Thoughts from TM Forum President Martin Creaner

Management World Middle East, held in Dubai on March 3-5, proved to be an interesting and vibrant event, showcasing the speed of innovation in this exciting region. Last week we saw an attendance of around 150 professionals who came to listen, discuss and debate the key communications opportunities and challenges facing the Middle East region.

With around 50 percent of the attendees coming from Service Providers, it was truly a provider-driven event.  In addition, we had a strong attendance of senior-level representatives from just about all of the Middle East Tier 1 Service Providers. In fact, major Tier 1 Service Provider Etisalat was the Platinum Sponsor of the event. There was also a strong presence of regulatory authorities from the region, with attendees from both the UAE and Kuwait regulators.

It is interesting but not surprising to see that the challenges facing this region are similar if not identical to those facing the other major regions of the world. The presentations at the event covered such diverse topics as mobile configuration management, launching IPTV services, operations & business process reengineering and mobile advertising. And for each of these topics, there was lively discussion and interest from the attendees in both the Q&A sessions and at the networking sessions. 

As we look back on a successful event, I feel confident that Management World Middle East has set TM Forum up for an interesting and bright future in this growing region.

I hope to see you at a TM Forum Management World event soon!