Technology & IT | Thursday 12 March, 2015 1:58 pm |

The first GCC BIG DATA SUMMIT closed on Tuesday March 10 in Dubai after hosting more than 230 registered delegates – with widespread praise from speakers and audience members for the intellectual quality of the presentations and the high-level networking opportunities provided.

The positive reactions from IT and Data professionals present have led the organisers – TMC of Dubai – to announce that their Saudi Big Data Summit will take place in the Riyadh between 16 and 17 November, 2015.

The GCC BIG DATA SUMMIT ran at Dubai’s Address Marina Hotel from March 8 through 10. Delegates learned about scores of important use-cases which detailed Big Data successes and – equally important – drew vital lessons from local and international failures. Practical illustrations were provided by experienced data scientists from international and regional government, telecoms, IT, airline, banking, energy, healthcare and utilities sectors.

All presenters were recognised thought-leaders: senior specialists from the UK Government Cabinet Office, Etisalat, Injazat Data Systems, DU Telecoms, Emirates Airline, Great Western Bank USA, Halliburton USA, ADNOC, ADCB, Standard Chartered, Gulf Air, ADWEA, Daman, Mobily and others.

Among many comments received during the Summit are the following.

Speaker Andrew Stott, Director of Transparency at the UK Government Cabinet Office, summed up: ”The latest global thinking and practical experience on this fast-moving subject was successfully brought together by the organisers, TMC of Dubai.

“The event has shown how leading businesses in the region are already using Big Data to enhance their performance: participants will have learnt key lessons about the leadership, cultural and technological transformation needed to achieve Big Data success.”

Jassem Al Nuaimi, Head of Customer Experience Management at Etisalat, added: “It was a great pleasure to attend this Summit: it was well organised and smooth running.” His colleague Zeeshan Saeed, Project Manager and Track Lead for Data Analysis, added: “This was a real networking opportunity. It was good to see that CXO’s from all spheres are taking Big Data Analytics even more seriously.”

Amal Al Sayari, Data Specialist for GASCO in Abu Dhabi, noted: “As a speaker, I liked the way in which the organisers merged the different experts and different industries so that we could all learn about what others are doing. The quality of organisation and presentations was excellent throughout.”

“This Summit was a booster for me and my company as we move in this direction!” emphasized Dayananda Hebbar, Senior Manager for Enterprise Applications at Petrofac. “The variety of topics gave us real insight into Big Data, especially in our field, oil and gas.”

Speaker Ron Van Zanten, Vice President of Data Quality & Business Intelligence for Great Western Bank of the USA, said: “I have been so impressed with the quality of the content and the speakers, plus the knowledgeable and engaged audience.”

Gavin Breslin, Director of Corporate Relations for IE Business School in the Middle East, concluded: “As an exhibitor, IE was delighted with the high quality audience and the level of course enquiries. We have meetings scheduled for weeks ahead!”