Amman – The Information and Communications Technology Association of Jordan (int@j), in partnership with the Ministries of Investment and Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship and the Jordan Business Council in Dubai, have announced the agenda of Jordan Innovation, Tech & Entrepreneurship in Dubai – JOITED, which is set to be held on 21-25 of February.
In the statement issued today, int@j highlighted that the renowned Jordanian media figure Sally Assad will be the master of ceremony, while the opening statement will be delivered by HE Mr. Zaher Qatarneh, Secretary General of the Ministry of Investment and Commissioner General of the Jordanian Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.
int@j expressed its appreciation of the companies supporting and sponsoring the event, which are: “JoPACC”, “MakanE”, “Webhelp”, “Eastnets”, and “Aspire”.
The forum will include several sessions, the first of which is titled “Why Jordan Is a Digital & Innovation Hub?” and will be moderated by Eng. Bashar Kilani, Vice Chairman of JBC-Dubai. Meanwhile, Minister of Digital Economy & Entrepreneurship HE Mr. Ahmad Hanandeh will be attending as a speaker, along with the Minister of Investment HE Eng. Khairy Amr and Chairman of int@j Mr. Amjad Suwais.
During this session, panelists will discuss several topics and questions, mainly: Is Jordan really a regional digital & innovation hub? What is the value proposition of Jordan as a regional hub? What does Jordan offer in terms of Infrastructure, human resources, incentives, legislations, success stories, and so on?
The second session discusses the government’s efforts towards AI transformation and smart cities, and will be moderated by Mohammad Rawabdeh, a promotion expert at Jordan Ministry of Investment.
Attending this session as speakers are Eng. Hadeel Abdallat, AI Transformation Project Manager at Jordan Ministry of Investment and Eng. Sultan Al-Kharabsheh, IT Director at Greater Amman Municipality (GAM), along with Eng. Jabra Dahdal, IT Director at Aqaba Special Economic Zone (ASEZA).
This session will address the AI Transformation vision and Roadmap, namely the AI transformation journey and vision, the six main technologies that will be adopted, and the added value. It will also discuss future smart cities plans, road map, mega projects and investment opportunities in Amman & Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA).
As for the third session, it will tackle what is currently happening in Jordan in regard to Fintech, while highlighting some Jordanian success stories and case studies by Jordanian Fintech companies and start-ups locally, regionally and globally.
The session will be moderated by Founder & CEO of Eastnets Eng. Hazem Mulhim, and the speakers at this session are Ms. Maha Bahou, CEO of Jordan Payments & Clearing Company (JoPACC); Eng. Mohammad Tahboub, President & CEO of Bayanat; Ms. Maha Al-Said, CEO of Gate to Pay; and Eng. Naser Saleh, Executive Chairman & Founder of MadfooatCom.
In the fourth session, panelist will discuss how successful Jordanian companies have been in driving digital transformation in public and private sectors based on Jordanian success stories and case studies related to EnterpriseTech & digital transformation locally, regionally and globally.
The session will be moderated by Mr. Majed Sifri, CEO of Optimiza, and speaking at the session will be Eng. Aiman Mazahreh, CEO of Specialized Technical Services (STS); Ms. Rana Abuzaid Qubain, General Manager of Investment World for Development and Technology (IWDT); and Mr. Walid Tahabsem, CEO of Integrated Technology Group (ITG), in addition to Eng. Yousef Alem, Managing Director of Echo Technology and Dr. Rami Shaheen, Transformation Consultant.
For the fifth session, the most important question will be addressed: Is Jordan keeping up with emerging technologies?
In response to this question, the session will highlight some Jordanian success stories as well as study cases related to emerging technologies (cyber security, AI, blockchain, and IOT) by Jordanian companies and start-ups locally, regionally and globally.
The discussion will be moderated by Mr. Saqr Ereiqat, Co-Founder / Managing Partner of Crypto Oasis Sentio, while panelists include Eng. Sameer Mubarak, Chairman of Nafith Logistics, Traxware Ltd.; Eng. Ruba Darwish, Country Manager of BMB; Dr. Hussein Al-Natsheh, Chief Data Scientist at EMEA of Beyond Limits;, and Eng. Alaa Daboubi, Managing Director/Co-Founder of Synaptic Technologies.
As for sixth session, the following question will be addressed: Are Jordanian talents the key to why Jordan is becoming ITO/BPO International Hub? The moderator of this session will be Dr. Mutaz Nabulsi, CEO of Estarta Solutions.
To address this key question, the session will host Eng. Raed Madanat, Project Director of Youth, Technology & Jobs (YTJ) Project at the Ministry of Digital Economy & Entrepreneurship (MODEE); Mr. Michael Orfaly, Country Senior Partner for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) in Jordan; and Mr. Wa’ed Al Hawamdeh, Country Director of Webhelp Jordan, in addition to Eng. Jawdat Nassar, VP of Technology and Business Development of Aspire IT Services Partner, and Eng. Ammar Mango, Founder of Case in Point Consulting.
Also during the forum, Mr. Philip Bahoshy, Founder and CEO of MAGNiTT, will present and discuss “Jordanian Startups Success in Numbers”.
In the closing session, the question of “Why Jordanian Startups are special?” will be raised, seeking to provide investors and potential partners with a clear idea about the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Jordan and to showcase some success stories.
This session will be moderated by Mr. Tamer Al-Salah, Managing Director of BeyondCapital, while panelists will include Eng. Mohammad Khawaja, CEO of StartAppz; Mr. Ziad Al Masri, Entrepreneurship Consultant / StartupsJo Council; Mr. Yousef Hamidaddin, Board Member of The VentureX; and Mr. Anas Elayyan, General Manager of OpenSooq.
In the four days following the forum, an expo for Jordanian Tech companies and startups will be held at the Jordanian pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, where many clients, investors, and potential partners will meet with a number of Jordanian companies.
The event aims to promote Jordan as a regional digital and innovation hub and enable Jordanian companies to meet and communicate with major international companies and investment funds, eventually seeking to create opportunities for growth and expansion.
