Technology

keralamonitor.com

Pneumonia : Hong Kong, German Doctors Identify Virus; Enhanced High Speed Data Transfer in Bahrain using INMARSAT -Communications Sector to Drive Investment in Bahrain, says Wataniya Telecom Region's leading yacht and boat manufacturer unveils plans for the new Majesty 125 -Intel demonstrates leading edge computer technology to end-users in Jeddah Eastern Networks awarded global project by Arab Bank

India makes tremendous progress in Information Technology

The IT-Enabled Services sector in India has emerged as a prime catalyst of growth for the IT industry in the last five years. This segment is poised to grow world-wide very rapidly over the next few years. The first year of this millennium was a year of turbulence, tragedy, terrorism and slow-down in the world economy. But the Indian IT software and services industry weathered this storm well. It is indeed creditable that the IT software and services industry in India has continued its robust growth since 1998.

The software industry has emerged as one of the fastest growing sectors in the Indian economy with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) exceeding 50 per cent over the last five years and with a turnover of US$ 10.25 billion (Rs. 48,134 crore) and exports of US$ 7.8 billion (Rs. 36,599 crore) during 2001-02. Software exports jumped to Rs. 36,500 crore during 2001-02 from Rs. 3,700 crore during 1996-97, a compound annual growth rate of about 60 per cent.

The IT software and services industry in India accounted for about 2 per cent of the country’s GDP during 2001-02. Indian IT software and services exports accounted for over 18 per cent of India’s total exports during 2001-02. It is expected that by the year 2008, Indian IT software and services industry will account for 7 per cent of India’s GDP and 35 per cent of its total exports.

The Nasscom McKinsey Report 2002, released in June last year, has reiterated that despite the recent slowdown, the Indian IT services (ITS) and IT-enabled services (ITES) industry is poised to meet its long-term exports potential of US $ 57 billion, though the service line mix is likely to be different. The IT-enabled services sector has witnessed an exponential growth in the last two years. As a result the IT-enabled services exports is likely to reach US $ 21-24 billion by 2008.

A large number of Indian software companies have acquired international quality certification. Out of the top 400 companies, more than 250 have already acquired ISO 9000 certification. A majority of the multinational companies operating in the area of information technology have either software development centre or research development centre in India. India’s expertise in emerging technologies actually helped the country to get new customers. Companies in Europe and Japan are increasing their outsourcing to India.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) today permeates almost every sphere of human endeavour. In fact, many countries are benchmarking the success of their e-governance initiatives in terms of the resultant increase in the competitiveness of the country, apart from the R&D and information infrastructure initiatives.

Initiatives

India enacted the Information Technology (IT) Act in 2000 to provide a legal framework to facilitate electronic commerce and transaction. It recognizes electronic contracts, prevention of computer crimes, electronic filing and documentation and digital signature. In line with the global practices, the vital security needs of privacy, authenticity, integrity and non-repudiation over the Internet in India are being addressed by the Public Key Infrastructure.

The Department of Information Technology has set up Community Information Centres (CICs) at 487 block headquarters in the seven North Eastern States and Sikkim as a part of the Prime Minister’s agenda for socio-economic development of the region. These CICs can help in combating escalating crises in health, energy, water, education and literacy as well as poverty alleviation. The CICs will provide Internet connectivity, e-mail facilities, interface between citizens and government, distance learning programmes, information on national programmes, disaster management system and public health awareness.

Media Lab Asia

As a new initiative in the context of bridging the digital divide, the Government of India has collaborated with Media Lab of MIT, USA to form Media Lab Asia which is proposed to be a network of national as well as overseas people, projects, and laboratories dedicated to bringing the benefits of the most advanced information technologies to the neediest people. The role of Media Lab Asia is to facilitate the invention, refinement and deployment of innovations that benefit the masses. The Media Lab Asia would work with industry, NGOs, government and, most importantly, the ordinary people to bring these innovations to every village in India. It is funded initially by the Government of India and it is expected that the private sector, multilateral and bilateral agencies as well as NGOs would contribute to it.

Research laboratories have been set up under the Media Lab Asia Programme at IITs Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Kharagpur and Kanpur to carry out research work and applications development. The Government of India regards Media Lab Asia as a major initiative to bring IT to the masses and bridge the digital divide.

Media Lab Asia is on the list of the country’s fifteen important national initiatives announced on the occasion of India’s 55th Independence Day anniversary by the Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Media Lab Asia has been designated as an Asian Regional Hub of the United Nations ICT Task Force for coordinating activities of academia and the private sector in the area of IT for the masses.

Bioinformatics

It is widely recognized that the 21st century belongs to information technology and life sciences. Biotechnology is an ever-evolving field and success in this industry means leveraging the global market place to our advantage. A number of entrepreneurs are looking forward to use India’s strength in information technology as leverage for entering in the field of biotechnology. BioTech/DNA parks are envisaged with a focus to provide the right infrastructure and space for R&D purpose and to enhance the growth of the biotechnology sector in India. BioTech or DNA parks are to be developed to encourage entrepreneurship and to improve the competitiveness of the biotech industry. There is a plan to set up bioinformatics parks with common wet labs for genome data centres and super computing support in the country.

Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is an emerging technology of manipulating matter at the atomic scale. It will make most products lighter, stronger, cleaner, less expensive and more precise. Nanotechnology is expected to usher in the next industrial revolution. The nanotechnology research is being strongly supported by the governments in the USA, Europe, Japan and China. The research in this area would vastly depend upon the availability of trained manpower and resources. The IT Ministry plans to develop this area in cooperation with leading academic and R&D institutions in the country.

Convergence

The 21st century has begun the convergence of technologies and the consequent process of globalisation. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been instrumental in speeding up the process of economic growth. Future societies will be knowledge-based. ICT will revolutionize products, processes and services. In order to reap the benefits of ICT, it is essential that people should be able to absorb technology and enhance their knowledge generation capabilities.

Today, 80 per cent of the content on Internet is in English which is spoken by only 8 per cent of the world population. India is a multilingual country. It is felt that information processing and exchange software should be developed in local languages and made available at low cost. The use of free multilingual software needs to be promoted so that ICT paves the way for digital unity and knowledge for all rather than the sprawling digital divide. In this context, a number of initiatives have been taken towards developing the Indian language processing tools, human machine interface and translation support systems, lexical resources and standardization softwares like UNICODE, XML and lexware format and fonts representing Indian languages.

Internet

Internet is now emerging as the principal medium of communication for every country. The dichotomy of the open system with the desire to share information and the secure systems that prevent prowlers from taking away the digital assets would continue to be the challenge in the future information infrastructures that are critical to the existence of every nation. It is essential to create a confidence level in our own public so that they can begin to use the network with absolute faith for commerce, communication, entertainment, software development and governance and ensure safety of the government network to enable it transact business electronically and by sharing valuable and sensitive data in tune with the world developments over the Internet without having to be inhibited by its perennial worry about the network’s security.

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) is being set up to ensure that India’s information assets in every sphere are provided the necessary protection.

There has been a considerable shift in the learning paradigm due to the introduction of technology and newer methods of imparting education. New technologies are being gradually integrated into the learning environment. Networking and Internet are being used as cost-effective tools for improving learning opportunities for students, faculty development, supporting professional development, increasing productivity of members of the learning community and improving the efficiency of schools and district and State administrations.

To integrate technology into the learning environment, the Department of Information Technology has formulated two specific programmes, namely, ‘Vidya Vahini’ and ‘Gyan Vahini’ to provide connectivity to schools across the country and IT infrastructure at all the institutions of higher learning in the country, respectively. A pilot project has been taken up to connect about 200 senior secondary schools in the seven identified districts in the country. These schools will be provided one networking lab consisting of 10 personal computers, servers, printers, digital content on the NCERT curriculum and Internet connectivity of 128 Kbps. Similarly, a pilot project has been taken up to set up a campus-wide network at the Delhi University. This campus-wide network will connect all its Departments in the North and South Campuses and affiliated colleges in the North Campus. Use of campus-wide technology is proposed to deliver video and data at higher speed.

Computing

High Performance Computing (HPC) developments today continue to be driven by the demanding engineering and scientific applications. These have emerged as a domain leading to new scientific innovations. As one of the major deliverable of High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) technologies and applications Mission of C-DAC, one Teraflop computing system PARAM TF was commissioned on December 16, 2002.

A large number of scientific and engineering researchers and institutions countrywide still require high-end computational resources. The grid-enabled computing infrastructure is thus an ideal candidate. The development of a nationwide IGrid is proposed by C-DAC as a technology development and infrastructure creation initiative. One of its objectives will be to develop an application software with the establishment of Igrid – Strategic Users Group (I-SUG) that will drive the usage of the grid by multiple users across the country.

The Department of Information Technology has aimed at catalysing a modest increase in India’s share of the world market for VLSI design from about US $ 10 million to about US $ 200 million in about 5-7 years. A report prepared by TCS and IIT, Mumbai has projected a need of 4000 to 5000 microelectronics professionals per year at the level of M. Tech (Microelectronics). The Department aims to train special manpower in this area at B.E./B.Tech., M.E./M.Tech and Ph.D levels.

E-Governance

E-governance enables the use of information technology and communication technologies to improve efficiency, convenience, accessibility and transparency in government. The major emphasis today both at Central and State levels is to focus on these objectives from the perspective of the citizen and businesses. Various IT activities such as development of software applications packages, creation of e-governance infrastructure, national ID, citizen databases, smart card and digital educational content in E-Governance domain are being taken up on pilot scale basis.

The National Informatics Centre (NIC) has been instrumental in steering information and communication technology applications in Government departments at the Central, State and district levels, facilitating improvement in Government services, wider transparency in Government’s functions and improvement in decentralized planning and management. --Inputs: Courtesy Shri Rajiv Rastogi, Director, Department of Information Technology -keralamonitor.com March 19, 2003

PNEUMONIA: Hong Kong, German Doctors Identify Virus

Doctors in Hong Kong today said they have identified the virus believed to be behind a mysterious global outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, raising hopes of a vaccine against an illness that has so far left at least 11 people dead and hundreds of others sick (Tan Ee Lyn, Reuters, March 19). Researchers in Germany also identified a virus that could be behind the pneumonia outbreak (M.A.J. McKenna, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 19). "From the shape of the virus, it belongs to the paramyxoviridae family," said John Tam, a virologist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Tan, Reuters). The German researchers, who worked with three people stricken by the disease, also identified an apparent paramyxovirus (McKenna, Atlanta Journal-Constitution).

Lo Wing-lok, an infectious disease expert, said the virus identified by researchers in Hong Kong is not related to influenza but causes similar symptoms. Health experts stressed that more laboratory work was needed to determine definitively the nature of the virus. Officials from the World Health Organization are expected to arrive in China soon to investigate a possible link between the global outbreak and a spate of respiratory infections that began in November in southern China, sickening more than 300 people and killing five. Health experts in Hong Kong yesterday suggested the outbreaks are linked but said further investigation is needed.

China has drawn criticism for an apparent initial reluctance to acknowledge the scope of its outbreak. Chinese journalists have said they were told not to report on the spreading illness, and China waited until Sunday -- a day after WHO officials issued a worldwide health alert following the appearance of cases outside Asia -- to give the WHO a report on the outbreak (Tan, Reuters).Tommy Thompson, the U.S. health and human services secretary, said China initially resisted U.S. efforts to send experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to China to investigate.

"I met with Chinese officials about 10 days ago, and I asked them at that time to allow CDC to go in and work with them," Thompson said. "We were not able to successfully negotiate that at that time, but subsequently we have been able to" (Inter Press Service/TerraViva, March 19).The U.S. Institute of Medicine, a nongovernmental institute that advises the U.S. government, released a study yesterday warning that new, fast-moving diseases are a bigger tr threat than ever to world health. The authors said the current outbreak underscores their findings. The report, commissioned two years ago, indicates that over the last 10 years, increased international travel, migration from rural to urban areas in developing countries and frequent civil unrest have increased the threat of a rapidly spreading global outbreak (McKenna, Atlanta Journal-Constitution). keralamonitor.com

Communications Sector to Drive Investment in Bahrain, says Wataniya Telecom

Bidding for Bahraini Second Mobile Telecommunications license, Wataniya Telecom supports decision to form Telecommunications Regulatory Authority - says strong investment growth will result

Manama, March 18th, 2003

Wataniya Telecom, a leading mobile communications provider that brought competition to the Kuwaiti telecommunications market, has formally announced that it has joined the bid for Bahrain's second mobile telecommunications license in a move that follows the company's regional expansion strategy. The move comes directly as a result of the clear and positive signal from Bahrain's government that it has built a world-class regulatory environment in order to build a competitive telecommunications market in the Kingdom.

"Wataniya Telecom is proud to be able to compete for this opportunity to invest in Bahrain. We believe that opening the telecommunications market in the Kingdom will drive significant investment and growth opportunities," said Ahmed Dehdary, Assistant General Manager of Wataniya Telecom.

Wataniya Telecom, with over 675,000 subscribers in Kuwait, believes the benefits of competition for the Bahraini economy are not limited to the creation of a second mobile communications network. In addition to investments in communications equipment and the creation of jobs, the Company also sees major opportunities to support the growth of new businesses and indirect employment. "The government of Bahrain has set itself on a course that builds economic growth and opportunity through the liberalization of the Telecommunications sector," states Dehdary. "We have great confidence in the government's proactive approach, and are encouraged by the transparent process that the TRA is using. We hope that we have a chance to participate in this dynamic and evolving process which is sure to bring benefits to the people of Bahrain."

Wataniya Telecom, which also owns 50% of Tunisian GSM operator Tunisiana, is a publically traded company on the Kuwait Stock Exchange, an affiliated company of Kuwaiti Projects Company (Holding) - (KIPCO), a major diversified company with interests in finance, media and entertainment and with over $10 billion of assets under its control.

Launched in December 1999, Wataniya Telecom is the second licensed GSM mobile operator in the State of Kuwait. With a market capitalisation exceeding US $1.5 Billion, the Company has been a driving force in increasing the mobile communications market penetration in Kuwait to over 54 percent of the population. The Company recently expanded internationally in December 2002 as the second licensed mobile telecommunications operator in Tunisia through its acquisition of 50 percent of GSM operator Tunisiana.

With over 675,000 subscribers, Wataniya Telecom has built its success on a customer focused strategy built on the philosophy that 'caring makes the difference.' The Company provides a wide range of leading edge wireless voice and data services delivered with high quality and designed to meet customer requirements Recognised by a GCC Ministerial award in 2002 for employing and developing the national workforce, Wataniya Telecom is committed to employing, investing in and promoting local nationals within the countries in which it operates. keralamonitor.com

Gulf Craft Inc. consolidates its position in the region with the launch of new luxury vessels at the Dubai International Boat Show

Region's leading yacht and boat manufacturer unveils plans for the new Majesty 125

March 18, 2003

Gulf Craft Inc., the prominent yacht and boat builder in the Middle East, has unveiled at a press conference held today (Tuesday, March 18, 2003) the construction plans of the elegant Majesty 125 super yacht. This significant move is aimed at consolidating the company's position as the leading luxury yacht and boat manufacturer in the region.

On the occasion of the Dubai International Boat Show held from March 19-22 at the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, Gulf Craft Inc. is also launching its new sports cruiser, the Ambassador 25, and an innovative sport fishing vessel titled the Walkaround 40.

"The evolution of Gulf Craft Inc. into a world-class manufacturer of yachts and luxury vessels reflects the commitment and dedication of the company to the luxury yacht and boat industry," said Mohammed bin Hussein Al Shaali, Chairman, Gulf Craft Inc. "Our vision to emerge as a supplier of top-class marine vessels to local and international customers has been translated into a reality today. We have grown into a 300-employee company, expanded our operations to two factories in the UAE, opened a third factory in Maldives and consolidated our network of distributors to include 40 points of sales in 30 countries. The Dubai International Boat Show is an appropriate platform for us to showcase our products and unveil our future plans."

"The commemoration of our 20th anniversary this year has been a milestone for us. We would also like to take this opportunity to announce our ambitious plans to build the Majesty 125, which is a luxurious and technologically advanced super yacht," added Al Shaali. "Epitomizing high technology and sophistication, the Majesty 125 will cater to the different demands of top-end customers. It also marks a new stage in the development of Gulf Craft Inc. and will crown our efforts of the past two decades in the creation of distinctive marine vessels."

Dubai World Trade Centre Director General, Mubarak bin Fahad said, "We are delighted that many local, regional and international companies are using the Dubai International Boat Show as a launch pad to introduce new crafts to the market and Gulf Craft is leading the way locally, with their sports Cruiser, the Ambassador 25 and an innovative sport fishing vessel called the Walkaround 40. Dubai offers some of the best boating facilities in the world and a rapidly growing network of marinas in turn help attract an increasing number of exhibitors to participate in our show," he added.

Dr. Mohammed Hamdan, Partner of Gulf Craft Inc., said: "Twenty years in the boat building business has placed Gulf Craft Inc. at the forefront of the industry, catering to select clients who demand the highest international standards in the vessels they order. The Dubai International Boat Show presents us with an opportunity to showcase our wide range of luxury boats and yachts. This year, as we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we are presenting two of our finest models, crafted with discerning buyers in mind, offering the highest levels of comfort, elegance and safety."

Erwin Bamps, Executive Manager, Gulf Craft Inc., said: "Gulf Craft Inc. has emerged as the undisputed leader in manufacturing luxurious and technologically superior boats and yachts. Maintaining that leadership role, we are proud to launch our two new models at the Dubai International Boat Show. The Ambassador 25 sports cruiser is built to international specifications, incorporating several high quality features, which offer real value for money. The top-of-the-range features are complemented by a three-year warranty against manufacturing defects."

"The Walkaround 40 represents a floating luxury guest-house with features like a saloon and a galley, master state room, guest cabin, A/C system, navigation equipments and life raft," said Erwin Bamps. "State of the art technology and a high-quality interior finish make the Walkabout 40 an excellent choice for lovers of multi-functional luxury boats, allowing to use it as a weekender, a cruiser and a fishing boat" he added.

The unveiling of the construction plans of the unprecedented luxury yacht Majesty 125 highlights the renowned design talents of Frank Mulder and Sam Sorgiovanni. The Majesty series of yachts incorporates high-power engines and state of the art navigation systems and will be constructed under strict classification supervision. With construction work already initiated, the innovative and elegant Majesty 125 will be launched in 2005.In addition, Gulf Craft Inc. will also showcase its entire range of superior boats and yachts at the region's premier boat show. keralamonitor.com

Enhanced High Speed Data Transfer in Bahrain using INMARSAT

CNN team based in Manama testing Inmarsat's Global Area Network (GAN) system that brings live video phone broadcast and is used by major international and regional broadcasters.keralamonitor.com

Inmarsat re-tasks backup satellite to provide further GAN Mobile ISDN service for the Middle East

Dubai, March 18th 2003 - Inmarsat Limited, the Total Communications Network™ via satellite, has announced that it has re-tasked its backup satellite, establishing a 5th Ocean Region - Indian Ocean Region West (IND-W) - to meet predicted take-up of Global Area Network (GAN) Mobile ISDN services particularly in the Middle East by aid agencies, Governments and the media.

Inmarsat GAN is used by all of the world's major broadcasters as a mobile data communications service via satellite enabling them to report quickly and from closer to the action. Organisations like the BBC, CNN, NBC and ABC use Inmarsat GAN to connect their videophones with their studios for live broadcasts of worldwide news events. Videophone via Inmarsat GAN was used extensively during the Afghanistan conflict, and has also been used during many major natural disasters to coordinate safety issues and services.

A number of the world's aid agencies and Governments also use Inmarsat GAN for reliable mobile ISDN services as it offers speeds of up to 64kbit/s, which can be further extended by bonding two or more GANs together.

"Inmarsat is about providing businesses with reliable, global communications services wherever and whenever they need it, irrespective of the constraints of the terrestrial network," said Michael Butler, managing director of Inmarsat Ltd. "By establishing a 5th Ocean Region we are confident that we can meet the growing demand for our services in this region by the world media and aid agencies ."

Inmarsat manages a global network of nine satellites in geostationary orbit. Up until today, only four of these satellites were required to provided the on demand high-data rate services on a near global basis for Inmarsat GAN. The other five satellites together acted as in-orbit spares, whilst also providing a global leasing network for certain Inmarsat services. The addition of the fifth satellite to the main fleet, a latest generation Inmarsat 3 satellite, ensures Inmarsat provides continuous reliable communications services to its customers in the Middle East.

"We pride ourselves in providing a level of satellite and network availability which, at an average of better than 99.99%, is the envy of terrestrial communications networks," explained Richard Denny, VP of Satellite & Network Operations at Inmarsat.

The world's media remain one of Inmarsat's biggest customers. Inmarsat land solutions were used extensively during the first Gulf War as reporters tried to cover the conflict without large uplink trucks, and heavy and expensive equipment. But it was really the use of videophone, developed within the Inmarsat partnership that propelled Inmarsat GAN usage forward. Today, most broadcasters maintain a stock of the GAN terminals to allow their reporters to follow the action from first hand.

CNN Reporter Nic Robertson used Inmarsat GAN and videophone extensively in Afghanistan: "Videophones put you in the heart of a story and allow you to broadcast live within minutes, following the changes in a story and without having to go back to base. For example, in Kabul we simply unfolded the Inmarsat satellite antenna and opened the videophone box, connected the camera and transmitted live pictures immediately. The need to haul hundreds of kilogrammes of cumbersome satellite equipment and to feel restricted by a satellite truck is now history."keralamonitor.com

Eastern Networks awarded global project by Arab Bank

Anti money laundering software currently being installed in 22 countries

March 18, 2003

DUBAI- Arab Bank has signed up Eastern Networks to implement the SWIFT Interface and Data Extraction (S.I.D.E.) OFAC anti money laundering solution in all its branches across 22 countries in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, the Far East and Australia.

The implementation of the solution will prove to be immensely beneficial to Arab Bank. It will enhance the overall productivity of the bank as S.I.D.E. OFAC will drastically reduce manual controls as well as facilitate integration with the bank's specific deny-and-accept-lists. Furthermore, the option of manual maintenance of the "accept list" will allow Arab Bank to enter the details of customers whose names bear similarity to those in the OFAC list, thus ensuring that the financial transactions of valid customers are never blocked.

The contract also included the provision and installation of S.I.D.E. OFAC Trackers in 22 sites worldwide. In addition, Eastern Networks will conduct training for local staff and offer continuous software maintenance ass well as supporting systems upgrades by providing copies of the latest version of software, including documentation, once a new version is released.

Hazem Mulhim, CEO, Eastern Networks stated, "Financial institutions have realised that they need professional help to combat since money-laundering is conducted by a network that uses modern tools to beat the system. Many regional governments have finalized laws on making money-laundering a serious crime, but the big question facing financial institutions is how to apply the law and protect themselves while preventing illegal financial activities from taking place in their institutions. The solution lies in taking preventive steps to detect cases of money-laundering through a shared platform of advanced technology and access to shared solutions."

Eastern Networks has already installed the S.I.D.E. OFAC solutions across the Arab Bank's branches in Bahrain, Qatar, Yemen, Morocco, Tunisia, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Austria, Germany, Greece, Cyprus, Italy and South Korea. Other branches currently being installed are Singapore, Australia, the UAE, Egypt, Palestine, Algeria, Jordan and Lebanon.

Other banks across the region have also awarded similar projects to Eastern Networks. Amongst the first was Kuwait Finance House (KFH) which announced its plans to install advanced anti-money laundering solutions from S.I.D.E. in a bid to secure itself from the vulnerability of illegal money transactions. As part of this initiative, KFH signed up with Eastern Networks to install S.I.D.E. OFAC, S.I.D.E. Access and Duplicate Data Application (DDA), all so as to bring it to the highest level of protection and online vigilance.

Kuwait Finance House has now installed and is using the S.I.D.E. OFAC dynamic online message filtering system integrated with SWIFTAlliance Access, through which all messages are referred to the OFAC list as well as other international, regional and internal lists. The system ensures that KFH is at the vanguard when it comes to compliance with its country's regulations.

While SIDE OFAC offers a much-needed guide for safeguarding the interests of banks, SIDE Access ensures that all SWIFT messages are made available for reporting and statistics as well as control and alarms. One of its key advantages is the wide access to SWIFTAlliance traffic history independently of SWIFTAlliance and long-term traffic analysis. SIDE DDA is also an essential tool in eliminating costs by detecting duplicate messages. By installing these modules, KFH is streamlining its messaging and ensuring that, through automation, errors are minimized and customers are not subjected to human error.

Eastern Networks has also successfully installed S.I.D.E. OFAC for banks in the UAE, Yemen, Qatar and Jordan with more banks in other countries joining the growing list. The latest successful installation in the UAE was at Mashreqbank, which was completed recently, with several other banks poised to join their ranks. Mulhim also said, "Banks and financial institutions in the Middle East are vulnerable to the threat of money laundering because of the lack of advanced monitoring systems. The availability of S.I.D.E. solutions is changing the scenario and most banks are convinced that it is no longer a matter of choice but rather a necessity to acquire these systems. We are delighted to offer our services to the Arab Bank, Kuwait Finance House, Mashreqbank and other banks in the region."

Intel demonstrates leading edge computer technology to end-users in Jeddah

World's largest manufacturer joins hands with Saudi PC assemblers to dazzle shoppers with advanced computer technology

March 18, 2003

In a new initiative aimed at taking leading edge computer technology to end-users, Intel, the world largest manufacturer, is organizing a live demonstration of its industry leading and high performance products at the Hera Mall, Jeddah, in association with leading Saudi PC assemblers. The event will be running over 3 days, commencing on Wednesday, March 18 until Friday, March 20, 2003.

Shoppers at the mall will get a chance to gain first-hand knowledge of Intel's computer technology embracing areas like education, gaming and home computing, as well as compete for fabulous prizes, including Intel Pentium 4-based computers.

"The leisurely atmosphere of the shopping mall has been chosen as the location to host this unique event in which people will be given an opportunity to operate a PC and experience the benefits brought to PCs by faster processors and Intel's unique Hyperthreading technology," said Gilbert Lacroix, General Manager of Intel Middle East and North Africa. "We will use this occasion particularly to demonstrate how Intel has been helping local companies to highlight the deep impact advanced computers can make in the field of education and simplify seemingly difficult concepts to young students. Visitors will also be offered user tips and practical advice on how to maximize computing power."The live Intel demonstration comes on the heels of Intel's recent project to install the latest Pentium 4 processors incorporating the Hyperthreading technology on the systems of six leading PC assembly companies in Saudi Arabia.

The PC assemblers will join Intel in highlighting the power of the computer to act as modern family's most essential tool and companion, helping them to educate, entertain, play, communicate and work.

"The involvement of six leading PC assemblers will add to the appeal of the unique programme as well as strengthen our bonds with our partners," said Lacroix. "As Saudi Arabia is one of the key IT markets, we will be using the market knowledge and reach of the assemblers to expand our base and win new customers. We are confident this exercise will translate into bottom-line sales for Intel and generate a wider interest in our industry-leading products."

The programme will culminate with a grand draw on Friday night, with two lucky persons winning home PCs powered by Intel Pentium 4.306GHz processors. Intel's Dubai office serves as a sales and support centre for the United Arab Emirates's. The office focuses on working with local PC manufacturers, distribution partners and the software industry. Its operations in the United Arab Emirates are part of the Europe - Middle East - Africa Sales and Marketing organization. Intel supplies the computing and communications industries with chips, boards and systems building blocks that are the "ingredients" of computers, servers, and networking and communications products. These products are used by industry members to create advanced computing and communications systems. Intel's mission is to be the preeminent building block supplier to the worldwide Internet economy.