Intelligent Tech Channels Issue 07 | Page 8

NEWS KSA launches SAP Cloud Hub Fujitsu opens call for entries for SELECT Partner Innovation Awards F German Chancellor Angela Merkel and His Majesty King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud witnessed an MoU to launch the SAP Cloud Hub. W itnessed by His Majesty King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, during her trade mission to the Kingdom, SAP announced a plan to launch the SAP Cloud Hub, in collaboration with the Saudi Ministry of Communication and Information Technology represented by the National Digitization Office, to support the acceleration of Saudi Vision 2030 and meet the Kingdom’s digital transformation goals. The investment of SAR285 million will happen over a period of four years, and the SAP Cloud Hub will be made up of four key pillars: the establishment of a public cloud datacentre in the Kingdom; an open platform for local developers; a co-innovation centre to support Saudi startups and customers from both large, and small and medium-sized enterprises, and further localisation of SAP solutions to support Saudi’s economic diversification goals and government investment. Saudi Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program 2020 call on government agencies to deliver and use more online and mobile technology solutions, especially in the areas of enhancing the citizen experience, talent development and procurement. 8 In this context, the National Transformation Program outlines SAR285 billion (over $71 billion) in government spending by 2020, driving public sector cloud adoption. Cloud solutions, running on a pay-as-you-go OPEX model, will be essential for driving the Internet of Things and Smart Cities’ innovation across smart utilities, traffic, and security and defence. As part of the announcement, the Ministry of Economy and Planning, and the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology represented by the National Digitization Office, will work with SAP to explore integrating the SAP Cloud Hub into the planned government cloud, in order to further enhance government efficiency, employee productivity and citizen services. SAP will be the first international software provider to launch a public cloud hub in Saudi Arabia by the end of 2017. Organisations running solutions on the SAP local datacentre can securely analyse data in-country for real-time decision- making. Analysts agree the datacentre will make a major impact in supporting the transformation of Saudi’s industry verticals, such as banking and finance, construction, manufacturing, the public sector and retail. ujitsu is now accepting nominations for its SELECT Innovation Awards for channel partners. The awards are open to Fujitsu’s more than 16,000 worldwide SELECT Partner Programme members. One winner and two finalists will be selected by a committee of judges consisting of Fujitsu executives, who will evaluate the impact of each project in terms of furthering Fujitsu’s vision of creating a human centric intelligent society. The innovative deployment of key technologies, such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, cloud and security will also be taken into account. The winner will be awarded a bounty of $10,000 in joint marketing funds and two additional shortlisted submissions will receive benefits including a complimentary trip to attend the Fujitsu Forum Munich 2017 in November and a video case study of their project. Last year, the Cutter Group was named winner of the SELECT Innovation Award for the digital transformation of classrooms in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The outcome was the creation of unprecedented educational opportunities for young women in the region. Also shortlisted was BWO Systems for an advanced biometric access control system and Business Systems International for a project to implement a reliable, scalable end-to-end system to support a European online retailer’s plans for growth. All SELECT Partner Programme members – both SELECT Registered and SELECT Expert – are eligible to submit nominations for the SELECT Innovation Awards. Entries will be accepted until 8 September 12:00 CET and the winners will be revealed at an awards reception during the Fujitsu Forum Munich in November 2017. To enter, partners should submit their digital transformation projects via www.fujitsu.com/select-innovation ssue 07 NTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS