Digital Boom

Category: Opinion

  • Jordan’s U.S. Foreign Aid: 2025 Budget Cuts and Their Regional Impact

    Jordan’s U.S. Foreign Aid: 2025 Budget Cuts and Their Regional Impact

    • Jordan remains one of the top recipients of U.S. foreign aid, receiving $4.4 billion between 2023-2025.
    • A significant reduction in 2025 funding ($930 million) raises concerns over economic and regional stability.
    • The primary allocation of aid to government and civil society ($706.4 million in 2025) highlights Jordan’s priority areas.
    • U.S. aid cuts could impact Jordan’s governance, security, and humanitarian capabilities.

    Jordan has consistently ranked as one of the top recipients of U.S. foreign aid, reflecting its strategic significance in the Middle East. Between 2023 and 2025, the country is set to receive approximately $4.4 billion in aid, positioning it as the second-highest beneficiary after Ukraine. However, a noticeable reduction in funding for 2025 raises concerns about the broader implications for Jordan’s governance, stability, and regional influence.

    Jordan’s U.S. Foreign Aid Trends: Budget Stability vs. 2025 Reductions

    Jordan’s U.S. foreign aid allocation has remained relatively stable in recent years, making it one of the top Middle Eastern countries benefiting from U.S. assistance. With $1.7 billion allocated in 2023 and $1.8 billion in 2024, Jordan maintained steady funding. However, in 2025, this figure is expected to drop to $930 million—nearly half of the previous year’s funding. This decline signals a shift in U.S. foreign policy priorities, possibly in response to global geopolitical shifts or domestic budget adjustments.

    Despite this reduction, Jordan continues to prioritize governance and civil society development, with $706.4 million allocated to these sectors in 2025. This commitment underscores the importance of institutional stability, economic resilience, and social services in ensuring Jordan’s long-term development.

    Study on U.S. Aid Cuts and Their Impact on Jordan

    A recent study analyzing over 20 recipient nations assessed the impact of potential U.S. foreign aid cuts, particularly under the policy framework proposed by the Trump administration. The study, based on data from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), examined the total aid allocations from 2023 to 2025 and identified sectors requiring the most financial support in the coming years.

    20 recipient nations assessed the impact of potential U.S. foreign aid cuts

    Jordan’s high ranking among recipient nations highlights its reliance on sustained external support. While the study emphasizes the overall aid distribution, it also raises concerns about the potential consequences of sudden or significant reductions, particularly in government funding, humanitarian aid, and civil infrastructure projects.

    How U.S. Aid Cuts Impact Jordan’s Stability, Economy, and Governance

    The potential consequences of U.S. aid reductions for Jordan could be profound. As a country that plays a critical role in Middle Eastern stability, Jordan relies on foreign assistance to maintain its institutional frameworks, social services, and economic stability. The 2025 funding cut raises questions about the country’s ability to sustain its current development trajectory.

    • Government and Civil Society Strengthening: The $706.4 million allocated to this sector in 2025 demonstrates the importance of institutional development. Any reduction in this funding could weaken governance structures, reduce public service efficiency, and slow reform efforts.
    • Regional Stability Concerns: Jordan serves as a buffer zone in a volatile region, hosting refugees and contributing to regional security efforts. A drop in aid could strain resources and limit the government’s ability to address humanitarian challenges.
    • Economic and Social Services Impact: U.S. foreign aid supports key social programs, including education, healthcare, and employment initiatives. Funding cuts could lead to reduced public services and heightened economic challenges, particularly in underprivileged communities.

    As U.S. foreign aid priorities evolve, Jordan’s ability to adapt and secure alternative financial support will be crucial in maintaining its regional stability and economic resilience. Policymakers and stakeholders must navigate these changes carefully to ensure continued progress.

  • Redefining ‘Norm’ for Organizations Post-COVID-19

    Redefining ‘Norm’ for Organizations Post-COVID-19

    Look at the date on your phone, it might as well be 1920 and COVID-19 might as well be the Spanish Flu, humans are still helpless. Forget the technology, right now you just need four walls, soap and water and if you dare venture outside, a piece of cloth covering your nose and mouth. 

    While it’s hard not to feel the despair and fear all around us now, everyone around the world is finally coming to the realization that regardless of when and how this situation will end, the world we know is never going to be the same.

    World War II, 9/11, and most recently, the global financial crisis in 2008 were major incidents among others that have reshaped how the world functioned both socially and economically creating new power balances and affecting how people lived and worked. COVID-19’s impact is arguably more than anything the world has experienced since WWII, according to McKinsey & Company as it is expected, according to financial forecasts, that the EU would see a drop average in GDP from -9.5% to -12.2%  and the US from -3.9% to -8.0% by the end of 2020.

    A New Normal – not so new!

    “For some organizations, near-term survival is the only agenda item. Others are peering through the fog of uncertainty, thinking about how to position themselves once the crisis has passed and things return to normal. The question is, “What will normal look like?”  Ian Davis quoted this from McKinsey & Company amidst the financial crisis in 2009.

    However, in many ways, the new Normal is being redefined as I write these words right “Now”, from new “social norms” to some jobs, skills, and tasks becoming obsolete within days, you can easily now notice how you, your family, your company or even your government have taken serious steps and have implemented processes to ensure “continuity”.  At least I hope you have.

    Life Continuity

    The operative word for the rest of your life, post-COVID-19, is continuity. And here is why, as you probably have heard by now, some of the world’s largest organizations and enterprises are laying off more people than ever (regardless of how considerate and humane they are about it). 

    Top Technology Company Lay-Offs to date:

    1. Groupon has laid off 2,800 employees
    2. Airbnb has laid off 1,900 employees
    3. Uber has laid off 6,700 employees
    4. Lyft has laid off 982 employees
    5. TripAdvisor has laid off 900 employees 
    6. Brex has laid 62 off 473 employees
    covid 19 layoffs
    Source: Business Insider

    Source: Business Insider

    This still means the business map is changing because what used to matter most no longer matters at all. So now, as a career person, you are wondering, is everything meant to last? And if so, how will it exactly ‘ continue’?

    Right now the CEO may not matter much, your next-door nurse neighbor is now more important in the grand scheme of things, just for life to continue. And that sole fact is exactly how you should re-evaluate your career, your business if you are an owner- or even your family’s priorities. Are the fixtures of your lives continuity-ready? Can it all endure the next phase of re-evaluations and re-definitions?

    PIVOT, PIVOT, PIVOT

    Reading this might start making the view dark and twisted, but not really. It is an act of god that forces us to re-evaluate every piece of information that we have taken for granted. What we have been taught and what we have practiced for yours no longer apply.

    Your team will not be healthy because it participates in Team Building activities or goes out for beers or coffee once a month “on a casual basis” your HR director won’t have the same powers anymore if you thought your company was super cool to allow 1 working day from home per week, it now may as well be the norm for the rest of your career to be remote.

    Your company isn’t the same; some employees will have to step up to the plate and prepare for new job descriptions and new expectations.

    That means a healthy workforce will not be the group of people bonding by the water cooler every morning, instead, a healthy workforce will be a workforce that actually works together and communicates well without ever having to meet personally, ever.

    In my experience leading an organization for almost 20 years now, this is the core of business continuity post-COVID-19; businesses should be all about change management instead of crisis management. With such change comes a large responsibility and enough awareness from founders and managers to contemplate adapting the company’s core values, workplace dynamics, and in some cases, the entire business model. 

    It is time to consciously pivot your company’s mindset, gearing it to be more aligned with the new norm as opposed to a company struggling to keep its- now virtual- doors open. 

    According to  Mckinsey’s report titled “Beyond Coronavirus: the path to the next normal”, there are five stages to surviving the current status quo and moving into the next World E-Order, and it all falls on the shoulders of management and leadership. Your focus is to Resolve the current crisis and keep your business’s Resilience because “this is a marathon, not a sprint,” in the words of Fady Younan, Extreme Solution’s GM; return your business to ‘functioning cash-positive (if possible) state the soonest all the while focusing, planning and aiming towards the final two stages Reimagination and Reform; which are self-explanatory by definition.

    Finally, If you are a business leader, executive, or manager and you are trying to figure out how to navigate the waters of the “New Norm” to sail your ship into safety, my advice would be to start planning and executing a transformation strategy. Change management, workforce modernization, and digital transformation are different stages to ensure your business and workforce are equipped for the “New Norm”.  

  • Covid-19 A Catalyst For Digital Transformation

    Covid-19 A Catalyst For Digital Transformation

    Humankind is trying to figure out ways to fight and control the pandemic that has hit the world, causing tens of thousands of getting sick and thousands to be dead, and numbers are only rising till this minute.

    Different countries and societies are taking extreme measures trying to be a step ahead of the disease. While the verdict is still out towards the results of those measures, what is evident is that new norms are being set on how everyone is going by their daily lives. Employees are asked to work from home, businesses are searching their playbooks on maintaining business continuity, teams are exploring new tools and processes to ensure projects or work would remain flowing, or we would hit an economic “Ice Age.”

    Digital transformation has become a humanitarian necessity rather than just an economic for business continuity in such a context.

    Social distancing becomes almost mandatory to limit the virus spread, yet it has proved to be harder to implement as it disrupts the very way we live. Digitalizing activities, performing daily activities, and moving to more contactless modes of operations, becomes a necessity rather than a luxury.

    According to Richard Kozul-Wright, Director, Division on Globalization and Development Strategies at UNCTAD, it is predicted the pandemic would cost the global economy around 1 trillion$, according to just for this year.

    So while the Human tragedy is yet to come to an end, businesses must explore new ways to go about things both within internal operations or by adopting new business models within their respective markets to survive and support their employees and clients.

    A case for digital transformation

    Businesses, Governments, and societies believed that we are ready to operate effectively in a similar crisis, yet it is clear now that we were far from being prepared. The outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has shown the value and effectiveness of various technology solutions to ensure business continuity, and enterprises that have undergone their digital transformation journey have been the least affected.

    Collaborative office, Video conferencing, remote customer management & support have been on top of the technology solutions that lead businesses to carry on with operations during the crisis.

    As the community goes through the crisis trying to fight and contain, additional digital forms of services will be required, especially in the undeveloped countries: digital payments, Contactless delivery, Online goods orders, Online education, and many others.

    Are we Digital-Transform Ready?!

    Many companies have had work from home policies implemented for years, some of which are more mature than others as talent becomes distributed worldwide. There is no need to make a case for remote work.

    Is the majority of the workforce “remote-work” ready?

    Such a dramatic shift in how businesses must operate to service requires the right mindset, processes, and tools. Understandably, most businesses lack those to enable their workforce to be as effective during such times.

    The business pandemic extends not only just to the workforce but how core business operations are being set. While workers and employees will adapt to the new norm, companies may not be set with the required infrastructure, access policies, Data access, and compliance geared for such use cases. Businesses that are not cloud-native by design or haven’t factored in cloud strategies as part of their Digital transformation might suffer a lot in the coming weeks or months as they try to accommodate the new norms.

    Digital transformation is not about the tools or digitizing processes. Still, more of a change mindset top to bottom within an organization ensures a business is scalable, reliable, and able to function in a healthy mode regardless of how changing this fast-paced world. So are you ready to do what it takes to get your businesses to survive?!

    The Future is now

    While the dust hasn’t settled yet, the fact is different businesses and markets will have to accommodate new ways to conduct business not sure to ensure the safety of their workforce but to remain in businesses and serve their community and customers.

    • Telehealth and Telemedicine
    • Virtual Events
    • Online & Remote education
    • Collaboration and Remote workforce

    Those are only examples of markets that must fast-track their transformation journey through tools, infrastructure, business models, and above all, mindsets to accommodate the new world order that is being laid upon us as we as individuals are adapting to new terms and habits.

    Stay Safe, stay healthy, and stay productive.

  • Coronavirus impact on industries and sectors

    Coronavirus impact on industries and sectors

    The ongoing spread of COVID-19 “the new coronavirus” has become one of the biggest threats to the global economy and financial markets, in this article, we will explore which are the most impacted industries and why.

    Travel and tourism

    Up to 50 million jobs in the travel and tourism sector are at risk due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), and BA is warning that it will cut jobs and ground aircraft.

    The latest figures from the WTTC, which represents the global travel and tourism private sector, show that global travel could be adversely impacted by up to 25 percent in 2020.

    This is the equivalent to a loss of three months of global travel, which could lead to a corresponding reduction in jobs of between 12 and 14 percent.

    Manufacturing

    The manufacturing sector in China has been hit hard by the virus outbreak. Such a slowdown in Chinese manufacturing has hurt countries with close economic links to China, many of which are Asia Pacific economies such as Vietnam, Singapore, and South Korea.

    Factories in China are taking longer than expected to resume operations, several analysts said. That, along with a rapid spread of COVID-19 outside China, means that global manufacturing activity could remain subdued for longer, economists said.

    Retail (Commodities and services)

    The virus outbreak in China has also hit the country’s commodities and services industry as reduced consumer spending hurt retail stores, restaurants, and aviation among others.

    China is not the only country where the services sector has weakened. The services sector in the U.S., the world’s largest consumer market, also contracted in February, according to IHS Markit, which compiles the monthly PMI data.

    One reason behind the U.S. services contraction was a reduction in “new business from abroad as customers held back from placing orders amid global economic uncertainty and the coronavirus outbreak,” said IHS Markit.

    Oil and Gas

    A reduction in global economic activity has lowered the demand for oil, taking oil prices to multi-year lows. That happened even before a disagreement on production cuts between OPEC and its allies caused the latest plunge in oil prices.

    Analysts from Singaporean bank DBS said reduced oil demand from the virus outbreak and an expected increase in supply are a “double whammy” for oil markets.

    China, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, is the world’s largest crude oil importer.

    “The spread of the virus in Italy and other parts of Europe is particularly worrying and will likely dampen demand in OECD countries as well,” the DBS analysts wrote in a report.

    Stock market

    Stocks have suffered their worst week since the depths of the 2007-08 financial crisis as investors flee for safety. For example, all three major U.S. stock indexes have dropped at least 10 percent from their most recent peaks, abruptly ending a climb to new record highs.

    Roughly 55 percent of Americans hold stocks, according to a Gallup poll from September 2019, including through their retirement accounts. A steady stock market rout could also damage broader consumer confidence and had already boosted pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.

  • The death of privacy in the age of digital

    The death of privacy in the age of digital

    The year 2018 has become the year of privacy, which is striking because it’s unclear as to whether the public knows that or not. It’s true, many people in the United States are keenly aware of the Equifax breaches last year and the subsequent fallout of policy changes that have since cascaded through 2018. Less known, however, is the largest data breach of 2018, which received relatively little coverage in the United States.

    On January 3rd of this year, Aadhaar disclosed officially that they had a data breach that encompassed the personal information of each of the one billion Indian citizens’ names, addresses, photos, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses.

    Further examples aren’t hard to find: the car-sharing app, Careem, had a breach of fourteen million user accounts. Such breaches are shocking, but, unfortunately, are beginning to represent a trend for citizens of the world.

    Large-scale data breaches are problems the companies would like to hide from us, and worse yet many services like Equifax or Aadhaar aren’t something a citizen can effectively opt out of due to their ubiquity within a society.

    For example, choosing to not have Equifax record your financial data in the US is opting out of access to any line of credit for your life.

    A Privacy Guarantee?

    With such services being exposed to fraudulent breaches at such a large scale, internet users have started to ask themselves the obvious question: what can I do?

    Recently, it seems as if the most popular answer to that question is Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).

    The growing popularity of VPNs shouldn’t be shocking: while there’s little you can do to protect yourself from companies having poor data discipline and security protocols, you can protect yourself from other breaches that can be just as damaging.

    Besides large-scale data breaches, smaller-scale attacks across wireless networks have proven an effective method for hackers to locate personal information, which is just as disastrous for an individual person as a large-scale data breach is.

    The emergence of inexpensive VPNs, like TorGuard, has proven effective in preventing personal data breaches, as well as something slightly more nefarious: data collection.

    The other half of disappearing privacy is the fact that these companies not only have had their data stores breached, but the fact that they store so much information for us. The Google searches you enter, the Amazon pages you visit, and the ads you click on are all cataloged and stored by companies seeking to learn more about you.

    The information is sold, circulated around, and used to glean insight into your life to sell your products. All of these are messy byproducts of how the online economy has developed, and avoiding the corporate touch of information gathering has proven to be a very strong motivator for the interest in VPNs.

    Privacy as a Service

    The amount of context that surrounds privacy in the internet age can be daunting, but there is an easy-to-digest trend: people perceive VPNs as a part of the solution for personal privacy. Millions of people count on them globally. They’ve grown to become over a 20-billion-dollar industry in 2018, and their popularity shows no sign of stopping.

    The business sector as a whole has picked up on the importance of personal privacy for traveling business people as well.

    Very recently, Forbes published an article detailing the benefits of a VPN. The article goes into detail on exactly how easy it can be for hackers to gain access to information being transmitted on a wireless network in a public place, but the bottom line for public perception is best found in the title: “…you need a VPN.” Specifically, the article goes on to highlight one of the biggest shifts in VPNs over the past decade, which is the ease of installation.

    Let’s face it, most consumers aren’t really going to be spurred into action setting up complex software no matter how dire the consequences. The ease of installation has played a huge role in the proliferation of VPNs in tandem with the context of security breaches and corporate information gathering.

  • How AI can open up Silicon Valley to international investors

    How AI can open up Silicon Valley to international investors

    Mobile apps are detecting skin cancer. Drones are delivering aid across continents. Artificial intelligence is disrupting every aspect of our lives. The venture capital world is no exception.

    VCs are heading in the same direction, where AI augments human intelligence. Lately, VCs have been following more or less the same pattern. They are waiting longer to see some startup traction. But this entails seeing a significant increase in the valuation of the startup. Even worse, they could end up excluded from the next funding round. AI can change these dynamics. It can help investors find promising startups in earlier rounds, pre-traction if necessary.

    This will open the door to SV. It will provide opportunities for investors and family offices from the Middle East. It will decentralize venture capital with new investors from all over the world. They may not have local expertise. But they come armed with data-driven investment decisions. The SV early-stage startup investment space may no longer be in the hands of a few.

    Catching the AI wave

    The VC world is changing fast. Many are exploring the rising popularity of data-driven investing. They are building their investment portfolios the Moneyball way.

    A KPMG report puts total investments in Q1 this year at USD 49 billion across 2,661 global deals. The report noted that AI and Machine Learning are the center of VC attention. More companies are integrating such enabling technologies into their solutions. And more investors are becoming aware of their disruptive potential.

    Data-driven VC Funds are on the rise. Key players include Correlation Ventures, SignalFire, and Google Ventures. More and more platforms are positioning themselves as trusted data providers. The go-to place for information on early-stage startups. Famous among those are CB Insights, Crunchbase, and Pitchbook. 

    Changing the traditional model 

    More VCs are using AI in their deal sourcing and selection to catch the next Airbnb or Facebook. It’s not a coincidence that SV is getting more data-hungry. Several companies are working with investors on honing data-driven decision-making. This includes Aingel, an AI startup I co-founded in 2016 with my Master of Science colleagues at NYU. It’s where we envisioned an algorithm that predicts the success of brand-new startups.

    VCs are taking a more data-driven approach toward investment decisions in Silicon Valley. This is where Aingel comes in. We help investors find those diamonds in the rough. Our team of data scientists is currently using a patent-pending algorithm. They score startups and match them with ideal VCs most likely to invest in their stage and space. This will help VCs focus on the next disruptive startups. It will attract more investors to Silicon Valley. More money is poured into fewer startups, especially in the early stages. 

    Stepping Stone to SV

    The data-driven investment models are an opportunity for new investors. They can enter, compete and succeed in Silicon Valley – a field dominated by few, big local players. Quality deal flow is important for both local and international investors. The more we use data, the better we are at finding and investing in great startups. This is before they even show traction and get popular among other investors. Our algorithms show that we can reduce portfolio risk and improve returns by 2.5x.

    Data-driven investing has the potential to open up Silicon Valley to the world. This will bring in a new funding channel that can fill the fundraising void for early-stage startups. Several investors from the Middle East would love to hop on. They would not hesitate to invest in the next game-changing startups in Silicon Valley. All they need is deal flow, data, and access.

    Beyond investing

    Besides opening up investment opportunities here, AI is creating jobs back home. There is ongoing rhetoric about the impact of AI on unemployment. But AI can also provide global employment and cultivate future talent.

    Let’s take Egypt as an example. Current data show a growing population approaching 100 million with a median age of 24. National statistics for employment in Egypt tell an interesting story. During such economic hardship, unemployment dropped 11.8% in 2017, down from 12.5% the previous year. 

    The country’s young tech talent can make use of remote work opportunities. They can contribute to disruptive technologies anywhere in the world. This will also reflect on their expertise and skills as they work on the latest in the tech field.

    At Aingel, we are hiring around 42 data researchers based in Cairo. We tried Amazon Mechanical Turk for aggregating data. But we discovered a need for more nuanced data. Most of my remote team works on aggregating startup founders’ data. We use this data in our work at Silicon Valley with top international and US investors.

    The VC world is investing in potential future disruptive startups. Our talent is setting the gears in motion and getting the job done. We hope data-driven investing will encourage VCs from the region to make it in Silicon Valley.

    Amr Shady
    Amr is the Co-founder and CEO of Aingel Corp., a spin-off from his research on predicting startup success at New York University. Aingel works with top Silicon Valley and international VCs to scale their deal flow sourcing and selection process. Its algorithms also help promising startups fundraise faster by identifying best-matching VCs. Aingel’s investors include Silicon Valley Bank, 500 Startups, Endure Capital, BECO Capital and OTG Ventures. Amr has over 18 years of experience in building and scaling companies. He founded TA Telecom at 22 and bootstrapped it with $50,000 to millions in revenue. He earned several international awards, including Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 EMEA. The Financial Times also dubbed his first startup a “local hero.” Amr is a board member of Endeavor and TechWadi, two non-profits promoting entrepreneurship. He earned his MSc in Business Analytics from NYU. He graduated from Dalhousie University with a BSc in Electrical Engineering.

  • Four Takeaways From Google Cloud Next ’18 by Sherif Kozman, CEO of Extreme Solution

    Four Takeaways From Google Cloud Next ’18 by Sherif Kozman, CEO of Extreme Solution

    25,000 tech professionals, entrepreneurs, engineers and developers from all around the world gathered in the Moscone Center in San Francisco for the three-day Google Cloud Next ’18, listening to topnotch speakers from Google, sharing experiences and staying abreast of the latest about Google Cloud Platform (GCP), machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI) and even more.

    We sat down with Sherif Kozman, CEO of Extreme solution, Google Cloud Partner in Egypt to share some takeaways from the conference as well as tell us more about Google Cloud Platform and how businesses in Egypt can utilize it.

    Extreme Solution has been a leading tech shop since 2001 taking on software Development & Digital products as a craft and art. Building success for their clients through innovation, software and cloud technologies, The company  has expanded its arsenal by aligning itself with Google as a “Google Cloud Partner” offering various cloud solutions for startups and enterprise.

    So, let’s start by defining the cloud & GCP (Google Cloud Platform)

    I believe the common misconception between the cloud or cloud computing versus traditional web hosting services is one of the main reasons why lots of business are yet to realize the true benefit or potential the cloud may offer to their business either in scalability, cost reduction, security or collaboration.

    In a traditional web hosting model a company will rent a shared or dedicated portion of a server within a provider to host or manage their web services or software. You may not utilize all of those resources equally or to their maximum scale depending on the nature of your service because they are part of a plan or a package.

    Cloud computing breaks down all aspects of computing resources individually so you can rent and utilize only the resources needed upon need while being able to scale up and down almost instantly with virtually no limits and without having to invest in a huge infrastructure, hence the cloud.

    Cloud providers aren’t born equal

    While all major cloud providers essentially offer computing resources at scale for everyone, GCP’s (Google Cloud Platform) approach has been unique towards businesses, developers and startups.

    Whether you are a startup with a few developers and a product that will scale to millions or your IT operations is running within a legacy on premise data center or you are business analyst with virtually no tech or code knowledge that have got access to huge amounts of data that you need to crunch to offer business intelligence reports, GCP offers a huge set of tools and technologies that help you launch, test and scale your business or infrastructure while being in control of your costs.

    You get access to the same resources Google uses to run services such as Google.com, YouTube and Gmail. This includes Google-grade security, access to technology innovation built by google in machine learning, analytics, data warehousing, development tools and Global network built and managed by Google.

    As Extreme Solution our role is to help you identify and build solutions addressing the problems your business may be facing using the GCP suite of technologies.

    So, what’s hot for business in NEXT18?

    NEXT18 has unfolded with lots of new products & technology announcements that were cutting edge for both enterprise and developers.

    However personally a few of the most appealing were:

    • GCP’s partnership with cisco building a family of products and services designed to work together to help enterprises realize the following benefits, no matter where their applications are running (on-premises, or in GCP):
    • Improved service reliability
    • Enhanced developer productivity
    • Consistent operations with automated governance and security at scale
    • Ability to quickly modernize without re-architecting existing (on-prem) investment
  • Face to face with ‘Junk gender diversity’

    Face to face with ‘Junk gender diversity’

    Are you interested in gender diversity topics? In the last decade that has become, increasingly, a non-negotiable mandate for international corporates.

    Almost all are currently carrying a full diversity and inclusion program! Especially, gender diversity.

    Some of those corporates are really successful in achieving the “numbers” but only a few among those I came across are successful in achieving the essence of it, i.e. attaining targets whilst keeping the women living as women should live.

    Here’s the paradox:

    Gender diversity and inclusion programs are meant to provide women with a healthy and “fair” environment where they can succeed, grow and prosper. Most of the successful corporates were able to apply that concept except for the “fair” rule, they apply a “same” rule instead and assume that “Same” is equal to “Fair”.

    In my opinion, when it comes to gender diversity at workplace, Fair and Same can never substitute each other, actually “Same” is usually “Unfair”.

    The big mistake (or Sin if you like), that corporate leaders commit is, directly and indirectly, pushing women to lose more of who they are and gain more of what men are in order to stay entitled for the “same” opportunities that pop up wearing a full makeup of “fairness”.

    let’s make the point clearer and more straightforward; except in the few wise cultures, in order for a woman to have the same opportunities of success in a big corporate, she should work same hours like a man, manage the same stuff, handle the same stress, stay for the same over time, work at home, enter the same battles, show the same level of alignment with the same set of values, travel/commute for the same time!

    It wouldn’t take you so long looking at that picture, objectively, to be able to tell it’s exceptionally insane.

    It doesn’t only miss all sense but it also makes those corporates lose the whole point (and benefits) of having more women.

    Why do I think that is a total-loss case?

    Let’s step back and recall the beginning.

    The essence of creating a balance between different genders, in the first place, was gaining energy balance (Masculine-Feminine energy balance) that reflects on culture, workplace psychology, decision making, go-to-market plans, and the customer experience in order to serve the diversified community better, isn’t it?

    What’s practically happening most of the time is that corporates hire and grow more women with authentic/highly needed female energy, throw them in an aggressive sameness machine, and the rest is history. A culture of sameness encourages what I call “virtual gender conversion”, as a shortcut for women to adapt and live safely.

    What should we fix?  (I’m delighted you asked)

    Only for leaders who are seriously and genuinely interested in healthy gender diversity rather than junk, be aware that a female (especially a mom) who joins or steps up to add all that precious value, comes also with big responsibilities at home. Stuff that doesn’t allow her to work in the same circumstances that feel ok for men! In order to do something about it, flexibility in leadership and a whole new setup and mindset are needed.

    And the advice is

    Give them a FAIR chance not the SAME chance. Ask them what to do, allow them to live a full woman’s life, to focus on their big role at home, to take good care of themselves.

    Permit your female employees to freely display they’re (supposedly high level) of female energy in care, love, vulnerability, connection, then let them succeed and grow, not (despite) but, (because of) all the differences they bring to work and life.

    Then, and only then, you can announce your successful achievement of gender diversity goals.

  • Sponsors hijack Egypt’s World Cup 2018 airplane branding

    Sponsors hijack Egypt’s World Cup 2018 airplane branding

    On Tuesday, Egypt revealed the 2018 World Cup airplane sparking frenzied criticism on social media over the state-owned mobile operator’s excessive branding, which dominated the paintwork.

    Egypt's national football team airplane branding, Sponsors hijack Egypt's World Cup 2018 airplane branding
    Photo Credit: ON Sport

    “These are not the colors of the Egyptian national team… I feel like this is the airplane of WE’s team,” said Osman Badran, founder of Brand Bees advertising agency, in a Facebook video post that was shared over 600 times.

    Badran also criticized the quality of team photos and their placement, noting that some key members, like Goalkeeper Hadari and Coach Cooper, were sidelined.

    “Having a branded airplane for our national football team is something we should all be proud of, but it has to be done right for Egypt’s image,” said Badran.

    World Cup 2014 Airplanes

    Most countries are yet to reveal their national team airplanes, but here is a look at some of the 2014 World Cup planes. Germany’s Lufthansa went for a simple, elegant design while changing its name temporarily to Fanhasa. Air Berlin also changed its name to Fan Force One, mimicking Air Force One, which carries the president of the United States.

    Twitter shares the same opinion

    Thoughts!

    Reporting by Ahmed Maher; Editing by Sara El-Khalili

  • 3 Ways Telecom Companies Can Outlive the Digital Revolution

    3 Ways Telecom Companies Can Outlive the Digital Revolution

    The telecom industry is approaching a tipping point.

    Average revenue is falling and many telecom providers are experiencing significant reductions in their basic communication service revenues: as much as 30% in SMS messaging, 20% in international voice, and 15% in roaming.

    This is a common global trend as social media has opened up a new means of communication.

    Related > Vodafone Egypt tests waters for ‘Ready Digital’

    Experts predict that there will be 28.1 billion devices connected to the Internet by 2020, of which 15 billion will be machine-to-machine (M2M) or consumer electronics.

    Over-the-top (OTT) players are the new competitors in the industry. They offer apps and easily accessible content to consumers via the Internet. These businesses have increased their market share in many industries including core telecoms services such as messaging and voice. WhatsApp, Viber, and Apple’s iMessage already claim 80% of all messaging traffic, while Skype alone grabbed more one-third of the international voice traffic market. This digitization that is reshaping the industry brings with it tough times for providers.

    Maarten Ectors, Chief Digital Officer – at Legal & General points out 6 problems that have contributed to the industry’s current standstill.

    Six main problems faced by telecoms

    1. The industry relies too much on revenue from calls and SMS

    Telcos like Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica and much more are struggling to counter the trend whereby the prices of voice and data services are crashing fast. The situation is only going to get worse for many sectors within the industry because of its reliance on revenue from calls and SMS.

    2. Telecom services are now a commodity

    Competitive pressure is building fast in the industry as companies in adjacent industries like technology and media move into the telecom space. Everyone now expects telecoms to work like all other service industries and less focus is placed on the provider.

    3. Customer relations is non-existent

    OTT players connect with their customers on many different levels. This is part of their appeal. Organizations like Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon have developed customer relationship processes that improve products and services based on user feedback. Telecom operators only connect with their customers when they are trying to resolve technical problems.

    4. The industry is stagnant and solutions are complex

    With a lot of legacy processes in place, the industry offers extremely complex solutions making integration with new technology more difficult.

    5. Operators are in denial and act like copycats

    The industry players act like copycats by adopting new trends and spending billions on going to market; many times too late.

    6. Telecom operators are a necessary evil for DotCom companies

    The world has come to a point where telecom companies are impeding the growth of large social networks. In order to be globally compliant, telecom businesses must transform or conform to digitization.

    How telecoms can win in the digital revolution

    Digitization is not just a threat to telecom companies, it is an opportunity to reconstruct the industry, reinvent business systems, and create ground-breaking offerings for customers.

    Many forward-thinking executives consider digitization to be a top priority, but only a few are close to achieving its full potential. An industry transformation can help operators improve their profits by a large margin; considering the rate of decline in recent years.

    So how can telecom companies bridge the gap? Below are 3 ways to combat the problems that telecoms currently face.

    1. Customer-centric focus

    Customers today use multiple channels during their consumer journey. Innovation and new technology can help telecoms reinvent core telecoms services and leverage the use of multi-channels for excellence in every interaction.
    E-digital is now the leading channel for many customer-service activities, and because of this customer preference, telecom companies must focus on listening to their customers and just like the OTT’s, develop services around the feedback received.

    2. Join forces with innovators

    There are many ways to drive innovation for telecoms. Operators can create adjacent services like financial products, IT offerings, media, or utilities and widen the scope of business. Or like Ectors pointed out, they can join forces with innovators to create brand new service and bring their costs under control. These innovators will bring on board specialist knowledge to complement the telcos’ strong user base and telcoms experience.

    3. Do nothing approach

    You may wonder why any operator will choose to do nothing. And yet this may work out for some who have a large market share and are willing to watch the tide swallow the smaller fish. In this case, they will keep on doing what they are currently doing and watch as others go bankrupt. This is a really risky strategy because the tide could change in their direction without much notice.

    Join the conversation on Facebook at Digital Boom

    Sources
- https://www.strategyand.pwc.com/trend/2017-telecommunications-industry-trends
 - https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/how-telecom-companies-can-win-in-the-digital-revolution#
 - https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/telecom/internet/popular-internet-of-things-forecast-of-50-billion-devices-by-2020-is-outdated