31st Gitex technology week

Firms acknowledge heightened demand as a direct result of new partnerships.With the chime of a bell at precisely 5pm yesterday, the 31st edition of Gitex Technology Week was officially declared closed over the loudspeakers at the Dubai convention centre.Exhibitors told Gulf News that the wrap-up of five days of networking with elite members of the world's information communication and technology(ICT) industries will definitely pay off with solid returns on investment for months to come.Dr. Samer Taha, chief executive officer of Waseela, told Gulf News that he was expecting a business boost in the fiscal year ahead thanks to exposure to the international and regional community through Gitex."Gitex this year helped us communicate our commitment to the region," said Taha at his company's booth in Zabeel Hall. "Gitex will definitely result in new returns on investment."Waseela, for example, announced a new partnership with Accuver to manage the latter's WiMax and LTE drive text involved in 4G in the UAE .That partnership alone helped draw even more inquiries from other companies involved in the major roll-out of fourth generation broadband services across the Middle East, he said."We're getting enquiries very rapidly," Samera said yesterday afternoon from the Waseela stand.Paul Kuzhikandam, business development manager for Avayo Electronics, said the number of visitors dropping by his company's display was way above last year but noted that more of them were from the Middle East than in the UAE alone.Avayo makes passive IT equipment such as cables, cabinets and data centre items."We had a lot of visitors from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar," he said. "It's been a consistent flow but there have been fewer people from the UAE this year compared to other years. It's been much busier this year," Kuzhikandam said.He said that judging by the new business prospects generated by his meetings at this year's event, it was a solid investment to decide to participate in Gitex 2011."There will be a good return on investment from different parts of the Middle East," he said."We met some key persons from Bahrain and Kuwait so we plan on doing some business there in the year ahead."Graham B. Owen, regional sales director Middle East of Ruckus Wireless, said he was pleased with the visitor turnout this year and said he believes that the footfall and interest in his products should make a difference in the company's bottom line this year.Owen, however, said the real hard numbers won't be in until probably April 2012 and that's when many exhibitors will have a better grasp of how they really performed at Gitex this year."We've had a lot of quality versus quantity," said Owen, whose company offers Wi Fi systems overlaid with up to 19 antennaes rather than the standard one or two which results in twice the reach for wireless transmission."We've seen a lot of interested visitors and end users across a broad spectrum this year."Owen said that the Middle East is a hot market this year and his company is performing extremely well, in part, thanks to venues such as Gitex which allow Ruckus Wireless more exposure."Midddle East growth for me has been about 400 per cent," he said, adding that "partner growth is about 150 per cent."