07/12/2024
Share:
07/12/2024
Share:
KUWAIT CITY, Dec 07: Zain, Kuwait’s leading technology innovator, announced its platinum sponsorship of NEXUS—the largest technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship gathering of its kind. The three-day event was held at The Arena Kuwait, featuring participation from over 100 entities from the public and private sectors, under the patronage and presence of H.E. Minister of State for Telecommunications Affairs, Omar Al-Omar.
Zain took part in the exhibition's opening ceremony, which was attended by officials, executives, and experts representing a wide range of vibrant industries. The company's support to this event aligns with its strategy to contribute to the national economy, emphasize the private sector's role in supporting the country’s digital transformation plans, accelerate the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and foster and empower Kuwaiti talent.
‘How Technology Shapes the Future’
During the event, a panel discussion titled, How AI, Data, and IoT Will Shape the Future, was held, joined by Hamad Al-Marzouq, Chief Enterprise Business Officer at Zain Kuwait; Abdullah Al-Ajmi, Acting Chairman of the Communications and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA); along with other experts.
During the panel, Al-Marzouq highlighted Zain's leading role in digital transformation and how the company employs IoT and AI technologies to enhance customer experience and promote digital lifestyles. He also discussed some of Zain’s innovative solutions to integrate data analytics in smart city projects.
He also discussed key projects in collaboration with government and private institutions to advance smart city initiatives and explored the opportunities that 5G and IoT technologies bring to Kuwait’s digital future.
At the panel, Al-Marzouq said, “At Zain, we take pride in being pioneers in adopting AI solutions and new technologies. We extend our gratitude to CITRA for their role in supporting our initiatives and facilitating the necessary licenses for launching technologies such as 5G, data centers, and cloud services in the market.”
He continued, “On the consumer side, we were the first to introduce AI-powered customer service solutions, such as our interactive smart platform, zBot, that we launched years ago. We also offer a comprehensive portfolio of IoT solutions that enrich our customers' smart home experiences.”
Al-Marzouq added, “For the enterprise sector, we have numerous success stories where we empowered public and private sector entities to adopt the latest solutions such as 5G and 5G Advanced connectivity, and we’ve worked to enhance the smart city ecosystem by deploying 800,000 smart meters in collaboration with the Ministry of Electricity and Water.”
He further elaborated, “Our solid partnerships with global technology giants such as Microsoft, Amazon (AWS), Google Cloud, and others have strengthened our digital infrastructure to provide the best services and solutions for business clients in the Kuwaiti market, including large corporations, SMEs, and the public sector.”
Al-Marzouq also highlighted a recent AI-driven platform Zain developed for enterprise clients, which helps track project progress using data-driven insights. Among the notable success stories was the partnership with the Kuwait Credit Bank to provide an engineering inspection platform using drones, significantly enhancing citizens' experiences.
Discussing the significance of data, Al-Marzouq stated, “Data has become one of the most valuable resources today. At Zain, we recently launched the Zain Data Office, which assists us in making data-driven decisions. We harness the power of data to offer solutions that help overcome societal challenges and create exclusive offerings tailored to our customers' unique needs.”
Zain had an engaging presence at NEXUS, showcasing its leading experience in digital transformation, support for Kuwaiti entrepreneurs, and the latest fintech solutions, through its dedicated booth and by sharing expertise during engaging panel discussions and specialized workshops throughout the three-day event.
Exclusive bundles for SMEs
During its participation at NEXUS, Zain launched all-new exclusive bundles tailored for SME customers. Designed specifically for startups, these packages include a variety of offerings from Zain's business portfolio, such as cloud solutions, 5G services, IoT, 5G connectivity, and more.
These new plans from Zain provide customized, integrated solutions specifically designed for SMEs, helping them manage and operate their businesses seamlessly. The plans are cost-effective by bundling several services at a competitive price, with flexibility to customize and add-on as needed, ensuring small businesses have the tools and support needed for success and sustainable growth.
The bundles target SMEs looking to enhance operational efficiency, providing reliable, fast 5G internet connectivity, hosted collaboration services, access to the latest productivity tools, high-level security, and flexible payment options.
Alongside the new plans, Zain’s booth featured a notable contribution from FOO, Zain’s fintech partner, showcasing cutting-edge fintech solutions for institutions, including digital wallets, digital banking, banking-as-a-service, cloud-as-a-service, payment solutions, digital transformation enablement, and more.
Fostering growth for entrepreneurs
During the event, Haya Al-Mana, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Expert at Zain Kuwait, took part in a panel titled Ecosystem Builders and Enablers. She highlighted Zain's innovation strategy, which aims to support entrepreneurs and empower startups by providing world-class mentorship and acceleration resources.
Al-Mana spoke about Zain's role in providing resources and mentorship to new entrepreneurs through its award-winning tech startup accelerator, Zain Great Idea (ZGI). She also discussed the challenges startups face in the tech space and how to overcome them to achieve sustainable growth, as well as Zain's efforts to foster innovation and inclusion, especially for women in entrepreneurship.
Zain's booth featured participation from three Kuwaiti entrepreneurs from the finalists of the ZGI program, which recently concluded its global acceleration phase in Silicon Valley in the U.S. The participants included Faisal Tawfiqi and Fahad Alzuabi from USim— the seamless internet roaming app, Abdullah Albusairi from EYON— the Arab live streaming platform, and Abdullah Shaban from Mawqif— the ultimate parking app. They highlighted their competitive services to visitors and shared their experiences from the ZGI program.
NEXUS featured the first-of-its-kind startup challenge, where 100 startups competed for six major awards totaling KWD 30,000, including a grand prize of KWD 10,000. Three startups from the current ZGI cohort participated in the competition: Ghaneema Al-Mutawa, Yousur Al-Mutawa, and Yasmeen Al-Kandari from Seeds Academy; Mohammed Al-Kandari and Khaled Ibrahim from Caliery; and Abdulrahman Al-Fneisan from ADWAA. They presented their pioneering ideas and business models to the judging panel and audience.
Partnership with "Raha"
On the sidelines of the exhibition, Zain announced a collaboration with Raha, the rapidly growing logistics technology company in Kuwait. Through this collaboration, Raha’s subsidiary, Smooth Logistics, will support Zain’s logistics operations, leveraging its expertise in advanced AI-powered robotics and automation solutions, considered to be among the best in their class in the logistics industry.
The partnership was announced in the presence of Ahmad Al-Habib, Outbound Department Manager in the Channels Division at Zain Kuwait, and Saleh Al-Tunaib, co-founder and CEO of Raha. Smooth Logistics will provide support in managing Zain's logistics operations, including transporting, storing, and shipping products and orders, following the highest standards of quality and efficiency, and utilizing AI-powered robotic solutions in its state-of-the-art facilities in Kuwait.
