ICT FundICT Fund

عربي

Board of Trustees

Chairman of the Board of Trustees' Message

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has already illustrated to the world the enormous successes it has achieved within a short time-frame. Having emerged as an integral international hub, the UAE already has a strong position on the global stage. In order to keep this international presence, the UAE has the responsibility of creating long-term sustainability through economic diversification to ensure the security and stability for its community both now and in the future.

One of the ways the UAE can maintain momentum economically is through investing in lucrative industries and engaging our nation’s youth to pursue competitive levels of education, encouraging these young minds to channel their creative thinking into real-world applications and to continually seek excellence in all of their endeavors. The information and communication technology (ICT) sector is among these promising industries in turn receiving significant attention from the UAE’s leadership, due to its influence all aspects of our contemporary life.

The ICT industry is a sector that can thrive from knowledge centrism. For a country whose mission is to diversify its economy away from oil, knowledge capital is an important and lucrative investment with staying power. Our long-term agenda can be fulfilled through knowledge-intensive pursuits. Our work to this end, using the ICT Fund as a means, is a testament to our commitment to serve our nation’s community with a long-term and enduring benefit.

  • H.E. Mr. Majed Almesmar    H.E. H.E. Mr. Majed Almesmar

    Chairman of the Board of Trustees

    Majed Almesmar holds a bachelor degree of science in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University in Massachusetts - USA, graduated in 1990. He has over 20 years of experience in the field of telecommunications out of which he spent 15 years working in the field of the wireless Networks as planner and project manager till September 2004.

    Mr. Almesmar was then selected to be a member of one of the first teams deputed by “Etisalat” to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for setting up the foundation and infrastructure of the second wireless operator (Etihad Etisalat – Mobily). During the four years spent in Saudi Arabia, he held various top level management positions such as Director of the Network Development in the Western Region and as a Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of the network development of the company.

    In November 2008, Mr. Almesmar was deputed to co-manage the startup of the new telecom operator in India (Etisalat-DB) as a Chief Operating Officer (COO). End of October 2009, Mr. Almesmar returned back to the UAE and was appointed as a Group Senior Vice President – Special Projects.

    Mr. Almesmar joined the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority as Deputy Director General in April 2010.

  • H.E. Dr. Sabri Al-Azazi     H.E. H.E. Saeed Sultan Al Suwaidi

    Board Member

    Mr. Saeed Al Suwaidi is the Deputy Director General of TRAs Support Services Sector. In this role, he is responsible for all administrative functions related to procurement, foreign contracts, and financial and administrative support services.

    As the head of TRAs support services sector, Mr. Al.Suwaidi takes care of the development and follow up of all tenders issued and approved by the authority and is in charge of evaluating supply contracts and performance procedures around bids and tenders in accordance with the rules and regulations laid down by the authority.

    Mr. Al.Suwaidi vast role also includes making decisions related to purchasing and supply requisitions for the authority as well as evaluation of staff performance, workflow and suppliers. Furthermore, he also supervises contracted projects and financial transactions.

    Mr. Al.Suwaidi has held several senior positions across other government organizations including a post as the Director of Procurement for Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority and Chairman of the Council of Sharjah Cooperative Society.

    Mr. Al.Suwaidi has also received several awards and certifications from public and private sector organizations for his commitment and dedication to his work across areas such as information technology, customer service and international business relations.

    Mr. AL Suwaidi holds a Master and the Bachelor degree in International Relations from the American University in Washington D.C.

  • H.E. Dr. Khalifa H. Harib     H.E. H.E. Dr. Khalifa H. Harib

    Board Member

    Dr. Khalifa is currently an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the UAE University which he joined in 1997. He also taught on the master level at the American University of Sharjah as an adjunct professor. He earned his Master and Ph.D. degrees from the Ohio State University, U.S.A, both in mechanical engineering, in 1993 and 1997 respectively.

    Dr. Khalifa chaired the department of mechanical engineering at the UAE University during the periods 2000-2003, and 2007-2008. His research and teaching interests extend over a wide range of areas including robotics, computer aided manufacturing, dynamics and control.

    Dr. Khalifa has authored and co-authored numerous journal and conference papers and book chapters, several of which he presented in international conferences and meetings. He served as a member of the Higher Committee for Dubai Metro Project. He also served as a board member of the Emirates Science Club.

  • H.E. Dr. Mohamed Alkous    H.E. H.E. Dr. Mohamed Alkous

    Board Member

    Mohamed A. Alkous was born in Sharjah, UAE. He received his B.Sc. Degree in electrical engineering, M.Sc. in Communications, and Ph.D. in Communications from the George Washington University, USA in 1982, 1985, and 1992, respectively.

    He joined the UAE University in1992 and has been a faculty member since then. He was assigned the head of the teaching assistant academic affairs – UAE University from 1993 to 1995 and the associate dean for male student affairs from 1998 to 2003.

    His research interests include channel coding, code-division multiple-access systems, wireless-sensor networks, channel characterization and estimation, adaptive multiuser detection, and physical-channel modeling for mobile communications.

    Dr. Alkous is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

  • H.E. Dr. Mohammed Ebrahim Al-Mualla     H.E. H.E. Dr. Mohammed Ebrahim Al-Mualla

    Board Member

    As Interim Provost at Khalifa University of Science Technology and Research (KUSTAR), Dr. Mohammed provides leadership and strategic direction in all academic affairs of the university. Dr Al-Mualla also manages the Abu Dhabi Campus ensuring that it is in line with the overall strategic direction of KUSTAR.

    Dr. Mohammed joined KUSTAR - Sharjah Campus as an assistant professor and then an associate professor and Deputy Head of the Electronic Engineering Department, where he has contributed both to the teaching and administration sides of KUSTAR. He has taught a range of courses such as Signals & Systems, Digital Signal Processing, Audio & Image Processing, and Multimedia.

    Dr. Al-Mulla has also contributed to curriculum and program development, and participated in, and led, many accreditation activities by both local and international bodies. He has been a member and chair of numerous KUSTAR committees, boards, and panels. He was then assigned as the Coordinator of Research and Graduate Studies where he has lead the development of many programs, most notably the Ph.D. in Engineering degree which is the first Ph.D. in Engineering degree to be accredited in the UAE.

    Dr. Mohammed holds a PhD degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and an MSc degree in Communication Systems and Signal Processing both from the University of Bristol, U.K. He also has a BEng degree in Telecommunications from Etisalat College of Engineering*, UAE.

    Dr. Mohammed is very active in professional societies and services and is a member of the Chartered Engineer (C.Eng.), Member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Vice-Chair of the Executive Committee of the IEEE UAE Section, Founding Chair of the IEEE UAE Signal Processing & Communication Chapter, Board Member of the UAE Scientific Club, Founder and Steering Committee Chair of the IEEE International Conference on Signal Processing and Communication (ICSPC).

    Dr. Al-Mulla is also a member of the steering, organizing and technical program committees of many international conferences, and has served on many editorial and reviewing boards of international journals and conferences.

  • H.E. Dr. Mohamed N. Alahbabi     H.E. H.E. Dr. Mohamed N. Alahbabi

    Board Member

    HE Dr. Mohammed Nasser Al Ahbabi is considered one of the most qualified national leaders within the space industry, known for his leadership, management and strategic planning skills. He is an expert within communications, information systems and modern defence concepts.

    Dr. Al Ahbabi has extensive experience in the development of human resources and is a strong believer in the UAE’s capability in developing world-class industries.

    He obtained a PhD in communications from the University of Southampton from the United Kingdom in 2005, and a master's degree for the same university in communications in 2001. He completed a degree in electronic engineering from the University of California in 1998, in addition to many specialized military and govenrment courses. Dr. Al Ahbabi has also won a series of honors and awards over the years.

    Dr Ahbabi has tremendous experience in civil and military work and academia. He became a telecommunications officer for the UAE Armed Forces until he reached the rank of Major. During that period he also worked as a coordinator for Dubai Internet City until 2000 then as a telecommunications officer for Sharyan Al Doea Network and a project manager for Yahsat military division from 2005 to 2012. He also helped establish strategic projects including the innovation and development centre for the Armed Forces which allowed him to work closely with partners and stakeholders.

    Dr Ahbabi has contributed and led numerous strategic projects in the ICT domain towards the benefit of the UAE government. He has also led a UAE Armed Forces Think Tank Project within the Centre of Excellence. His role included advising the military and government at a strategic level on emerging concepts and technologies in the area of smart defense, cyber warfare and space developments.

    He has led YAHSAT MilSatCom and other space projects. He has an active role in ITU-R, United Nations space working groups and various ICT professional associations.

    Dr Ahbabi is also a key speaker in a number of international conferences in the area of Smart Defense, mil-Space, Cybersecurity, and Smart governments. He is also a board member of YahSat Company and of the UAE ICT fund.

  • H.E. Dr. Sabri Al-Azazi     H.E. H.E. Dr. Sabri Al-Azazi

    Board Member

    Dr. Al-Azazi earned his PhD in early 2008 from the School of Applied Sciences at Cranfield University in Great Britain, based on his thesis ‘A multi layer model for e-government information security assessment.’ He holds an Executive MBA from the American University of Sharjah and a Bachelors degree from Washington State University in Computer Engineering and Computer Science in the field of Semiconductor wafers and VLSI design.

    He was the first UAE National to attain the highly-prized CISSP (Certified Information Security Systems Practitioner) professional certification and holds a range of professional certifications in ICT such as ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) Certified Engineer and as well as having attended top management courses from University of Cranfield and Swiss business school IMD.

    Dr. Sabri Al-Azazi is a technologist and a scientist with over 20 years of experience in the IT and Information Security industries. He is currently the Senior Advisor for IT and Technology at the General Management Office of the Abu Dhabi Municipality (ADM).

    Dr. Al-Azazi is currently an Executive Director of Center Operations Sector at Emirates Identity Authority. He worked previously in different sectors (Security and Defense, telecommunication, government Services, and banking sector) and occupied executive roles in several organizations such as Group CIO of Al Hilal Bank, Sr. Advisor of Abu Dhabi Municipality, Group CIO of Dubai Holding and Chief Operating Officer of Ehosting Datafort. (a security services subsidiary of TECOM Investments).

    Dr. Al-Azazi remains active in both business and academia. He is an adjunct professor at both the American University of Sharjah and the University of Wollongong in Dubai, teaching Information Security. In addition, he is a visiting researcher at Cranfield University in United Kingdom where he is currently researching quantum electrodynamic theory and fields such as quantum computer computations and quantum cryptography (QKD).

    Dr. Al Azazi is also an Advisory board member of University of Wollongong for the computer science department. Dr. Sabri Al Azazi is recognized as a UAE national expert in the technology fields and conducted several advisory activities across the government sectors. He has interest and modest practice in the fields of astrophysics, astronomy, and cosmology.