Keynote Speaker

Imad Choucair Chief Information Officer, TECOM Investments, Dubai Holding Imad Choucair is Chief Information Officer at TECOM Investments/Dubai Holding and a member of the management committee. With more than two decades of experience in IT, he helps TECOM Investments and Dubai Holding companies to enhance their competitive advantage by leveraging innovation and technology. Mr Choucair started his career as Head of Software Applications at Solidere in Lebanon, as one of the founders. During his seven years in this role, he helped the company to define and implement its entire IT strategy. After moving to the UAE, Mr Choucair joined Microsoft Corporation and worked for six years as Product Manager for various types of business applications. On leaving Microsoft, he joined Mideast Data Systems in Dubai as General Manager for two companies, where in his first year he transformed the company, achieving record revenue figures and expanding the business by more than 400%. Mr Choucair is an Honours graduate in Computer Science from the American University of Beirut, and holds an MBA from the University of Liverpool. He is currently working on his Doctorate programme in Business Administration.

 

Panel

Dr Jassim Haji Director of IT, Gulf Air  Jassim Haji has been Director of the Information Technology Division of Gulf Air since August 2011. Dr Haji has been instrumental in implementing some key innovations in Gulf Air’s IT systems and processes in recent times, most notably the introduction of advanced technology for the Gulf Air World Wide Contact Centre and cloud computing, that have helped further improve customer interface services, as well as cost efficiency to the company. Dr Haji started his career with Sprint Telecommunications in London before joining Gulf Air in 1985 as a network engineer. Following this he moved to Sabre, an airline IT solutions company to whom Gulf Air outsourced its IT services. When Gulf Air changed its outsourcing services, Dr Haji joined EDS, another American IT solutions company with a global presence, where he rose through the ranks to become Executive Director. He returned to Gulf Air when the company brought back its IT services and was appointed as Head of Information Technology Infrastructure in 2008. Dr Haji received his PhD in Business Administration from the University of Northumbria, UK, in 2010. He has a Master’s degree in Management of Information Technology from the University of Sunderland, UK, and graduated in Telecommunications from the Cable and Wireless College, UK.

Sukhi Gill  Chief Technologist EMEA and HP Fellow, Enterprise Services, HP Sukhi Gill is the HP Enterprise Services Chief Technologist for Europe, Middle East and Africa where he is responsible for overall technical direction, innovation and leading the senior client facing technical leaders and key Account Chief Technologists in HP's second-largest market. He is also an HP Fellow in Enterprise Services, a title awarded to the corporation's most innovative thought leaders in recognition of their exceptional achievements.  Mr Gill has 27 years of experience in the IT industry. For the last ten years, he has held a range of chief technologist and enterprise architect roles, establishing successful partnerships with key business sponsors, influencing strategic and architectural direction, and ensuring organisations gain significant business advantage through the strategic deployment of technology and process innovation. Mr Gill moved to the HP Office of Strategy and Technology in 2008 from his role as the HP led ATLAS Consortium Chief Technology Officer, where he was responsible for technical strategy and innovation for the UK Ministry of Defence’s Information Infrastructure (DII) program. Prior to his return to the UK in 2004, he was the Chief Engineer on the Navy and Marine Corps (NMCI) account, based in San Diego, California. Before working on NMCI, Mr Gill was Infrastructure Technical Director at the UK Inland Revenue account. He transitioned to EDS from the UK Inland Revenue Agency in 1994.