Microsoft Showcases Ground-Breaking AI Technologies At COMEX 2019

Participating as the official Artificial Intelligence Partner, Microsoft today demonstrated its industry-leading AI innovations at the COMEX 2019, held in Muscat’s Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre. The Microsoft stand was themed around the ability of AI to empower individuals and organisations to achieve more, be they businesses, developers or end-users.

“Microsoft is resolutely committed to empowering public and private enterprises to fulfil Oman’s economic vision,” said Sheikh Saif Hilal Al Hosni, Country Manager, Microsoft Bahrain and Oman. “We see digital transformation as an indispensable part of achieving prosperity for all Omanis, and artificial intelligence is the lynchpin of it. We aim to bring responsible and trusted AI to every application, business process and employee, enabling organisations to go further with digitisation and deliver unprecedented insights to decision makers.”

COMEX 2019 runs until 19 March and is the 29th edition of Oman’s premier annual ICT trade show. Some 110 exhibitors participated at the event to share ideas and get answers to pressing questions in areas such as augmented and virtual reality, cybersecurity, 3D printing, blockchain, big data, Internet of Things, smart cities, artificial intelligence, payment technologies and robotics.

“We are pleased to once again to see Microsoft’s participation at COMEX 2019,” said Hassan Fida Al Lawati, Director General of Digital Society Development at the Information Technology Authority of Oman. “As we move diligently towards the fulfilment of our leadership’s vision for a sustainable, diversified economy, it is gratifying to have a partner so committed to the acceleration of digital transformation. We appreciate Microsoft’s efforts in all industries across Oman and look forward to our continued collaboration.”

At Microsoft’s booth, delegates learned how they could dream big and transform their businesses by creating smart ecosystems fed by the intelligent cloud. Company experts showed how the Internet of Things can connect the intelligent cloud with the intelligent edge in real time, by staging a live demo of an IoT-connected drone controlled by cloud-based, AI. The specialists explained how governments and businesses can leverage such solutions to solve problems in areas such as construction monitoring, traffic-congestion reporting, oil-and-gas pipeline inspection and maintenance, urban planning, environmental monitoring, utility powerline inspection, asset monitoring and many others.

COMEX attendees also got the opportunity to get hands on with multiple IoT- and AI-themed click-thru demos. Real-world use cases included those from fields such as manufacturing, energy, logistics, agriculture, aerospace, and oil and gas.

Microsoft experts also participated in the Smart Cities & Industry 4.0 summit at COMEX this year. Dave Bell, IoT Technical Director for Microsoft MEA, delivered a session titled ‘Introducing tomorrows innovation’s to industry 4.0’ to shed light on how Microsoft is enabling digital transformation for its customers. Steve Dunbar, IoT Commercial Director for Microsoft MEA, also spoke at the summit on the topic of Smart Buildings and highlighted the basic fundamentals for a successful smart city.

Microsoft also shared its presence at COMEX with its partners, hosting many at its booth that demonstrated AI innovations built on the Microsoft intelligent Cloud. Link Development showcased a live demo of a solution designed to supercharge the Oman tourism sector. Company experts unveiled an end-to-end tourist platform powered by AI that will enhance the tourist journey by providing personalized experiences to book hotels, tourist attractions and so on. The platform would capture tourist feedback through cognitive services such as chatbots, facial recognition and provide sentiment analysis to evaluate their experience and drive insights to make better decisions.

Microsoft Partner GULFCYBERTECH E-solutions showcased a range of solutions for various sectors and industries. These included intelligent innovations powered by AI such as e-Kart, e-Projects, e-Recruitment, e-Tenders, e-Events, e-Institute, e-Property, e-Sales and e-Vendor.

Microsoft Partner EXCEED IT Services also participated to showcase various AI-based technologies for organisations to improve customer engagement, enhance hiring, boost communication, manage invoices, automate HR functions, streamline business process and conduct efficient employee management. And partner Paramount showcased its intelligent security solutions around identity, cloud, network, applications, data and risk management