Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 40 | Page 10

NEWS West Africa’s first data and analytics virtual conference announced Data and analytics are central to how modern organisations and governments take decisions and execute plans. Online retailers, companies, governments and tech giants are investing millions in ramping up their ability to collect and analyse data. EMEA in strong position to take Digital Transformation ambitions to next level Mohammed Abukhater, F5 Network’s RVP for Middle East and Africa In these unprecedented times, when companies are struggling to adapt, it becomes all the more important to use datadriven models for decision-making. Data and Analytics Virtual Summit-West Africa will be held on July 15 to 16 and as a virtual conference will be the largest event focused on data and analytics aimed to empower African businesses and government entities to capitalise on the data and turn them into insights that drive growth. It will help African ministries and large enterprises develop an understanding of how data-driven models can improve decisionmaking. They will learn how to extract insights from data to shape policy. The two-day virtual summit opens with experts from regional companies including the National Information Development Agency, Nigeria; GTBank PLC, Chevron, Wakanow, Dangote Group, First City Monument Bank, Axa Mansard, Eat ‘n’ Go and many more. With 14 confirmed sessions already, the virtual experience will be unparalleled in scope and expertise. The Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region is in a strong position to take its Digital Transformation ambitions to the next level. That’s the opinion of Mohammed Abukhater, F5 Network’s RVP for Middle East and Africa, who said the region finds itself in a strong position to adapt to intensifying imperatives for change. Speaking at a virtual press conference hosted in Dubai, Abukhater said organisations irrespective of industry or function are becoming more applicationcentric in order to boost innovation, move faster and adapt to increasingly nuanced user demands. He said: “In fact, we’re starting to see many moving beyond the first phase of Digital Transformation – business process automation – and start to scale their digital footprint with purposeful technology as it relates to cloud, automation and containers.” Pointing to new figures from F5’s flagship State of Application Services report, 91% of surveyed EMEA organisations now have specific Digital Transformation execution plans in progress. This compares to 84% in the USA and 82% in the Asia Pacific, China and Japan (APCJ) region. A total of 66% of EMEA respondents also said they depend on applications to run their business – the highest of any region worldwide. Furthermore, 88% claimed to be leveraging multi-cloud environments, compared to 87% in the Americas and 86% in APCJ. 10 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com