the first proof of special relativity, though it would take another century for this to be appreciated!  Arago’s work was important in the acceptance of the wave theory of light, but it also curiously introduced as many misconceptions as it eliminated.

Greg Gbur is an Associate Professor of Physics and Optical Science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, specializing in research in theoretical classical optics.  He earned his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Rochester in 2001.  He has over sixty peer-reviewed articles in print, including two review articles in Progress in Optics, and is the author of a recent textbook, Mathematical Methods for Optical Physics and Engineering, published by Cambridge University Press.  Dr. Gbur also writes a weblog called “Skulls in the Stars” that focuses on explaining concepts in physics, optics, and the history of science.  One of his blog posts was recently published in The Open Laboratory 2010, a printed compilation of the best online science writing for 2010.

While some of these ecosystems have appeared without specific planning, others are the result of deliberate efforts by university-industry partnerships with regional authorities. The planned development of a region of high-tech enterprises is a task, which is carefully undertaken over the years. One prominent strategy to support the speedy development of regional entrepreneurial ecosystems involves the establishment of technology business incubation facilities that provide the necessary technology development and enterprise creation support infrastructure.

This presentation draws upon the authors’ last several years of research on S&T based regional entrepreneurship implemented through pro-active technology business incubation programs. These programs often employ mechanisms such as science and technology parks and incubators. The paper is based on the last couple of decades of empirical evidence in light of the existing theory developed from studying the characteristics and evolution of such programs. The successful regional program models have resulted in the emergence of several dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystems around the world.

Sarfraz Mian is Professor of Entrepreneurship & Policy, Chair Marketing & Management in the School of Business, State University of New York, Oswego (www.oswego.edu/~mian). As visiting faculty, he has taught entrepreneurship policy at universities in Europe and South Asia. Mian served as Chair, INFORMS Technology Management (2002-04) and an Executive Member and newsletter editor of the Academy of Management TIM Division (2000-05). He is the co-founder and US Coordinator of North American Innovation Research Network (NAIRNet) and is the Head (PI) of Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Pakistan. His recent scholarly work include: guest editor of a special issue of IJEIM on ‘Innovative University Programs in Technology Business Incubation’ (2011); two books – ‘Building Knowledge Regions in North America: Emerging Technology Innovation Poles and ‘Science & Technology Based Regional Entrepreneurship: Global Experience in Policy and Program Development (Edward Elgar). Mian’s JBV, Research Policy articles on university business incubation are among the most cited. He has 30 years of experience with international bodies, governments, industry and academia.

Today we are standing at a crossroad. While few having their own vested interests at the back of their minds have some serious apprehensions about future of Pakistan, there are very strong indicators that we would not only emerge as a very fast developing country in near future but would also regain our lost grounds very soon.

On many occasions in the past we as a nation has shown remarkable performance in many fields of common life. Agreeing the fact that there have been some serious lapses in overall management of our vital institutions but at the same time although in a hard way but we have learnt some lessons during the process. Today our millions of Pakistanis are contributing very effectively in making success stories abroad only because they are working in the environment which is totally based on use of Information and Communication Technologies ( ICTs).

During past when entire developing world was keeping the foundations of essential and vital services like health, education, good governance and creation of employment opportunities on use of ICTs, we ignored the most effective and powerful vehicle of development i.e. use of ICTs as enabler in development sector.

We can still cover the damage done and catch up with developing world because as a nation we are adoptive to technology based change towards improvement. Highest level of teledensity and presence of Internet cafes even in remote areas is sufficient proof of this  adoptive capabilities.

If some best international practices to use ICTs for Development (ICT4D ) are applied under a joint action campaign by all stake holders, we can still BOUNCE BACK and emerge as a fast developing country by the year 2015. This is ICT4ALL Pakistan Vision-2015.

Mr. Ammar Jaffri holds Master’s Degrees in Statistics and Computer Sciences and has served more than forty years in versatile areas of Information Technology and ICT in different departments of Federal Government that include Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense, ISI, Intelligence Bureau and Federal Investigation Agency.

Mr. Jaffri has successfully Implemented number of mega IT Projects as Project Director in Government of Pakistan. His most recent contributions are:-

1) Implementation of a country-wide Immigration Control System (PISCES) of Federal Investigation Agency. 

2) Conceiving and designing of Integrated Boarder Management System (IBMS) linking all law enforcement  agencies and visa issuance / extension departments of Pakistan with Immigration System for tracking illegal immigration and over-stayed foreigners.

3) Conceiving, designing and implementation of first cyber crimes response set-up of Pakistan. National Response Center for Cyber Crimes (NR3C) Federal Investigation Agency has now emerged as a single point of contact for cyber Security issues of IT Industry of Pakistan, all Public and Private sector Organizations and International stakeholders. 

Mr. Jaffri is a well known speaker on the subjects of Information Security, Cyber Security, Business Continuity Planning, e-Banking, New technologies on Internet and similar topics. Having vast exposure of national and international issues in his areas of expertise, Mr. Jaffri has represented Pakistan in number of National and International Conferences and professionally contributed in number of workshops.

Mr. Jaffri is also contributing as Chairman technical committee of Automated Finger Print Identification System (AFIS) FIA; Focal person from Pakistan on all International initiatives on cyber crimes like Group – 8 (USA) OIC-CERT, SAARC-CERT, AP-CERT etc.; Member of Communication Vigilance Committee Cabinet Division.

To developed countries with multiple broadband and telecommunications options, the launch of LTE is just another higher speed platform, performing better than 3G.   However in countries where GPRS & Limited 3G is available, this will be a major game changer.

Come and learn, how each of the following markets can increase performance, reduce costs and improve the bottom line with 4G technologies i.e., Telecom Operators and ISP’s, Corporate Markets, Consumer Markets, Education Markets, Healthcare & Medical, E-Government, Security and Surveillance

Mr Qureshi is a telecommunications veteran with 30 years business and telecommunications companies starting up experience.

Menaa Group is a innovative company that is leading the deployment of technology and applications for utilization by corporate, industrial and  deployment in Middle-East, Africa and Asia as 4G TD/FDD-LTE networks are deployed in these markets.

Prior to joining Menaa group, he also lead starting up Ainfiniti Consulting. Earlier he was General Manager, core team member and visionary that created WiMAX based, Wateen Telecom, the broadband starship of Warid & Abu Dhabi Groups telecom offering. Later at Etisalat-PTCL, as Vice President Commercial Operations, he launched nationwide DSL/OFAN service, CDMA wireless V-Fone nationwide service and laid the foundation for nationwide EvDO Wireless Broadband service. Earlier during his 20 years in Silicon Valley- California, USA he held various Vice President & Director level positions at Luminous Networks, Qwest Communications, International Wireless Communications, East West Infiniti, Versatec-Xerox, Racal Vadic and Nortel.

Despite immense potential of solar energy the currently used photovoltaic cells suffers from higher cost due to manufacturing processes they use and are inefficient due to inadequate absorption of sunlight. Ongoing research into photovoltaic energy and new development in nanotechnology is overcoming these challenges. Nanotechnology in the form of quantum dots, nanorods, nanotubes and Graphene have been shown to enhance absorption of sunlight, make low cost flexible solar panels and increase the efficiency beyond standard thermodynamic limit of photovoltaic cells. While quantum dots and nanorods are used to better pick incident light at different wavelength, the use of carbon nanotubes exhibit ballistic electricalconductivity and are very efficient for transporting electrons and providing high electric field at the polymer/nanotubes interfaces. In addition single wall carbon nanotubes offers unique properties of offering a wide range of bandgaps to match the solar spectrum, enhanced optical absorption and reduced carrier scattering for hot carrier transport.  In spite of many advantages of nanotubes there are significant problems in the implementation on large scale. The epitaxial Graphene, on the other hand, avoids these problems while retaining many of the important electronic properties of carbon nanotubes.

Salahuddin Qazi holds a Ph.D., degree in electrical engineering from the University of Technology, Loughborough, England, U.K., B.S. degree in electronic engineering from University college of Wales, Bangor, U.K., He is currently a full Professor and past chair of School of Information Systems and Engineering Technology at the State University of New York Institute of Technology, Utica, New York. He teaches and conducts research in the area of fiber optics, wireless communications and nanotechnology and alternative energy. Dr. Qazi is currently developing instructional material on Visualization and Manipulation of Nanoscale Components Using Low Cost AFMs as a part of NSF award and co-edited a CRC Handbook on “Nanotechnology for Telecommunications.” He has also submitted a chapter on “Nanotechnology for Photovoltaic Energy,” for a handbook on a handbook of “Research on Solar Energy Systems and Technologies” by IGI Global Inc., for which he is also a co-editor.

Dr. Qazi has participated as an invited speaker and presenter in several international conferences and workshops. He was a CO-PI for a US-Pakistan conference on “High Capacity Optical Networking and Enabling Technology,” which was jointly supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) of USA and the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan. He is recipient of several awards including the William Goddel award for research creativity at SUNYIT and engineering professionalism by Mohawk Valley Engineering Executive Committee, and forging closer relations with the IEEE Mohawk Valley section. Dr. Qazi is a senior life member of IEEE and a member of American Society of Engineering Education.

Poorly maintained networks, servers and desktops can cause mission-critical technical resources to fail, resulting in a loss of productivity, reputation, data, customers, and revenue.  Thus GRC become a paramount Factor for business success and working in competitive environment.

Presentation will be coving the following topics.

ISO 27001 (Information Security Management System - ISMS)
ISO 20000 (IT Service Management - ITSM)
BS 25999     (Business Continuity Management- BCM)