Ahmad Dimachkie is the Senior Consultant at Social AIM. As the consultancy arm of NEL Interactif, Social AIM specializes in consultancy on all things digital: social media campaigns and marketing, mobile marketing, advertainment, and Web 3.0. As the Senior Consultant, Ahmad is responsible for consulting with key clients, developing comprehensive digital strategies, and leading cross-functional teams to ensure the highest rates of client acquisition, satisfaction, and retention. Ahmad holds an MBA with Marketing focus as well as dual bachelor degrees in Finance and English Literature from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA.

Ahmad Elkaragy is a computer engineer, graduated from Alexandria University, Egypt. Ahmad started his entrepreneurial venture prior to graduating; his graduation project received the Young Innovators Award (YIA) for its idea. He later turned his into a business plan which was ranked among the top 3 in the region in the Arab Technology Business Plan Competition by ASTF. Having tried different jobs from a TA, software developer, system admin to a database developer, Ahmad finally started his business by founding a technology startup, IRWAA LLC in mid 2010. The first product of the company, Medica App, shined so fast that it was awarded internationally and locally by Nokia, Samsung, the United Nations, and the Egyptian MCIT. IRWAA works on a list of ideas for innovative commercial apps and systems in healthcare, social education, and tourism.

Alessio Artuffo heads the Docebo International Business Operations. Alessio has extensive expertise in the field of Learning Technologies, including Authoring solutions, Mobile Learning, LCMS and LMS solutions, for both the educational and corporate sectors. Alessio has supported large organizations and universities in the development of their e-learning initiatives. Alessio has an educational background in Business Communications, 13 years experience in IT and Learning systems, and a technical background in IT and Networking Security. Originally from Italy, Alessio relocated to the United States in 2009. He currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia. His industry knowledge and passion make him a regular speaker at worldwide industry events.

Ali Munawar has been involved in the Information Technology industry since the early 1980s. During that period, he has served in broad range of technical, operational, managerial and executive positions in the fields of IT Systems Engineering, Marketing and Sales supporting clients in many industries including Oil & Gas, Finance & Banking, Government, Healthcare and Education. He is currently responsible for marketing demand generation for IBM for the MEA region based on the latest market insights. In addition to this, he takes a keen interest in understanding the business challenges facing the various industries, particularly Banking, Government and Healthcare. Ali is currently based in Dubai although his home country is Malaysia. He is a graduate of the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur with a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical) degree with honors.

Alper Akcan, is the founder and CEO of Mikro Odeme AS, has a BSc degree in engineering, has an MBA degree and has a PhD on Contemporary Management in well know and highly credited universities of Turkey. He has an experience of 2 years in Yapı Kredi Investments Inc., 4 years at Vestel Information Technologies and 5 years at Turkcell – the largest GSM operator of Turkey. He started Mikro Odeme just after he left Turkcell, in 2008 and led it become the largest mobile payment company of Turkey. After investment to Mikro Odeme, Alper Akcan still holds the CEO position and director of board.

Ashraf Busila has over 17 years of experience in the IT industry, project management and network engineering. Ashraf planned and deployed state of the art infrastructure solutions for clients, and collaborated in the design, installation, and testing of such solutions. He has a strong record of success in managing robust health IT organizations. Ashraf has proven ability to bring the benefits of IT to solve business issues while delivering applications, infrastructure, costs and risks. He provides strategic direction to senior leadership on technology and has led innovation projects for infrastructure delivery to improve the delivery of care in the nation’s largest non-profit health care organization.

Asmaa Honsy has over 20 years of experience in information technology and over 15 years in leading posts. Ever since she joined Mobinil in 1999, Hosny has led on strategic initiatives, both on the country roadmap and the company roadmap, including, Mobile Financial Services (MFS), mHealth, mGovernment, mLearning. Acknowledged as active lobbyist, Hosny has succeeded in establishing key alliances on several strategic initiatives in addition to establishing two successful companies, Solutions Plus inside Egypt and Health Insights in the United Arab Emirates focused on delivering technological solutions including software development and system integration. Hosny started her career at Orascom Group, establishing a reputable path for herself since start, from acquisition of the HIPAA Compliance from USA to delivery of a Claims Management System (USA), Sheikh Zayed Hospital Solutions, Al Salama Hospital, Hadi Clinic in Kuwait to libraries automation for Bibliothica Alexandria and the Egyptian Engineering Libraries, to name just a few.

Ayman is the IT Operations Director at the Children’s Cancer Hospital in Cairo, Egypt since April 2009, where he manages a team of 29 people between the hospital network, help desk, call center, data centers, desktop support, telecommunications, messaging services, audio-video and VOIP. He is responsible for maintaining the IT system, evaluating, recommending, contracting and installing new technologies and services, indentifying trends and determining system improvements, allocating budgets for IT, and shaping the hospital’s long-term IT strategy. Before assuming this position, Ayman was the Telecommunications Manager at the hospital for 2 years, and has been a key element in the conceptualization, planning and implementation of the digitization of the CCHE. He holds a number of certifications including a Project Management Professional Diploma (PMP), he is a certified trainer in Cerner Millenium Fundamental, and carries several Cisco networking certifications. Ayman has over 8 years of experience in the management of all aspects of health information systems from his work at the CCHE.

Ayman Itani is a forward-thinking Digital Media Strategist who uses his powerful combination of creative vision and rigorous analysis in the media to help build, restructure and transform companies. Through New Media Marketing Agency Think Media Labs (thinkmedialabs.com), he helps bridge the gap from established Media to new types of Digital Media in the Middle East. He lectures and gives workshops on communication, media, user interaction design, history of technology, Internet architecture, the social web and fully takes advantage of the industry shifts incubated by the Internet, specifically on content generation, consumption, distribution, and commercialization.

Christopher M. Schroeder is a leading entrepreneur and investor in interactive technologies and social communications. Until December 2011, he was CEO and board member of HealthCentral, which was then acquired by Remedy Health Media. HealthCentral, the highest quality collection of condition and wellness-specific interactive experiences focused on people finding and sharing real-life experiences related to their health needs. Schroeder is an investor and advisor for a series of technology start-ups and funds ranging from news and media, education, social networks and marketing. He is also engaged in exploring more global trends towards entrepreneurship, with a special focus on the developing world and the Middle East. A veteran of online media, Schroeder served as CEO and Publisher of Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, which hosts washingtonpost.com and newsweek.msnbc.com, among other leading news sites.

Dan Stuart is the CEO and Founder of GoNabit.com, the first group buying website in the Middle East, and the first globally in Arabic. GoNabit expanded from the UAE to Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt and was acquired by LivingSocial in June 2011. Previously Dan was Chief Possibility Officer at Bayt.com where he oversaw strategy, product development, user experience design and new initiatives, as well as strategic and emerging business development. Dan was also founder and director of Intilaq - Bayt's corporate venture capital arm. Dan holds a Masters Degree in Curriculum, Theory and Learning from the University of Toronto in Canada. He also has an English Literature & History Degree that he quickly followed with an early retirement, spent as a ski and snowboard instructor and a mountain bike guide.

Dr. Abdullah Almegren is an Asst. Professor of Education at King Saud University, and also serving as a GM for the National Centre for e-Learning and distance learning (NCeL) in Saudi Arabia. Providing vision and leadership to NCeL Board, agency staff, and institutions of higher education has been one of his responsibilities. Dr. Abdullah represents e-Learning strategies and development at the national front and dedicatedly worked on a multi-million dollar educational Projects and helped in establishing several projects: Saudi Learning Object Repository (MAKNAZ ), Saudi Digital Library (SDL), National Centre of Excellence in e-Content, the first Saudi e-University, the first bylaws for distance learning in Saudi Arabia, Higher Education TV Channels Network.

Dr. John Austin was named headmaster of King's Academy in 2010, bringing with him over 25 years of experience as a teacher and residential school administrator. Dr. Austin graduated from Williams College in 1987, where he majored in English. He received a Master's degree in English literature from Middlebury College in 1991 and a Master of Philosophy and PhD in English and comparative literature from Columbia University in 2000. Dr. Austin began his career at St. Andrew's School, a leading US boarding school in Delaware. Over the course of his career he has served as a teacher, class advisor, department chair, dean of students and academic dean. He has written extensively on the literature of the American Renaissance and about a range of educational issues for Independent School magazine. He regularly presents at the National Association of Independent Schools and at the Association of Boarding Schools. He is a board member of the Global Online Academy.

Dr. Michael Orey has innovated in the field of eLearning for over 25 years. In that period of time, he has designed Intelligent Tutoring Systems for the U.S. Army; developed standards-oriented, computer-based training, and designed learning games for a major entertainment company. Dr. Orey is a tenured faculty member at the University of Georgia, helping to pioneer the field of Instructional Technology and eLearning, using both synchronous and asynchronous technologies. For the past 10 years Dr. Orey has helped define the standard for synchronous online graduate education, having delivered dozens of online graduate level classes. More recently, his work with many cultures around the world has led him to create a design and development strategy to make Open Educational Resources truly open. His undergraduate degree was from Purdue and his Masters degree and Doctorate were from Virginia Tech.

Dr. Mounes Kalaawi a surgeon, trained and certified by the Royal Colleges of Surgeons in Glasgow and England, certified in Medical Management from the American College of Physicians Executives and awarded MBA from the University of Massachusetts in the United States. Dr. Kalaawi is a co-founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Clemenceau Medical Center affiliated with Johns Hopkins Medicine International. CMC is JCI accredited and one the top ten world’s best hospitals for medical travel. He is the Chairman of Clemenceau Medicine International (CMI), an organization whose main duty is the advancement and spread of the Clemenceau Medicine’s mission of patient care regionally.

Chairman of The Board and CEO Rafik Hariri Governmental University Hospital (RHUH) 2005- present * RHUH is a 500 bed public university hospital, the largest and busiest in Lebanon affiliated to several universities including Lebanese University, AUB, Beirut Arab University, and Lebanese American University and others. Hospital was the first in Lebanon to adopt a fully integrated HIS , EMR and PACS- RIS in the year 2004. It is currently upgrading all these systems and applying new services.

Elie Diab is a travel and travel technologies professional. Elie co-founder and managing director of hoojoozat.com, the leading and first B2B and B2C online hotel provider the Middle East and Travel-Systems, a technology company that creates and develops online reservation systems for the travel industry. He holds an MBA from Ecole superieures des Affaires ESA and a BS in Bio-Chemistry from Universite Saint Esprit Kaslik.

As a student at the Lycee du Galatasaray, Fatih Isbecer participated in AFS exchange program where he noticed that the technology revolution in the United States will spread to Turkey soon. Upon his return to Turkey, Isbecer initiated his first internet venture, Pentagraph, while completing his degree in Istanbul Technical University. At the age of 24, he founded Pozitron. The company is now providing mobile solutions for over 30 Fortune 500 companies from Turkey, Middle East, and Europe. Isbecer’s success was recognized by Endeavor when he was selected as “Entrepreneur of the Year” in 2007. Later in 2010, he was honered with an invitation to “Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship” held by President Obama. Isbecer is also a member of Endeavor Advisory board, and TUBISAD administrative board and has given speeches in well-established schools like MIT Sloan School and Stanford GSB.

Fawzi Baroud has a Ph.D. in eLearning development in higher education from Sheffield Hallam University, UK. He has been the Director of Computing Services, eLearning Center and the Division of Continuing Education at Notre Dame University-Louaize, Lebanon since 1989, during which he initiated eLearning synergies to expand the use of technology in higher education. As a researcher, Dr. Baroud has published a number of studies on eLearning and ICT use in education, participated in conferences, coauthored the informatics national curriculum for Lebanon, and offered consultancy to academic institutions. His research centers on the use, integration and evaluation of Information and Communication Technologies and eLearning implementation in higher educational contexts.

Firas Alfanney was appointed as General Manager for Intel in the Levant and North Africa region in 2010. Having played an integral role in driving the company’s business for several years in addition to spear-heading several roles across the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa region. Alfanney brings with him a wealth of industry experience; he was the Trade Marketing Manager for Orange in Jordan and Sales Manager for Fry’s Electronics in Palo Alto, California. Alfanney joined Intel in 2001 as a Channel Manager in Jordan and went on to manage the Channel Marketing and Distribution for the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa Region based out of Dubai where he helped to shape the distribution network and spearheaded Intel’s Channel Programs. Alfanney received his Bachelor of Science degree from San Jose State University of California, 1994 and his Associate of Art degree in Business Administration from Canada College, Redwood City, 1991. He is a member of the American Marketing Association.

Hala Zawati is the founder and Managing Partner of Easyinfo, the first content development company in the region that is specialized in developing content for cultural and tourist sites. Easyinfo offers guidance inside museums, galleries and tourist sites in multi languages using multi platforms, and recently began to utilize smart phones capabilities to provide tourists and visitors with interesting content relevant to their geographic location in order to guide them at places of interest, providing directions, and information services so that they know where, how and what to do. Hala has 24 years of diversified experience at the regional level in computer engineering applications and management information systems. Prior to founding Easyinfo, she worked for more than 15 years as an ICT Consultant supporting 17 national and regional projects . Hala holds a BSc. in Electrical Engineering, a mini MBA from Instituto de empressa – Spain. She is a board member in several private and non governmental organizations.

Dr. Hamad M. Al-Omar holds a Medical Doctorate (MD) in Internal Medicine and Hematology and he also holds a Physician Executive Master of Business Administration (MBA). He has founded and chaired companies in different sectors of Healthcare including National Blood and Cancer Center, Specialized Academy for Medical Training, mHealth Company, and others. In addition of being a serial entrepreneur himself, he is active in healthcare venture capital. He also was a founding member of the Gulf Venture Capital Association.

Hani Dahlan, General Manager of Dahlan Tours and Travel, Travelsheikh.com. Hani received his BA in Marketing from IUE-England in 1986, and started work in the construction Industry from 1986 - 1990 between Kuwait and Iraq. He later moved to Jordan in 1991 worked in many different fields, mainly Import/Export. In 1996, he established Dahlan Tours and Travel with no previous experience In the field, however managed to be recognized locally and regionally being a Travel Agent with different approach to the Travel Industry in the Middle East. In 2009, Dahlan launched Travelsheikh.com b2b targeting Travel Agents in remote areas or with no access to the IATA or GDS. B2B site in 2011 sold at about $25million worth of travel services to its clients. During July 2012, travelsheikh.com launched a business-to-consumer site that jumped rapidly in the ranking and number of fans, and is selling an average of $40,000 since the beginning.

Jawad Abbassi's career experience spans 17 years. Jawad founded the Arab Advisors Group in 2001. As General Manager of Arab Advisors Group, Jawad directs the research and consulting activities of the company in addition to steering its marketing operations. On September 14, 2005, the Arab Jordan Investment Bank (AJIB) and Arab Advisors Group concluded an agreement by which AJIB buys a 55% stake in Arab Advisors Group; this allowed AJIB and the Arab Advisors Group to leverage strategic synergies to enhance the quality and scope of services of Arab Advisors Group. Before founding Arab Advisors Group, Jawad’s career experience includes working as a senior telecommunications and technology consultant with the Yankee Group in Boston - USA. Between 1998 and 2000, Jawad was a Senior Analyst with the communications research arm of the Economist Intelligence Unit in Boston. Jawad also worked for Apple Computers dealership, in addition to being a weekly columnist on Information Technology in Jordan’s leading English weekly.

Josh has worked with a number of marquis fortune 500 clients helping them define their infrastructure requirements and educational needs as well as developing complex and multi-tiered curricula that maps to their organizational competencies. Josh spends much of his professional time working with large educational systems, working to help them understand their learning infrastructure requirements from both a technical perspective as well as a pedagogical perspective. Having worked with micro and macro implementations as well as ministry level systems he brings a wealth of experience in both technology and pedagogy. Josh is a frequent presenter at international educational conferences and is always excited about new opportunities to help education expand in new areas and evolve to meet the demands of 21st century learners. Josh has studied at a PhD level in the Learning, Design, and Technology program at the University of Georgia.

Prior to joining BLOM Bank in early 2011, Krystell spent 3 years with one of the leading new media agencies in Lebanon where she had the opportunity to interact with major brands as well as leading advertising networks. Her experience and strong digital background as well as her interaction with banks and financial institutions allowed her to land the position of Head of Retail Communication in BLOM Bank where part of her responsibilities is to manage the entity’s digital communication and develop successful and powerful social and digital experiences.

Leila Khauli Hanna is a full time instructor at the Olayan School of Business at the American University of Beirut. She teaches Marketing Communications and Social Media Strategy. Ms. Hanna is also a Communication Consultant to several major local and regional brands specializing in Brand Strategy. She conducts workshops and lectures on digital branding and developing social media presence for local brands. Ms. Hanna is has always been a pioneer in using technology in her courses. She embraces it and makes her student embrace it too.

Lisa Nyman joined Ericsson in Stockholm, Sweden as a participant of the Ericsson Global Leadership Program to undertake the role as Strategic Project Manager within Business Unit Multimedia before moving on to become Business Development Manager in Taiwan as well as Costa Rica. In her current role as Strategy & Marketing Manager in Region Middle East, she is also responsible for driving Ericsson’s Networked Society Vision regionally. Lisa attended Stockholm School of Economics where she earned a Master of Science in Accounting and Financial Management; plus a Master of Science degree in Computer and System Sciences at the University of Stockholm. As part of her education, Lisa has also partaken in exchange programs at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and the University of Economic Sciences of Budapest, Hungary.

Dr. Mahmud Shihab is the Educational Technology Program Administrator, Moodle Administrator, and Webmaster at International College (IC) in Beirut, Lebanon. He works on technology integration with four multilingual curricular tracks: the Lebanese Program (French, Arabic, and English), the French Baccalaureate Program, the American High School Program, and the International Baccalaureate Program. He has been actively training teachers on IT integration tools, Interactive White Boards, Student Response Systems, and Moodle. In addition to his home country of Lebanon, Shihab has attended, often as a presenter, education conferences in Greece, Thailand, Egypt, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Oman, France, Austria, and the United States. Shihab is in his second year as Ambassador of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), home of the widely used National Educational Technology Standards (NETS).

Melanie has worked in advertising for over a decade. Her digital focus kicked off in ’04 by innovating on projects like the first mobile storefront for a consumer brand in the U.S. A few years later, she flew from YYZ to DXB to join OgilvyOne as a Senior Copywriter. During that time, she helped the agency become one of the top 10 direct agencies in the world by The Big Won Report, with recognition at Cannes, Loeries, One Show, Gemas Effies and Dubai Lynx. Presently, she develops work for a range of international clients such as GE as Head of Content, Digital Arts at TBWA\RAAD. Mel graduated from Queen's University with an Honours degree in English Literature. Twitter: @melclancy

Mert Pozcu is a founder and CEO of Pordiva a mobile tech company and developer based in Turkey. In March 2011 Pordiva launched Cepyol a mobile and web based online travel agent platform which quickly became the most downloaded mobile travel app in the turkish market. With Pordiva he has lead the development of a wide range of mobile apps in finance, government, retail, travel and Internet portals. Mert has over 11 years experience in the telecom and mobile commerce sector and was previously CEO of Birebir one of the leading mobile services companys in Turkey and solution partner of over 11 operators in Turkey, Europe and MENA.

Mustafa Bilge started in 2002 at SSMS, six-sigma process automation software, with R&D support from Tübitak. He continued his career with Hospital Automation and ERP software development. He then managed the IT Department of BioTekno, Deloitte's fastest-growing company in EMEA in 2009. Afterwhich he gave consultancy to banks like Akbank, Yapı Kredi, İş Bank, Halkbank, on software and technologic improvements. He established Mirsis Information Technologies in 2008 as a partnership, targeting financial sector, outsourcing and project development team, reaching150 IT people in 2011. Mustafa transferred his shares in 2011 and established Rintek. To serve local and global players by SAAS products, therefore he developed the Social Media Monitoring, Analysis, Reporting, CRM platform: Semanticum. Currently he is heavily involved with mobile technologies, sentiment analysis and sound technologies. Java, JEE, C #, ASP.NET, SQL and Data warehouse technologies such as SOA, SaaS, Enterprise 2.0, Web 2.0, Semantic Web, Speech Recognition, Bioinformatics, Mobile Development Environments research and studies are continuing.

Dr. Nibal Idlebi is the chief of the ICT Applications Section at ESCWA working on issues related to the ICT policies and strategies, enabling environment for the Information Society with special focus on Cyber Legislation, the development of ICT applications, e-Services and Digital Arabic Content. She is supervising various activities at ESCWA, such as preparation of reports and publications, organization of expert group meetings and workshops, implementation of field projects for the development of Information Society as well as providing advisory services to ESCWA member countries. Ms. Idlebi was recently a Jury member of various e-Content and e-government Awards in the Arab region and in the World Summit Award. Previous to her work with ESCWA, Dr. Idlebi was Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Communications and Technology (MCT) in Syria for two years, and ICT professor at the Higher Institute of Applied Science & Technology (HIAST) in Damascus for more than 8 years.

Nour Merza is a journalist with Thomson Reuters in the Middle East. She covers business and politics in the Gulf and has a particular interest in examining investment opportunities and entrepreneurship in the region. She has covered topics including diamonds in Dubai, Palestinian films, and online gaming in Saudi Arabia. She believes strongly in the region's potential as a hub of creative growth and enjoys exchanging ideas with others who share that conviction.

Omar Christidis is the Founder of ArabNet, the premier conference for the Arab web/mobile industry. In 2011, the ArabNet Digital Summit brought together more than 1,000 attendees and 100 speakers from more than 22 countries, and featured 20 pitches from promising entrepreneurs. He is also the Vice President of the family-owned business, IBAG, which has 15 years experience in organizing corporate events, and which manages ArabNet. Omar co-founded and serves as a Board Member of the Yale Arab Alumni Association (YAAA), a community of over 200 Yale alumni and affiliates with an active interest in the Arab World. Born and raised in Lebanon, Omar holds a BA and MBA from Yale University and has a background in consulting (Booz & Co) and finance (private wealth management - family office).

Raffy Karamanian is the Head of Delivery Channels at Bank Audi since January 2011. His main responsibilities entail developing alternative channels and delivering seamless cross-channel banking experiences. He is responsible for the development of the “Novo” concept, initiating a new retail banking experience to customers. Raffy held the position of Head of Retail Banking in Sudan where he launched the Bank’s initial Islamic Retail Banking operation. Prior to joining Bank Audi in 2005, he worked in the retail banking field in New York for 6 years with JPMorgan Chase [Washington Mutual] and Commerce Bank.

Ramzy Hamadeh is the head of the Payment Systems Department at Banque Du Liban (The Central Bank of Lebanon). He is member of the Payment System Committee chaired by the Governor and a member Board at MIDCLEAR. He represents BDL at the Arab Committee for Payments and Securities Settlement Systems at the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF). Currently, he is working with BDL team on implementing the New Payment System for Lebanon, by introducing the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), Automated Clearing House (ACH) and PAYGOV (Solution for Government Payments). He is also responsible for managing and overseeing the payment system operated by BDL, in accordance with the relevant regulations and international principles. Mr. Hamadeh holds a B.A in Accounting and Finance from the Lebanese University and obtained a certificate in computer programming from the American University of Beirut.

Riad Farah has more than 20 years of experience in Medical Engineering, combined academic proficiency with medical equipment technology. He is now a consultant for several national and international Hospitals, represents Order of Hospitals at LIBNOR; the Lebanese Institutes of Norms and Standards, quality auditor on Lebanese accreditation standards, and manages over twenty million dollars valued medical equipment at Saint George Hospital. He is also specialized in JCAHO/AIA American standards for Hospital Architecture, which he teaches at several Lebanese Universities. He also taught medical equipment technology for Nurses and Radiology technology for technicians.

A serial entrepreneur, credited with having started mobile value-added services in the MENA region, Roy has over 25 years experience in the wireless and mobile sectors. Roy is the founder and CEO of Ubanquity Systems, Ltd. an Irish startup specializing in innovative Mobile Self-Care Solutions for the Mobile and Banking sectors. Prior to Ubanquity, Roy was the founder and CEO of Jinny Software, an Irish mobile value-added service provider, which he sold for €14.4M to Acotel Group.

Ruba is a nine year veteran in the content development and instructional design industry. Ruba has worked on a variety of educational and commercial projects involving education, at one of the elite middle eastern eLearning companies. In early 2010 Ruba started Kashida-Learning to serve the needs of the MENA region. Having worked on the team that established the first fully online University in the Middle East (SVU - Syria Virtual University), Ruba has a deep understanding of the needs of the region as well as the challenges that go with working in this arena. When asked what her favorite task is in eLearning space Ruba's typical response is that she loves to create order out of ill defined work. This is especially important in the education environment as definitions are a constantly shifting as Ruba's work with the University of North Carolina can attest to.

Safa Rahal joined Coral Suites Al Hamra in 2009 as an Executive Assistant for the GM and have been working on the team since. In 2010, Safa become the E-Commerce Executive and was tasked with implementing a dedicated e-commerce strategy. As of January 2011 Safa got promoted to handle Revenue Execution as well. Safa managea all customer online reviews and control rates, availability and presence.

Sammy Tuffaha has over 18 years of Management, Consulting, Marketing, and Telecommunication experience at top global industry players including IBM Corp, AT&T Global Networks, and Orange Telecom. He coordinated and deployed mobile banking and mobile payment services with direct management of various aspects including technical, legal, regulatory, distribution, delivery, and marketing. In addition, Tuffaha managed the design and implementation of various mobile applications and mobile advertising solutions. As an entrepreneur, he created 4 startups businesses in different industries.

Prior to founding SolidPass, Selahaddin Karatas was the vice president of Sonera (the leading telecommunications provider in Finland and currently TeliaSonera) in charge of the Product group launching value added services and data platforms for telecom service providers. Selahaddin has been a noted speaker on the conference circuit covering the mobile internet, data security and convergence. Selahaddin has helped spearhead many world firsts in the space of the mobile internet and value added services, launching consumer facing non-voice mobile data applications from the year 1999 onwards. Selahaddin graduated from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, USA.

Responsible for the Amadeus e-Commerce, Leisure & Mobile Solutions product portfolio for the Middle East & North Africa Region, George has more than ten years of travel & tourism e-Commerce experience in the region and has got a good knowledge of the local markets. Previously he has worked as the Amadeus e-Commerce Engineer for Middle East & Africa region. Over the past 12 years George has gained extensive technological and strategic experience in many solution areas of travel and tourism including, Internet Booking Engines, Corporate Booking Engines, pure Leisure Solutions , Mobile Technologies for Corporations and Travellers, e-Marketing etc. He also represented Amadeus in many e-Commerce related conferences including IOETIs 2nd Arab International e-Tourism & e-Marketing Conference in Elgona, Egypt & The Secrets of E- Marketing arts Seminar, Beirut, Lebanon. George has an Engineering degree in Electronics and Communications from Mangalore University,India. He is based in Amadeus IT Group SA, MENA Regional office in Dubai.

Tarique holds a Diploma in Hotel Management and Catering Technology from Mumbai University. He has been a part of the initial start up team at Cleartrip and has been involved in multiple functions in the company which included managing Suppliers Relations for Air, Hotel and Train, Setting up the Corporate Travel Division and setting up the distribution channels for the company. Tarique heads the new markets initiatives at Cleartrip and is responsible for taking brand Cleartrip to new geographies. Prior to Cleartrip, Tarique worked with Kuoni India as Sr. General Manager New Projects and was also responsible for launching Emirates Holidays in India and was also its Business Head. Tarique has over 14 years of experience in Travel and has worked with large travel brands such as Cox and Kings and Indian Express.

Since he cofounded ITWorx in 1994, Wael Amin has been responsible for steering the company through its remarkable growth and transformation into a regional software powerhouse. Even before graduating top of his undergraduate class from the American University in Cairo, Wael's entrepreneurial drive was in high gear as he cofounded software firm MicroLabs. Wael is a frequent lecturer on Managing Professional Services and is a founding member of the Software Engineering Competence Center in Cairo. He is fluent in English, French, Spanish and Arabic.

Walid Tahabsem co-founded Integrated Technology Group in 1989 after receiving his B.Sc. in Computer Science from Yarmouk University, Jordan. Today, as ITG President & CEO, Walid leads one of the most successful IT solution providers in the Middle East offering quality end-to-end IT solutions and services in the field of education and government solutions. Walid was able to grow ITG in size, revenue and technological innovation, including the development of the first Arabic artificial intelligent parser, and an Electronic Data Interchange solution, in addition to EduWave®, which holds the largest base of deployments worldwide. Walid is an active member of Jordan’s National Agenda, Jordan’s Board of Education, Jordan University for Science and Technology (JUST) Advisory Council, German Jordan University (GJU) Advisory Council, Jordan’s ICT Advisory Council, Information Technology Association of Jordan (INT@J) Board, and Jordan’s Youth Development Program INJAZ. Walid is a co-founder and board member of the Oasis-500.

Yousef Ghosheh is the Deputy CEO of Dimensions Healthcare, a leading healthcare informatics company based in the United Arab Emirates with offices across the Middle East. He has more than 8 years of experience business development in the SME and ICT industries with private, public, and non-for-profit organizations. He was engaged in multiple pioneering initiatives in the information technology and healthcare sectors over the past few years including the implementation of the first pharmacy benefit management solution in the United Arab Emirates in partnership with MedImpact International. Mr. Ghosheh has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Information System from the United States and a Master Degree in Development Management from Germany.

Ziad Alshobaki is responsible for directing business development activities and establishing a strong network of partners in the EMEA and Far East regions. Before joining MOBIbucks, Mr. Alshobaki was New Ventures Director at Dubai World. Previously, he served as Director of Business Development at SAP and as a regional sales manager with IBM. Mr. Alshobaki started his career in 1994 with opening one of the first companies to develop websites and WAP in The Middle East. In 1998 he was part of the team that started the first IT Mall as well as a member of the team that started Tejari.com, the first G2B & B2B portal in the MENA region. He has extensive experience in Business Development management in the information technology sector. He completed his studies in the United States and holds a degree in Economics from the University of Chicago.

Ziad is the Founder/CEO of The Alleyway Group and the Treasurer of the Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants, Cafes, Nightclubs and Pastries in Lebanon and has a BA in Business Administration from the American University of Beirut and a MSc in Marketing Management from the University of Surrey, UK. Ziad Kamel began his career in 2002 in Beirut by founding and organizing New Year’s Eve events at the famous Sursock Palais in Ashrafieh for 4 years. In 2005, Kamel established his first company which went on to launch two popular nightspots in Beirut, Gauche Caviar & Cloud 9. Kamel then completed The Alleyway in 2009 by developing a diverse selection of concepts specializing in great food (Couqley – a French Bisto-Restaurant), nightlife entertainment (Gauche Caviar, Cloud 9, The Angry Monkey), shopping and indoor tanning. Ziad’s most recent launched restaurant is Amarres, a French Cafe-Bistro in Zaitunay Bay.