My GITEX 2008 Experience

November 1, 2008 by Amr

23rd of October 2008 was the last day of 2008's GITEX - Dubai. We met a LOT of new people and old friends. I remember one of the thoughts that kept popping in to my mind was "Oh! It's a small world!". Many countries, including Egypt, were providing support to companies to help them make their way into GITEX and deliver a successful presentation of the Egyptian IT Industry. Other countries of similar organization include USA, Denmark, UK, Belgium, UAE, Sweden and many more. Egyptian presence was orchestrated by ITIDA, The Information Technology Industry Development Agency. Unexpectedly, ITIDA have done a very good job. Way beyond my expectations. At least, way better than other countries whose booths I visited. Brochures were produced, introducing the Egyptian brand, drawing attention to facts and sources which claim that the Egyptian IT Industry is one of the best to invest in/with. Every country grouped all its present companies in one large booth, divided by the number of companies. The Egyptian Booth was definitely cool, and it was the only one that actually wasn't just 'borders'. There were some extra nice services, like the small but nice coffee shop with a welcoming team which provided coffee, juices, soft drinks, club sandwiches, bakeries. All for free (GITEX had dozen of restaurants and coffee shops but they weren't for free and actually expensive).

The Booth

The booth size was very comfortable. Not too large nor too tight. It had a 40" LCD screen which we used for playing ps3 games different presentations and a nice red sofa. We also had access to a good internet connection. From far left to right: Oliver (SNOM), Chrysler (SNOM), Amr, Hanan and Sherif. Photo by Vincenzo Puliatti The booth came with 2 banners, which were digitally prepared by us but printed by ITIDA. One of them were hanged in a really weird place at the back of the booth from inside were no body could see it but we managed to move it.

ElGamal

One of the best of many coincidences is when we stumbled into Egyptian Cryptographer Taher ElGamal. Left to right: Amr Mostafa - Taher ElGamal - Sherif Nagy. Photo By: Vincenzo Puliatti

Visitors

As a business (and not end-consumer) expo, I would say the numbers of visitors were very good. Many people are just there for checking what's on the market and to maybe steal an idea or two, others are interested in providing local distributions in different regions but there are also people who are looking directly for a solution for their firm. I met someone from Garmin who was looking for companies in Egypt that can provide them with maps for Egypt with enough details for GPS. The interesting bit is, doesn't he know that GPS is forbidden in Egypt so far? Maybe there are news to come soon? Who knows. But it can't be that they don't know GPS is forbidden in Egypt by law.

Other thoughts

Sony Ericsson

I think Sony Ericsson did an awful job. Hot Russian girls dressed in one piece red short dresses would be lovely to dine with but not to tell me why I should buy a Sony Ericsson over anything else, especially when they can't tell you more than you already know from after 30 seconds of checking the phone. I really had hard time looking at the phone itself.

Redhat

I was very glad to find that Redhat were present there. They were big, they were style and they were busy with many visitors. I had a quick chat with the GM of Redhat Europe, Middle East & Africa. I'm glad they are increasing their presence in the region. They weren't giving out hats but I managed to get a pen!

Adobe

Adobe booth were one of the nicest. They were giving out loads of quick sessions about their latest technologies like Air and Flex. Though I long-before stopped using Adobe design products (e.g. Photoshop, Illustrator) in favor of FLOSS tools but I was glad to find out that they are going to be releasing their Middle East (supports shaping, ..etc) version of their CS suites almost the same time they release the worldwide version through their alliance with Winsoft. Before, the ME version used to a couple of major versions behind.

GITEX Location and Dubai

Everyday of GITEX finishes at 7 PM for visitors, so about 7:30 for Exhibitors. Transportation can be difficult in Dubai at some times, so if you are hoping to do some shopping or so the rest of the day, you will only have 2:30 hours remaining as shops close at 10 PM (Relatively good compared to European countries, but sucks compared to Egypt). My advice would be to choose a hotel which is close to GITEX as much as possible. Photo By: Hanan Ramadan

Permalink