Cerner to highlight thought leadership in health care at Arab Health 2018

‘Cerner Tomorrow Talks!’ series to share inspiring health stories

UAE, 21 January 2018 – Cerner Middle East and Africa will showcase its leading health care innovations during Arab Health 2018, the latest edition of the largest annual gathering of health care and trade professionals in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region taking place from Jan. 29 to Feb. 1, 2018, at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

“With many MENA governments currently racing to transform the health care experience for patients and creating more proactive plans for their communities, Arab Health provides an ideal platform for unveiling best practices and discussing futuristic visions for an increasingly health-conscious Arab World,” said Michael Pomerance, vice president and regional general manager, Cerner Middle East and Africa.

Cerner is inviting its clients, industry leaders and associates to attend “Cerner Tomorrow Talks!” — a series of 15- to 20-minute sessions taking place at Cerner’s booth that will feature captivating health stories. The topics will include innovation, integration, start-ups, population health and operational evaluation, with the aim of helping attendees to navigate the future of health care.

“We are honored to invite our clients and industry leaders in the health care space to create an interactive live talk show presenting some of the most inspiring stories that reflect the MENA region’s evolving health care landscape. Together, we will enlighten the audiences on the evolution and futuristic view of health care in this part of the world,” said Michael Schelper, general manager, Cerner Middle East and Africa.

Cerner will also host a lunch with presentations on the newly introduced requirements for health care organizations to be certified or recertified by Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) at levels 6 and 7. Globally recognized Cerner clients will highlight their success journeys to receive the worldwide recognition. In addition, the focus will be on how caregivers can work together with Cerner to meet HIMSS requirements and use electronic medical records to continue creating positive patient outcomes.

Cerner associates will also interact and exchange views with other fellow participants from more than 150 countries to get a pulse of critical industry trends and developments.

Arab Health 2018 is set to welcome more than 4,200 exhibiting companies and 103,000 attendees from around the world. It will feature 19 business, leadership and Continuing Medical Education conferences covering the latest updates and insights into advanced procedures, techniques and skills. 

"سيرنر" تعرض حلولها المبتكرة في مجال الرعاية الصحية خلال مشاركتها في "معرض ومؤتمر الصحة العربي 2018"

الشركة تسلط الضوء على قصص ملهمة في المجال الصحي خلال فعاليتها "رؤى سيرنر المستقبلية"

الإمارات، 21 يناير 2018 - تعرض "سيرنر الشرق الأوسط" (Cerner Middle East) ابتكاراتها وحلولها الرائدة في مجال الرعاية الصحية وذلك خلال مشاركتها في "معرض ومؤتمر الصحة العربي 2018"، النسخة الأحدث لأكبر تجمع سنوي لمختصي الرعاية الصحية في الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا والذي يقام في الفترة من 29 يناير إلى 1 فبراير المقبل في مركز دبي الدولي للمؤتمرات والمعارض.

وقال مايكل بوميرانس، نائب الرئيس والمدير العام الإقليمي لشركة "سيرنر الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا: "مع مضي العديد من الحكومات في الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا نحو تطوير تجربة الرعاية الصحية المقدمة للمرضى ووضع المزيد من الخطط الاستباقية لمجتمعاتها، يوفر "معرض ومؤتمر الصحة العربي" منصة لعرض أفضل الممارسات ومناقشة الرؤى المستقبلية المتعلقة بقضايا الرعاية الصحية التي تهم العالم العربي."

وتحرص "سيرنر" على دعوة عملائها ورواد القطاع الصحي والمعنيين  للحضور والمشاركة في فعاليتها "رؤى سيرنر المستقبلية"، وهي سلسلة من الجلسات تتراوح مدتها بين 15 إلى 20 دقيقة وتقام في منصة الشركة، حيث تتضمن سرداً لقصص ملهمة في المجال الصحي.

وقال مايكل شلبر، مدير عام "سيرنر الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا": "نتشرف بدعوة عملائنا ورواد القطاع الصحي لإجراء برنامج حواري تفاعلي مباشر نقدم فيه بعضاً من القصص الملهمة التي تعبر عن واقع قطاع الرعاية الصحية في الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا ومدى تطوره وازدهاره. وسنعمل معاً على إطلاع الجمهور على الرؤى المستقبلية ضمن قطاع الرعاية الصحية في هذا الجزء من العالم."

وستستضيف "سيرنر" أيضاً حفل غداء تقدم خلاله مجموعة من العروض التوضيحية حول المتطلبات التي تم وضعها مؤخراً لمؤسسات الرعاية الصحية من أجل اعتمادها أو إعادة المصادقة عليها من قبل جمعية نظم معلومات وإدارة الرعاية الصحية (HIMSS) وفق المستويين 6 و7. كما سيسلط أبرز عملاء "سيرنر" الضوء على مسيرة نجاحهم في الحصول على التقدير والاعتراف الدولي. وسينصب التركيز أيضاً على الكيفية التي يمكن لمقدمي الرعاية الصحية التعاون من خلالها لتلبية متطلبات جمعية نظم معلومات وإدارة الرعاية الصحية واستخدام السجلات الطبية الإلكترونية لمواصلة تحقيق نتائج إيجابية للمرضى.

كما سيتيح المعرض لشركاء "سيرنر" فرصة تبادل الأفكار ووجهات النظر مع نظرائهم المشاركين والقادمين من ما يزيد على 150 دولة، من أجل الاطلاع على آخر الاتجاهات والتطورات في مجال الرعاية الصحية.

ومن المتوقع أن يستقطب "معرض ومؤتمر الصحة العربي 2018" أكثر من 4200 شركة عارضة و103000 زائر من مختلف أنحاء العالم. وسيشتمل الحدث على 19 مؤتمراً في مجالات الأعمال والتعليم الطبي المستمر والتي ستغطي آخر الأخبار والرؤى حول الإجراءات والتقنيات والمهارات المتقدمة في مجال الرعاية الصحية.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation awards VTT for a bio-based packaging solution that reduces the use of plastics

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation awarded VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland for a packaging solution made of cellulose in Davos on 23 January 2018. VTT is one of the five prize winners, between whom the foundation splits a one-million-dollar prize in equal shares. The new material can extend the shelf life of food, while also reducing food waste and the worldwide microplastics problem.

As material, cellulose is safe, renewable, recyclable and compostable. VTT developed a compostable and lightweight packaging material by combining cellulose films with different, but complementary properties.

The plastic-like packaging material is suitable for dry and greasy products, such as nuts, cereals, coffee, condiments and raisins. The greatest benefits can be reached when the material is used for packaging products with a long shelf life.

In terms of properties, the material is highly competitive or in many cases even better than the currently available biodegradable bioplastics. With minor modifications, it can be produced with existing production machinery.

Optimisation of cellulose layers produces excellent packaging properties

The packaging can be produced by combining cellulose films with different properties. The flexible and transparent lightweight material protects the product from atmospheric gases and humidity. It also forms a barrier against the grease or mineral oil in the product. The package can be sealed by heating.

“By optimising the layer structure, we can improve the technical properties and reduce the amount of materials used. If the package was manufactured of one cellulose-based material only that would meet all the requirements for a good packaging material, the package would be very thick and heavy,” says Ali Harlin, Research Professor at VTT. He estimates that the packaging material can be commercialised within three to five years.

In commercialisation phase, the amount of packaging being produced will affect the price of the material. The use of material must be economically feasible with a view to the whole product.

The five winners continue to compete over an additional one-million-dollar prize

On 15 August 2017, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation announced a prize aimed at seeking new materials to solve the global microplastics problem. The matter is urgent: it has been estimated that every year more than 8 million tonnes of plastic waste ends up in oceans. The million-dollar prize is awarded in Davos on 23 January 2018 and shared equally between the following operators and teams: VTT, the University of Pittsburgh, Aronax Technologies, Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research, as well as the Full Cycle Bioplastics, Elk Packaging and Associated Labels and Packaging team.

All winners are part of a 12-month New Plastic Economy Accelerator Programme, where they are provided expert support to make their innovations marketable. When one year has passed, the Foundation will award an additional million-dollar prize to the best contestant.

"In a New Plastics Economy, plastics will never become waste or enter the ocean in the first place. To get there will require new levels of commitment and collaboration from industry, governments, designers and startups. I hope these innovations will inspire even more progress, helping to build a system in which all plastic materials are reused, recycled or safely composted," says Dame Ellen MacArthur in a press release on 23 January 2018.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is a British foundation founded in 2010 by Dame Ellen MacArthur, who became famous as sailing competitor. The purpose of the foundation is to accelerate the transition to a circular economy. www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org.

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Palo Alto Networks Announces Cloud-Based Logging Service in Europe

DUBAI, UAE , January 21, 2018 – Palo Alto Networks® (NYSE: PANW), the next-generation security company, today announced the launch of its cloud-based Logging Service in Europe.  This service allows customers to collect large amounts of their own security data from the Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Security Platform, making large scale log collection affordable while addressing data privacy and location needs for many European organizations. All data sent to the Logging Service in Europe will be stored within a data center located in the EU.

Cybersecurity products generate massive amounts of valuable data in the form of logs that can be used to counter sophisticated threats. Today's organizations require the ability to store, process and analyze as much log data as possible to obtain comprehensive visibility across their infrastructure and convert their data into actionable insights. However, traditional hardware-based log collection comes with administrative overhead and scale limitations that make otherwise useful data unwieldy or unavailable.

With the Palo Alto Networks Logging Service, organizations are no longer restricted by hardware capacity to meet the demands of the business. The Logging Service provides a centralized and scalable logging infrastructure without operational overhead, allowing customers to collect log data without local compute and storage limitations. This cloud-based service changes the economics and ease of operationalizing large-scale log collection.

In addition, the forthcoming Palo Alto Networks Application Framework will enable customers to utilize advanced analytics on their own valuable log data, and to consume a variety of innovative cloud-based security applications developed by Palo Alto Networks, third-party developers and customers themselves. This new functionality will extend the capabilities of the Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Security Platform without requiring additional infrastructure.

Many organizations around the globe, and particularly in Europe, are concerned about data privacy needs and regulations, specifically the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR); and this can increase their concerns when sharing data with a global cloud. To address these needs and still deliver on the benefits of a cloud-based logging infrastructure, the Logging Service in Europe enables log data to remain within EU borders, while simplifying log management and enabling advanced analytics for Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Security Platform deployments, providing a central repository for rich security logs.

QUOTE:

• “Organizations today are often challenged by an inability to collect large volumes of data and turn it into actionable insights to optimize their security posture. The Logging Service allows our customers to do this and to meet changing business needs, simplify operations and increase automation. Having our Logging Service in Europe ensures that our customers can benefit from these data collection capabilities while ensuring that their data remains within Europe to meet their privacy needs.” 

-        Lee Klarich, chief product officer, Palo Alto Networks

Data collected by the Logging Service is stored at a data center within the EU. Processing of raw logs is automated, and logs are retained until they are overwritten, based on either the amount of storage available to the customer or the customer’s retention policy. Customers can enable or disable sharing of log types with the Logging Service, in accordance with their policies. Information is not shared with any third parties, and any logs stored on or processed by Palo Alto Networks systems are secured with state-of-the-art technologies.

For more information on privacy and the Logging Service, as well as other Palo Alto Networks products, please go to: https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/resources/datasheets/product-privacy-datasheets. 

Gartner Says Global IT Spending to Reach $3.7 Trillion in 2018

Analysts to Discuss Latest IT Spending Outlook During Gartner Webinar January 16 at 11 a.m. ET

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – 21 January 2018 — Worldwide IT spending is projected to total $3.7 trillion in 2018, an increase of 4.5 percent from 2017, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc.

"Global IT spending growth began to turn around in 2017, with continued growth expected over the next few years. However, uncertainty looms as organizations consider the potential impacts of Brexit, currency fluctuations, and a possible global recession," said John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner. "Despite this uncertainty, businesses will continue to invest in IT as they anticipate revenue growth, but their spending patterns will shift. Projects in digital business, blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), and progression from big data to algorithms to machine learning to artificial intelligence (AI) will continue to be main drivers of growth." 

Enterprise software continues to exhibit strong growth, with worldwide software spending projected to grow 9.5 percent in 2018, and it will grow another 8.4 percent in 2019 to total $421 billion (see Table 1). Organizations are expected to increase spending on enterprise application software in 2018, with more of the budget shifting to software as a service (SaaS). The growing availability of SaaS-based solutions is encouraging new adoption and spending across many subcategories, such as financial management systems (FMS), human capital management (HCM) and analytic applications.

Table 1. Worldwide IT Spending Forecast (Billions of U.S. Dollars)

	2017Spending	2017Growth (%)	2018Spending	2018Growth (%)	2019 Spending	2019 Growth (%)
Data Center Systems	178	4.4	179	0.6	179	-0.2
Enterprise Software	355	8.9	389	9.5	421	8.4
Devices	667	5.7	704	5.6	710	0.9
IT Services	933	4.3	985	5.5	1,030	4.6
Communications Services	1,393	1.3	1,427	2.4	1,443	1.1
Overall IT	3,527	3.8	3,683	4.5	3,784	2.7

Source: Gartner (January 2018)

The devices segment is expected to grow 5.6 percent in 2018. In 2017, the devices segment experienced growth for the first time in two years with an increase of 5.7 percent. End-user spending on mobile phones is expected to increase marginally as average selling prices continue to creep upward even as unit sales are forecast to be lower. PC growth is expected to be flat in 2018 even as continued Windows 10 migration is expected to drive positive growth in the business market in China, Latin America and Eastern Europe. The impact of the iPhone 8 and iPhone X was minimal in 2017, as expected. However, iOS shipments are expected to grow 9.1 percent in 2018.

"Looking at some of the key areas driving spending over the next few years, Gartner forecasts $2.9 trillion in new business value opportunities attributable to AI by 2021, as well as the ability to recover 6.2 billion hours of worker productivity," said Mr. Lovelock. "That business value is attributable to using AI to, for example, drive efficiency gains, create insights that personalize the customer experience, entice engagement and commerce, and aid in expanding revenue-generating opportunities as part of new business models driven by the insights from data." 

"Capturing the potential business value will require spending, especially when seeking the more near-term cost savings. Spending on AI for customer experience and revenue generation will likely benefit from AI being a force multiplier — the cost to implement will be exceeded by the positive network effects and resulting increase in revenue," said Mr. Lovelock. 

More detailed analysis on the outlook for the IT industry is available in the complimentary webinar "IT Spending Forecast, 4Q17 Update: What Will Make Headlines in 2018?" at 11 a.m. ET today, January 16, 2018, and on demand. During the webinar, Gartner analysts will discuss the full IT spending forecast and details on the key drivers for IT spending in 2018. 

Gartner's IT spending forecast methodology relies heavily on rigorous analysis of sales by thousands of vendors across the entire range of IT products and services. Gartner uses primary research techniques, complemented by secondary research sources, to build a comprehensive database of market size data on which to base its forecast.

The Gartner quarterly IT spending forecast delivers a unique perspective on IT spending across the hardware, software, IT services and telecommunications segments. These reports help Gartner clients understand market opportunities and challenges. The most recent IT spending forecast research is available at Gartner Worldwide Spending Forecast. This quarterly IT Spending Forecast page includes links to the latest IT spending reports, webinars, blog posts and press releases.

Mr. Lovelock will provide further analysis on the key drivers of the IT market at the Gartner Tech Growth & Innovation Summit taking place from April 30 through May 2, 2018 in San Diego, CA. The Summit is the premier conference for technology vendors to learn about the latest trends and tools, innovation predictions, positioning and thought leadership.

جمعية ملائكة الأعمال المصرية لرعاية رواد الأعمال تعقد أولي اجتماعاتها التحضيرية

بحضور نخبة من المستثمرين ورجال الاعمال المصريين

القاهرة: 17 يناير 2018

عقدت جمعية ملائكة الأعمال المصرية لرعاية رواد الأعمال أمس أول اجتماع تحضيري لها للاعلان عن بدء أنشطتها في مصر. تهدف الجمعية الي رعاية ودعم رواد الأعمال وزيادة الوعى بثقافة الاستثمار فى الشركات الصغيرة والمتوسطة لما لها من عائد عالى وعرض فرص إستثمارية مختلفة على أعضاء الجمعية بغرض الاستثمار بها والاتصال بالجمعيات المماثلة حول العالم لجذب الاستثمارات في هذاالقطاع، ولجذب شركات تستثمر في مصر، والاهتمام بالاتصال بالشركات المهنية المختلفة مثل مكاتب المحاسبة والمكاتب القانونية وخبراء الضرائب والتقييم وذلك لتحسين جانب الافصاح والشفافية الخاص بالمعلومات عن الشركات الصغيرة والمتوسطة لتشجيع وجذب الاستثمارات اليها.

حضر الاجتماع نخبة من المستثمرين من مختلف القطاعات الخاصة بالاستثمار في الشركات الصغيرة والمتوسطة وذلك لمناقشة تأسيس "جمعية ملائكة الأعمال المصرية" ورؤيتها وأهدافها والفرص المقدمة والخطوات المستقبلية لها.

يقول المهندس سمير العلايلى رئيس مجموعة "إنفستيا" وصاحب المبادرة: "نحن سعداء بإتمام الاجتماع التحضيري الاول لجمعية ملائكة الاعمال المصرية وبالحضور القوي الذي شاهدناه اليوم بهدف دعم رواد الاعمال الناجحين وأصحاب الشركات في قطاعات عدة وتمويلها وتقديم مثل هذا النوع من الجمعيات لمجتمع الاستثمار في مصر لما له من دور ريادي في الارتقاء بالاقتصاد المصري".

وأضاف العلايلي: "الجمعية ليست إبتكارا خاص بنا، ولكنها موجودة في دول كثيرة، لذا كان علينا أن نتحرك ونبادر بتأسيس هذه الجمعية في بلد بحجم مصر وتعداد سكانها وحجم المشروعات الصغيرة والمتوسطة بها وكذلك الاصلاحات الاقتصادية والاستثمارية التي شهدناها مؤخرا، لنقدم الدعم الفعال لرواد الاعمال الجادين وتعريفهم بخدمات البنوك وشركات المحاماه والمحاسبة وكيفية الاستفادة منها والتعامل معها".