Microsoft today participated at Abu Dhabi Digital Authority’s (ADDA) inaugural Digital Next summit to reiterate its commitment in accelerating digital transformation across government entities.

“Abu Dhabi Digital Authority’s Digital Next summit presents a unique platform of how digital transformation is shaping the way governments across the world are embracing innovative technologies to achieve more,” said Sayed Hashish, General Manager, Microsoft UAE. “The intelligent cloud holds the potential for governments to engage citizens, empower employees, optimise operations and reinvent services. Our participation is not only a reaffirmation of our commitment to support the government in its modernisation efforts, but a demonstration of the goals that UAE and Microsoft hold in common – to enhance customer and citizen experiences.”

Digital Next, organised by Messe Frankfurt Middle East, is taking place on 8 and 9 December in Jumeirah at Etihad Towers, Abu Dhabi. The summit focuses on the key pillars of digital transformation for governments under the theme “Enabling the Government of the Future”.

The launch edition aims to attract more than 1,000 visitors, 200 government advisors and policy makers, and 30 sponsors. More than 40 experts are speaking at the two-day summit, including several from Microsoft. Hayden Stafford, Corporate Vice President of WW Business Applications at Microsoft delivered a keynote session titled ‘Transformation with Business Applications’, while Sayed Hashish, General Manager for Microsoft UAE participated in a panel discussion titled ‘Panel of the Grown-Ups’ to shed light on the importance of upskilling youth in order to stay relevant.

Under the theme of ‘Enabling intelligent customer experience and government excellence with the Microsoft Cloud’ the company showcased various technologies and innovations at its booth during the Digital Next Summit.

Recently, ADDA also partnered with Microsoft by adopting Dynamics 365 to accelerate its Smart Citizen Experience. Powered by Microsoft innovations, ADDA’s new platform, TAMM is a powerful accelerator for digital transformation in public services across the emirate, enabling government authorities to create a seamless omni-channel experience for citizens, enhance workflow and case management with unprecedented decision-making capabilities through intuitive and in-depth business intelligence.

In response to the surging demand for its intelligent cloud services, Microsoft, earlier this year launched 2 cloud regions in the UAE – one in Abu Dhabi, and one in Dubai. These facilities are exclusively serving organizations across the Middle East, enabling them to avail enterprise-grade reliability, security, privacy and the broadest compliance standards – empowering them to achieve more.