Category: Events

RiseUp Summit 2016 has partnered with Elves, the first Facebook chatbot application in Egypt, to create customized, concierge experiences for over 5000 participants expected at the top entrepreneurship event in the MENA region.

To attend the RiseUp Summit from December 9th – 11th in downtown Cairo, participants can log on to the event website and get connected to Facebook Messenger to chat to Elves and purchaser their tickets along with a customized itinerary.

“The world has over 900 million active monthly users of the Facebook Messenger application. Egypt has 32 million Facebook users and 26 million mobile internet users. Communicating through the Facebook platform with anyone who wants to come to RiseUp will make this process a phenomenally smooth experience,” said Con O’Donell, business development manager, RiseUp. “Elves is a very strategic partner for RiseUp, and possibly for a lot more events and conferences, because the possibilities it creates for more customized, personalized itineraries in events with this scale are endless. It also guarantees that when you arrive to the event on December 9th, you have a clear plan.”

The Elves app service has a dedicated ticketing bot that captures the attendee’s interest and objectives from attending the summit. It then provides a choice of the appropriate ticket categories and allows for the purchase transaction to happen directly through the Messenger chat. Elves also helps attendees design their itinerary for the three-day summit, including workshop selection and registration. For international attendees, coming from over 20 cities around the world, Elves is offering hotel reservations through the Fairmont and Windsor Hotels as well as transportation services through London Cab.

Image: Facebook

Karim El Sahy, founder of Elves, said:” Since Facebook launched bots last year, it’s been revolutionizing the service industry. At Elves, we use the ‘Bot’ technology and put real people behind it to provide intelligent, well-researched solutions to anything, anyone needs. For the RiseUp Summit, an event of immense scale and a lot of activity, we’re helping attendees choose the right ticket category and help define their three-day itinerary. For international visitors, we’re taking this a step further and taking care of any logistics they might need during their stay in Cairo.”

For more information, send a message to Elves

RiseUp hosted its annual press conference on the 20^th of November to announce the activities and tracks that will be covered in its 2016 Summit that will be held from December 9 to 11 at Downtown Cairo. The upcoming RiseUp Summit will host more than 5 competitions and satellite events, startup station [exhibition], pitching competitions, networking events, workshops inspiring talks, and panel discussions.

The one-stop-shop entrepreneurship summit will put all of the hosted special events into four main tracks during the three days of the summit: 1. FinTech: the intersection of technology with financial products and services; 2. CleanTech: the intersection of technology with environment, such as renewable energy, recyclables, water, and food; 3. Creative Economy: the intersection of technology, business modules, and creative industries like music, film, design, fashion – making Creative Economy the heart of 21^st century business innovation; 4. Science & Technology Innovation: the intersection of science and tech innovation which will transform our daily lives and the world, including Nanotechnology, Smart Transportation, HealthTech, and Big Data.

Joining the summit are investors, speakers, and startups from all around the world to share their expertise and experiences with all the attendees. This year, representatives from world-known entities like Sony, U.K.’s Goldsmith University, Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, and IBM will be participating in various activities.

Looking at it from a macro perspective, Abdelhameed Sharara, Co-founder and CEO of RiseUp, explained how the fast-growing startups are the tool to develop and improve the current economic situation in Egypt, and might also bring back tourism to Egypt.

Con O’Donnell, RiseUp’s CCO and also one of its co-founders, explained during the conference that every attendee will have a different experience this year, tailored specially for them – calling it Engineered Serendipity.

“This year, we are getting to know each person, who they are, what they need, and what they are looking for at the Summit, so that we can match them up with as many resources as possible to help them benefit the most from the 3-day summit. Tailoring experiences will maximize the opportunities to learn for every entrepreneur, startup, student, investor, and general attendee,” express O’Donnell.

To implement the strategy of engineered serendipity, RiseUp has partnered with Elves, who is providing the ticketing platform for the summit this year through a conversation on Facebook Messenger. “Instead of buying a ticket off of a website, by chatting with an actual person [an elf], Elves will help you buy the ticket to the summit and guide you to attend the tracks that will benefit and interest you the most,” said Karim Elsahy, Founder of Elves.

Also participating in the press conference was one of RiseUp’s success stories – Mumm, the online platform connecting home-cooks with the masses. Knowing the importance of the summit, Waleed Abdelrahman shared how the journey of Mumm started during last year’s RiseUp Summit where he had met his investing company. “We are lucky to have launched during RiseUp, which is why this year we are truly being part of the experience in a variety of activities and also as exhibitors.” As many other startups, Mumm has given the opportunity to economically empower home-based women.

This year the summit is expected to welcome 5000 attendees, share success stories, and provide the room for new investments to take place all throughout the 3-day summit this December. Ending the conference with a positive note, Sharara expressed his excitement to host another successful summit, bringing global speakers, investors, and startups to the heart of Cairo. “It is our role as the entrepreneurship ecosystem to continue to strongly build this community, and to put a positive spotlight on Egypt,” he expressed.

About RiseUp:

RiseUp has grown over the years from a grass-root movement to a global momentum. The purpose behind RiseUp has remained the same: to connect startups to the most relevant resources worldwide.

We act as the glue that fuses ecosystems together to help them realize their ultimate potential. By connecting stakeholders to local & global networks, and fusing diverse talents & resources, ecosystems are enabled to accelerate, innovate, and grow.

Our mission is accomplished through our four products: Summit, Connect, Explore, and Meetup.

November 2016, Amman – The Middle East & North Africa Information & Communications Technology Forum 2016 has concluded its activities on 10th November at the King Hussein Business Park. The Forum witnessed a series of sessions and activities in the presence of notable speakers and experts, in addition to tech enthusiasts who attended the Forum from all over the world.

The Forum was launched on 9th November under the Royal Patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein. The opening session saw speeches from Int@j Chairman Bashar Hawamdeh, Minister of Information and Communications Technology Her Excellency Mrs. Majd Shweikeh, in addition to REACH 2025 representative Karim Kawar.

Several sessions were held on the first day, among which were Digitizing the Economy, What Does the Industry Need to Grow?, Media: Content is Still King, Taking your SME Global: Growth Hacking Techniques for Tech Companies, Smart Cities: Cities of the Future, and Financial Services: Cash, Plastic or Phone?

Second-day sessions featured interactive discussions on the experience of several countries with modern tech trends, in addition to the best practices that enable them to enter the world of digital economy and harnessing tech applications in the best way. Moreover, an entire session was dedicated to REACH 2025, the royal initiative for making Jordan relevant in the global digital economy based on its existing strengths and opportunities, with the participation and presence of the experts who set its core elements. The initiative is set to be implemented in the near future.

Other sessions held on the second day included Healthcare IT, Digital Economy Infrastructure, Humanitarian Causes: the World is a Global Village, Education: Learning Can Be Fun, and finally the Action Plan to Digitize the Jordanian Economy – REACH 2025.

The final day of the Forum also witnessed the announcement of several agreements and partnerships, among which were the One Thousand Entrepreneurs Initiative, launched by Int@j in partnership with “Nejmi”, the first private-sector establishments to offer support to the initiative were Umniah and Bank Al Etihad; the Zain-Microsoft partnership for supporting entrepreneurs; the Int@j-Orange partnership for promoting entrepreneur support offered by the Blue Ocean Council; the agreement between MENAITECH and Microsoft, which aims to offer specialized solutions and systems bundles in the MENA region; the official launch for the Digital Opportunity Trust in Jordan; the partnership agreement between the Cairo Amman Bank and Oracle; the launch of the first Jordanian pavilion at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona by Int@j, Zain, Al Manaseer Group, Qattous Group, Luminus Group, as well as the USAID Jordan Competitiveness Program and Visit Jordan; and the agreement between the Int@j and the Algerian National Association for ANSEJ, CNAC, ANGEM Beneficiaries and Young Investors along with shareholder Numidia Telecom. Int@j has also announced the annual “National ICT Day” as of next year, a day which celebrates the importance of digitizing the economy all over the Kingdom and ways to achieve it, by holding events and awareness-raising sessions.

Int@j thanked Forum organizers, supporters, sponsors, speakers and media representatives in the closing session which witnessed the presence of the Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Her Excellency Mrs. Majd Shweikeh.

Forum participants, speakers and local and regional media representatives flocked to Jordan for the Forum, which stands witness to Jordan becoming a preferred ICT destination for experts from all parts of the world.

It is worth mentioning that the MENA ICT Forum was launched in 2002, and has since been held biennially. It aims to build the vision and mission of the ICT sector in the region, in addition to keeping the audience informed of the latest tech trends and developments, as well as offering them a wide array of international experiences brought forward by field experts from different backgrounds. All-important and widely anticipated by various stakeholders, the MENA ICT Forum has become the premier ICT industry event of the Middle East and North Africa region.

About the Information and Communications Technology Association of Jordan – Int@j

The Information and Communications Technology Association of Jordan – Int@j, is an ICT & IT Enabled Services (ITES) industry-support association founded in 2000, with the aim of improving the dynamics of Jordan’s ICT and ITES market, and developing Jordan’s ICT and ITES related activities. Membership is open to all companies operating in Jordan in the fields of software development, support, application, telecommunications, digital content, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and ICTES services, value-added assembly and distribution of ICT and ITES products and services, and is also open to the suppliers and users of these industries, along with universities and other parties supporting ICT and ITES training and promotion. Members of the association vary from major ICT companies to smaller start-ups. Int@j enables, empowers, and helps develop these companies through offering its services through sectoral publications and its network of member companies, in addition to holding forums for the sector’s main players, providing capacity building opportunities, facilitating marketing, providing institutional services and consultations, and representing the sector in legal matters, in addition to contracting and implementing several development initiatives, forums, and conferences.

 

The Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) announced today a partnership with Twitter in preparation for the festival’s 38th edition scheduled on 15 November 2016. Twitter is one of the official sponsors of the CIFF, which is ranked as one of the 14 world-acclaimed international film festivals throughout the world.

CIFF is one of the key film festivals around the world and is the only festival in the Middle East and North Africa that follows the standards prescribed and supervised by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF). FIAPF positions CIFF as one of the 14 film festivals around the world that have been accorded a category “A” status.

The partnership between Twitter and @CairoFilms includes live streaming of both the inaugural and closing ceremonies of the festival through Periscope. Created especially for the festival audience through Twitter platform, Twitter will present a special screening of the red carpet and renowned movie stars attending both ceremonies, in addition to exclusive photos, video clips, and new and innovative content. This partnership has provided CIFF with the opportunity to utilize exclusive applications and products including the following:

?Twitter Cam: An application that is developed especially for celebrities to take and edit photos, videos, and GIFs in a fun and creative way.
?Twitter Q&A: A tool that offers fans the opportunity to ask their favorite stars questions about their daily routine, interests, their source of inspiration and ambitions.
?Twitter Mirror: An application which offers movie stars the opportunity to take behind-the-scenes photos and exclusive videos  of themselves to create innovative and interesting content for their followers.

Commenting on this partnership, Kinda Ibrahim, Director of Media Partnerships for Twitter in the Middle East and North Africa, said: “We are honored to partner with CIFF in order to provide live moments of the film festival to our audiences. This festival brings together celebrities from around the region, and through Twitter and Periscope, we will allow the artists to engage with their fans directly and share key moments from the event.”

Dr. Magda Wassef, Chairman of the CIFF, said: “We are honored to be partnering with Twitter for our event, in order to increase engagement between fans and celebrities around the world, as well as highlight the special moments that take place at this year’s festival.”

The 38th edition of Cairo International Film Festival is held from the 15th to the 24th November, screening more than 200 films from all over the world as part of various programs and competitions, in addition to honoring a number of leading filmmakers in Egypt and the world including the renowned film director Mohamed Khan, who passed away last July.

After the phenomenal success in 15 different countries, the Marketing Kingdom, one of the world’s fastest growing marketing events, is back for the second time in Jordan, from 1-2 March in Amman.

Featuring presentations by marketers by Facebook, Twitter, Unilever Hair Care, Rolls Royce Motor Cars, Shell, Hotels .com, Hug Digital and VISA, the Marketing Kingdom Amman 2 will focus on the latest trends in today’s fast changing marketing world with special focus on personalized marketing, mobile marketing, visual content and influencer marketing.

The second edition of the Marketing Kingdom Amman will also include a half day interactive workshop on Solving Your Marketing Problems in 48 hours with Abraham and Maksimilian from UK’s Pop Up Agency.

The Popup Agency

In 2015, over 250 marketers from Jordan and the region attended the first edition of the Marketing Kingdom Amman. The event made history by being the first ever marketing event in Jordan to feature presentations by Facebook and Twitter.

For information about registration and pricing for the Marketing Kingdom Amman 2 visit the event’s official website

November, 2016, Amman – The countdown for the Middle East & North Africa Information & Technology Forum 2016 has started. The event, whose theme is “Digitizing the Economy”, will be held on 9th and 10th November under the Royal Patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein, and is to take place at the King Hussein Business Park – Amman.

The Forum is organized by the Information and Communications Technology Association in Jordan – Int@j, in partnership with the Ministry of Information & Communications Technology. In its efforts to contribute to the advancement of Jordan’s ICT sector, the Forum aims to put the Kingdom at the forefront of the world’s leading countries in the ICT field, as well as transform the focus on the ICT sector from a knowledge-based economy into an integrated enabler for the economy through digitization, hence moving the economy into a Digital Economy in line with global trends. This shift can incur tremendous developments on all other sectors such as health, education, transportation, media, clean technology, financial transactions, in addition to other vital sectors that will positively impact the lives of individuals, businesses, and the overall society.

The forum’s vision for this year is in line with the developments that the multitude of countries have recently witnessed, where digital sectors will make up a robust Jordanian digital economy. This year’s prominent speakers come from all over the world and they will be delivering a wide array of interactive sessions.

This year’s sessions include Digitizing the Economy, What Does the Industry Need to Grow?, Media: Content is Still King, Taking your SME Global: Growth Hacking Techniques for Tech Companies, Smart Cities: Cities of the Future, Financial Services: Cash, Plastic or Phone?, Healthcare IT, Digital Economy Infrastructure, Humanitarian Causes: the World is a Global Village, Education: Learning Can Be Fun, and finally the Action Plan to Digitize the Jordanian Economy – REACH 2025.

The Forum will also see the announcement of a number of agreements between companies, as well as the launch of a number of initiatives that aim to improve the ICT sector.

Additionally, the MENA ICT Forum will witness the launch of the royal initiative dedicated to developing Jordan into a Digital Economy: REACH 2025, which both the Ministry of Information & Communications Technology and Int@j have contributed to creating its core mission based on His Majesty’s vision for the sector and the country. The vision urges the sectors key players to develop a work plan that not only guarantees the advancement of the ICT sector in Jordan, but also makes it the regional ICT hub; REACH 2025’s general vision is about harnessing technology for the service of all economic sectors.

Forum participants, speakers and local and regional media representatives will be flocking to Jordan on the 9th and 10th of this month for the forum, which proves that Jordan has indeed become a preferred destination for experts from all parts of the world.

The MENA ICT Forum also seeks to promote investment opportunities in the field of IT, through attracting investors and showcasing the significant progress the kingdom has made in the field.

It is worth mentioning that the MENA ICT Forum was launched in 2002, and has since been held biennially. It aims to build the vision and mission of the ICT sector in the region, in addition to keeping the audience informed of the latest tech trends and developments, as well as offering them a wide array of international experiences brought forward by field experts from different backgrounds. All-important and widely anticipated by various stakeholders, the MENA ICT Forum has become the premier ICT industry event of the Middle East and North Africa region.

About the Information and Communications Technology Association of Jordan – Int@j

The Information and Communications Technology Association of Jordan – Int@j, is an ICT & IT Enabled Services (ITES) industry-support association founded in 2000, with the aim of improving the dynamics of Jordan’s ICT and ITES market, and developing Jordan’s ICT and ITES related activities. Membership is open to all companies operating in Jordan in the fields of software development, support, application, telecommunications, digital content, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and ICTES services, value-added assembly and distribution of ICT and ITES products and services, and is also open to the suppliers and users of these industries, along with universities and other parties supporting ICT and ITES training and promotion. Members of the association vary from major ICT companies to smaller start-ups. Int@j enables, empowers, and helps develop these companies through offering its services through sectoral publications and its network of member companies, in addition to holding forums for the sector’s main players, providing capacity building opportunities, facilitating marketing, providing institutional services and consultations, and representing the sector in legal matters, in addition to contracting and implementing several development initiatives, forums, and conferences.

About the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology 

The MoICT was established in 2002. MoICT is the policy maker for the ICT sector and is at the heart of the Kingdom’s transformation into a knowledge-based economy that contributes to the socio- economic development of the Kingdom.

The MENA ICT Forum is holding biennially in Jordan under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein, taking place this Wednesday and Thursday (9-10 November) at King Hussein Business Park, a conveniently located, modern and high-tech business park dedicated to the ICT and ICTES industry in Jordan.

1. H.E. Majd Shweikeh – Minister of ICT

ICT sector is one of the most important elements of any economy now, this is why i’d love to hear from her excellency what’s the Jordanian government will do to empower investors in ICT sector and tech-entrepreneurs.

2. Mudassir Sheikha – Careem

No one can deny Careem and UBER are disrupting the transportation industry is the region, and they are facing major challenges with governments around the world. Mudassir will talk about how Careem deals with regulations in MENA region.

3. Hanan Khader –  HELLOWORLDKIDS

On the personal level, Hanan is such a great inspiration, she will talk about “Hello World Kids” story and how they are shaping our region future by teaching coding to kids.

4. Nidal Khalifeh – Edaura Inc. 

Nidal Khalifeh – Edaura Inc.

Education is the only known way to granite a better future for our planet, Edaura is a skill-based learning management system, with 10 years’ experience in ed-tech, I am sure Nidal have a lot to share.

5. Michael Lin – Huawei

Mr. Michael has worked in the ICT industry for more than 19 years. With extensive experience in R&D, marketing and sales, he has in-depth knowledge in both wireline, wireless, OSS, strategic thinking and operation domains. It’s a good opportunity to know more about Huawei plans in the region.

6. Muhannad Taslaq – Mixed Dimensions

Yesterday during EY Entrepreneur of the Year Forum, Mr. Taslaq said “3D printing will be the most important achievement in the history of our humanity”, I can’t wait to know how the 3D printing will change our future is architectural, health and automotive.

7. Moayad Samman – King Hussein Business Park

Dr. Samman will be speaking at MENA ICT Forum about King Hussein Business Park’s success story as part of the Smart Cities panel discussion; Dr. Moayad will share with us the KHBP plans and how it will empower our entrepreneurial ecosystem in Jordan.

Top notch marketing professionals gathered for the two-day Marketing Kingdom Cairo 2 event, listened to topnotch speakers from Instagram, Twitter, Google, Facebook, Shazam, and Sony, shared experiences and got abreast of the latest digital trends and inspiring marketing campaigns.

Digital Boom live-tweeted the event, here’s the first day’s wrap-up of top tips coming from the industry’s best.

Day one wrap-up twitter moments

#MKCAIRO2 “Marketing Kingdom Cairo 2” first day's best moments ⚡️ https://t.co/Z1iKntr6ny

— Digital Boom (@adigitalboom) October 26, 2016

Bonus: Marketing Kingdom Cairo 2 photo album

This is it!

Registration for the Marketing Kingdom Cairo 2, Egypt’s most anticipated marketing event this year, taking place this Wednesday and Thursday (26-27 October) at Fairmont Towers Heliopolis is closing today!

If you still don’t have your ticket, you can get it today on the event’s official website.

With presentations by creative masterminds from Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Shazam, Sony Music and Tetra Pak, Egypt’s coolest marketing event this year is all about building a creative community that will provide you with support, value and opportunity to make things happen.

“With over 200 delegates in attendance from Egypt and the entire region, the second edition of the Marketing Kingdom Cairo will help you stretch your marketing knowledge beyond your normal limits”, says Kosta Petrov, Director of the Marketing Kingdom Series of events.

Why register?

1. The Marketing Kingdom Cairo 2 is the ONLY marketing event in Egypt to include presentations by all major social media brands. Twitter, Facebook, Google, Instagram and Shazam are all coming to the event.
2. The Marketing Kingdom Cairo 2 is the first ever marketing event in Egypt to include a presentation by Instagram. Priya Patel, Business Development Lead for Instagram in the Middle East will share with you at the event what global brands can learn from digital entrepreneurs.
3. Personalized marketing, startup culture, storytelling and personalized campaigns are all covered in great detail with interactive presentations by Sony Music, Tetra Pak, Unilever Hair Care and Thomson Reuters.
4. Three world class agencies are presenting at the Marketing Kingdom Cairo 2: TBWA Amsterdam, Think Agency from Sweden and the Pop Up Agency from the UK.
   The Marketing Kingdom Cairo 2 includes a half day, interactive workshop on How To Solve Your Marketing Problems In 48 Hours with Abraham and Maks from the Pop Up Agency. These guys have worked for some of the most innovative companies in the world: Coca Cola, Facebook and Conde.
5. The Marketing Kingdom Cairo is organized by P World with Media Pan Arab, Korabia, Acumen and Unlimited Solutions as silver sponsors. NABD Wave Line Media is the official mobile partner of the event.

Tickets for the Marketing Kingdom Cairo 2 can be booked on the event’s official website:  https://www.thepworld.com/pevents/event/131/marketing-kingdom-cairo-2

16 Jordanian drifters will show-off their skills and try to impress the judging panel through their engines’ roars, the external look of their cars, the smoke produced by the friction of the tires and the audience’s excitement and cheers for their performances. Supervised by Lebanese drifting legend Abdo Feghali!

Motorheads should make their way to Amman Exhibition Park on Friday October 14th to witness an exhilarating show hosted by Formula 1 expert Firas Nimri and radio presenter Randa Karadsheh. Doors will open at 6:30 PM, engines will roar at 8 PM.

The winner will clinch the title of “King of Drift” and will have the honor of competing against other winners from the Middle East and Africa in the Final, which will be held in Oman.

Get your tickets from Karasi.com, City Mall, Jo Bedu and Hammoudeh DVD.