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Arabian Business e-Business Awards 2002

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Arabian Business e-Achievement Awards 2002 Winners

The Arabian Business eAchievement Awards, hosted by Dubai Internet City and Dubai World Trade Centre, recognised and honoured eight winners from around the Middle East’s business and technology community for their outstanding contributions to the IT industry.

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eVisionary of the Year
Winner: Mohammed Al Sharekh, chairman, Sakhr Software

The eVisionary of the Year Award goes to someone who has been one of the strongest champions of the Arabic software industry. Over the years, his companies have been instrumental in overcoming the challenges that have held back Arabic software development. Amongst the most significant recent contribution has been Sakhr’s English to Arabic machine translation software, which is helping to overcome the lack of Arabic content on the internet. Going forward, he has recently embarked on a major initiative to develop Arabic solutions that utilise XML and 64-bit microprocessor technologies.

Business eInitiative of the Year
Winner: Abdulhadi A Shayif, National Commercial Bank

The Business eInitiative of the Year Award goes to the general manager of a bank that has consistently pioneered the introduction of new electronic banking services for the retail customer. It has been amongst the first to market in the Kingdom with internet and WAP banking, e-brokerage and PDA banking.
In 2002, NCB has introduced, for the first time in Saudi Arabia, a B2C payment gateway to pay through credit cards on the web. NCB was also the first to introduce utility bill payment on the web. 70% of NCB’s transactions are now electronic.

Public Service eInitiative of the Year
Winner: Colonel Saeed bin Belailah, Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department

The Public Service eInitiative of the Year Award goes to an immigration department that has, with the installation of ‘e-gate’, become one of only three airport passport controls in the world to operate an automated immigration system. It has helped radically reduce waiting times and increase passenger throughput. The winner is also very proud of the fact that the system was conceived and developed by a team of UAE nationals.

Young eAchiever of the Year
Winner: Ahmed Abdul Hameed Jadallah

The Young eAchiever of the Year Award goes to a seventeen year old high school student living in Saudi Arabia who has developed a reliable, fully-featured Arabic web browser used by around 15,000 people from 75 countries.

eBusinessman of the Year
Winner: Tarek Sultan, Public Warehousing Company

This award goes to the chief executive of a company that has boosted revenues, achieved cost savings and delivered customer service benefits by re-engineering its logistics and supply chain operations around the internet. One example of this re-engineering is a specially developed customs application that utilises XML technology to deliver tremendous service and revenue collection benefits. PWC’s success has lifted its market value to $350 million on the Kuwaiti stock exchange.

eEntrepreneur of the Year
Winner: Rabea Ataya, Bayt.com

The eEntrepreneur of the Year Award goes to one of a handful of examples that proves the internet can support sustainable businesses.
Despite plenty of competition in the online recruitment business, this company has gone from strength to strength and achieved operational profitability. The company has exercised operational discipline, spent its marketing budget wisely and managed to build a widely recognised brand.

eEducator of the Year
Winner: HH Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Higher Education & Scientific Research

The eEducator of the Year Award goes to a Minister who has helped ensure young nationals have the skills required by the private sector. Amongst many initiatives undertaken by the Ministry are computer labs for every class, laptops for every student, eEducator of the Yeare-learning platforms, partnerships with Intel, IBM, Cisco and others and the Smart Square eBusiness innovation centre. The award was collected by Sheikh Shakhbut Al Nahyan.

Lifetime Achievement Award
Winner: His Royal Highness Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Kingdom Holding Company

Once described by Fortune as ’one of the most wired men on the planet’, Prince Alwaleed’s success as an investor has been widely acknowledged throughout the world. But away from the spotlight, he has used his success to help others, providing assistance to the poor and victims of natural disaster. He has been a firm proponent of better dialogue and understanding between East and West, particularly during the last 12 months.