Program Details

As of 1 February 2008

Growing the Broadband Networking Environment & the MENA Satellite Dynamic

DAY ONE – 5 March 2008

1100

Registration & Networking Refreshments

1130

Welcome from the Day One Chairman

Martin Jarrold, Chief of International Programme Development, GVF

1145

Leadership Insights Keynote Address – Advancing the Regional Satellite Agenda

The Leadership Insights Keynote Address will offer an introductory overview of the early 21st Century state-of-play in satellite-based broadband services for corporate, government & civil society applications across the MENA region, and will examine the respective roles of the public sector and private sector in establishing essential communications infrastructures.

1200 Session 1 – Moderated Inter@ctive "Interview"

Regional Access & Applications: Satellite Networking Connectivity Initiatives & the Dynamics of IP Convergence

Demand for IP-based applications has driven hundreds of thousands of end-users worldwide towards satellite solutions, and millions more will follow in increasing numbers of emerging markets. Investments of billions of dollars into next-generation fixed and mobile satellite services, have led to broadband satellite portfolios that have been tailored for corporate requirements, and those of small-to-medium sized enterprises, the small-office/home-office, and the residential markets. This session will maximise your opportunity to learn just what global and regional satellite communications providers have to offer the MENA marketplace, and to understand how the latest, converged, access technologies and applications developments are positioned to meet regional demand.

1230 Session 2 – A 'Five-by-Five' Inter@ctive Panel

State-of-the-Art Maximisation of Satellite Bandwidth in the MENA Region

Spectrum is a finite and precious resource. In order to achieve the most efficient usage of this limited resource and to enhance investment returns for broadband satellite solution vendors, together with facilitating increased cost-effectiveness for broadband solutions buyers, IP satellite "must make the most of the bandwidth". In this session leading satellite industry insiders will explain not only how the supply of today's satellite solutions necessarily implies a continuing evolution of technologies to "make the most of the bandwidth", but also how appropriate bandwidth availability, provision, and supply is carefully planned for, and tailored to, regional demand dynamics. In addition, this session will cover the major recent spectrum allocation debate arising from the emergence of new terrestrial broadband wireless access technologies and their remaining potential to encroach upon the frequency ranges used by satellite service providers.

1300 Session 3 – Case Studies & Innovation Challenges

Applications Study: Business Continuity & Disaster Response

Regular and frequent natural disasters of various types are an all-too-well known occurrence around the globe, and large sums of money are expended in seeking to predict, and thus to mitigate their damaging consequences through the application of disaster recovery, emergency management and business continuity procedures and programmes. Increasingly, it is recognised that the critical path to the most effective application of such procedures and programmes is wholly dependent upon the deployment of wireless communications which facilitate the coordinated movement of logistical, rescue and first responder resources into, and within, regions threatened by – or recovering from – a disaster situation. Terrestrial wireless equipment is only useful when communications towers and other fixed equipment are in place to connect wireless equipment to the local and global communications backbone. In the majority of emergency situations, this infrastructure has either been destroyed or damaged as a consequence of the disaster, or was not available in the first instance. It is this reality which makes it critical for local government and emergency workers to have access to a wireless communications network that operates independently of terrestrial infrastructure. Satellite communications provide such a solution, and offer the only wireless communications infrastructure that is not susceptible to damage from disasters. The case studies offered in this session will illustrate the essential role of satellite communications for business continuity preparedness, and in the delivery of effective disaster response strategies.

1330

Luncheon Break & Exhibition Viewing

1445 Session 4 – Case Studies & Innovation Challenges

Market Vertical Study: Marine Transportation Sector

In this session the panellists will provide case studies of the essential and expanding contribution of satellite technologies and services to maritime communications around the MENA region, and the sea lanes of the world. Hardware innovations which have fostered the development of high-efficiency stabilised antenna systems on the vendor supply side, and new applications developments which are able to meet the connectivity demands of shipping owner/operators, cargo companies, ships crews, and cruise passengers, etc., will be illustrated.

1515 Session 5 – A 'Five-by-Five' Inter@ctive Panel

21st Century Satellite Pure-Plays & Hybrids: Regional Alignment of the Convergence Factor & the Mobile Dynamic

With the communications marketplace putting an ever greater emphasis on access to much more than voice-only services whilst on the move, the panellists in this session will detail the present and growing contribution of satellite to the provision of data services and IP-based applications through mobile terminals, whether via satellite-hybrid terrestrial wireless networks or via pure-play satellite terminals.

1545 Session 6 – Case Studies & Innovation Challenges

Applications Study: Sustainable Economic & Social Development through Education Provision & Health Promotion

An effective school and university education system, together with the delivery of accessible public health resources are essential to both economic growth and social development. In multiple emerging markets around the world, many of them in the MENA region, satellite-based communications are making possible access to, and more effective exploitation of, distance learning and tele-medical applications for growing populations, and doing so very cost-effectively. In this session the panellists will offer case study examples of how satellite networking is contributing to economic sustainability and social advance.

1615

Closing Comments

1630

Close of Day One & Return to Exhibition Viewing

DAY TWO – 6 March 2008

1100

Registration & Networking Refreshments

1130

Welcome from the Day Two Chairman

Martin Jarrold, Chief of International Programme Development, GVF

1145 Session 7 – Case Studies & Innovation Challenges

Regional Study: Communications & the Reconstruction of Iraq

The future of Iraq is still ridden with uncertainty. However, one thing that is certain is that for there to be any future functioning society and economy, there must be a renewal of infrastructure, with a communications infrastructure as its foundation. This session will present a range of examples where fixed satellite services (FSS) and mobile satellite service (MSS) offerings have already aided the rapid deployment of just such an essential foundation, thereby creating the potential for effective governance and economic expansion.

1215 Session 8 – Inter@ctive Presentation with Q&A

The View from the APSCC

A representative of the Asia-Pacific Satellite Communications Council will provide an analysis of key satellite market issues from the region.

1215 Session 8 – Inter@ctive Presentation with Q&A

The View from the APSCC

A representative of the Asia-Pacific Satellite Communications Council will provide an analysis of key satellite market issues from the region.

1245 Session 9 – Inter@ctive Presentation with Q&A

The New Training Dynamic in Regional Capacity Building

Applicable in all regions of the world, GVF has developed a range of informational and training resources that are designed to offer both government/quasi-government/NGO institutions and private sector entities the resources to enhance and grow their capacities for effective action. These capacities may include, in the public sector, the development and implementation of effective approaches to satellite regulatory reform or for market liberalisation. Or, in the private sector, they may include the deployment of training resources to facilitate professional development amongst satellite earth station installation engineers. In this session a GVF VSAT Installation & Maintenance Course Certified Trainer will elaborate on the rationale of GVF installation training, explain just how it works, and demonstrate how your organisation can benefit from it.

1315

Luncheon Break & Exhibition Viewing

1430 Session 10 – Case Studies & Innovation Challenges

Market Vertical Study: The Energy Industries & GVF Market Sector Initiatives

The oil & gas industry is, of course, a vertical market of central importance throughout the MENA region, and one that depends on satellite technology for its mission critical operations in the exploration and production, as well as other, industry segments. New broadband satellite based applications are essential in supporting the operational imperatives which facilitate the enabling of the 'Digital Oilfield'. GVF recognition of the central importance of this user vertical in the satellite industry customer-base and coverage of oil & gas connectivity requirements in GVF programme activities has now extended to a formal relationship between GVF and the publisher of the GulfOilandGas.com industry information portal. In this session the panellists will define the satellite communications connectivity imperatives of the oil & gas sector, and the collaboration with GulfOilandGas.com explained.

1500 Session 11 – A 'Five-by-Five' Inter@ctive Panel

Alternative Satellite Technologies & Next Generation Networking: Market Opportunity in the Evolution of Platforms & Performance

Evolution of space segment and of ground segment, together with innovation in software and applications have, over the life of the satellite industry, introduced a series of new dynamics to the arena of wireless communications and brought about major opportunities in the continuing evolution of the business models and revenue streams of satellite operators and network service providers. In this session you will learn about some of the latest waves of innovation to come from space segment operators and ground station equipment vendors.

1530 Session 12 – A 'Five-by-Five' Inter@ctive Panel

Driving the New Dynamics of the Regional Broadband Satellite Solution

The emphasis of the contributors to this final session is on the analysis and understanding of current trends as a foundation for the planning of growth in, and directing the evolution of, the provision of broadband, IP-based, applications and services in the future marketplace. However, this is not an exercise in ad hoc crystal ball-gazing, but a clear and detailed overview of just how today's satellite technologies and the associated business models which facilitate their current effective deployment are most likely to evolve into yet further improved technologies and a range of increasingly innovative business models of revenue-stream expansion. If the IP satellite argument has been won in the minds of the corporate/SME/SOHO end-user, just exactly how must the satellite sector continue to position itself to secure long-term sales of its solutions, and to successfully guarantee the customer-base competitive advantage that arises from the satellite choice? What next for the satellite-based networking environment? What next in the MENA satellite – and non-satellite – communications marketplace?

1600

Concluding Remarks from the Chairman

1615

Close of MENASAT 2008 & Return to Exhibition Viewing

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  • Supported By

  • ASBU
  • ABU
  • IABM
  • Satellite MENA