Major product launches and new initiatives by industry key players marked the first three days of Gitex and Gulfcomms 2006 in Dubai, one of the world’s largest ICT events.

Amidst the series of launches and showcase of new products, many companies have selected Gitex to present their new offering for the first time in the Middle East.

Among such is the new solutions from Microsoft, designed to run parallel high-performance computing (HPC) applications for customers solving complex computations. Adobe Systems has also launched its award-winning Adobe Flex 2, a strong framework to rapidly develop applications for the majority of its user base.

World leading providers like CA and SAP have made key announcements at Gitex 2006. CA announced its broad-based solutions for risk mitigation and compliance to enhance the built-in capabilities included in Microsoft Exchange Server 2007; while SAP selected the event to announce that Sahara Petrochemical Company has selected mySAP ERP as the primary backbone for the company's shared services to be deployed across its petrochemical projects.

“The number of key announcements made by companies at Gitex and Gulfcomms is a testimony of the industry’s high regards for the events, and their continued confidence in Dubai as the strategic hub in the region,” said DWTC director-general Helal Saeed Al Marri.

Exclusive launches at Gitex 2006 were presented by industry majors, like i-mate who unveiled the i-mate JAQ3 for its global debut in the Middle East; and the new expanded Enterprise Application Solutions (EAS) offering by Epicor, which caters to retail, hospitality, services and manufacturing sectors.

The inaugural Gulfcomms has also been selected by many exhibitors as the choice platform for inking deals and forging strategic alliances. The Department of Health and Medical Services (DOHMS) joined Avaya to sign a strategic agreement to roll out an intelligent telecommunications network across a number of sites in the emirate in multiple phases by 2010.

The Malaysia Multimedia Development Corporation announced at Gulfcomms 2006 its plans to establish its presence in Dubai, UAE, over the coming year with a view to increasing strategic relations between the Malaysian and Middle East ICT industries.

Gitex and Gulfcomms 2006 is ideally placed to provide the global IT and telecoms industry with a targeted regional platform to network, exchange ideas and transact multi-million dollar deals. In order to ensure smooth traffic flow around the DICEC, DWTC will be running a shuttle service to and from 34 hotels across the city as well as the Dubai Internet City.

These services will ply in the DICEC in the morning and afternoon and will depart from the DICEC back to these hotels in the evening. This will complement the services by Dubai Transport Corporation’s fleet of taxis. Paid and free parking is available at DICEC and shuttle buses will ply between the car parks and exhibition halls. GIitex and Gulfcomms are open to trade and business Visitors only.

Admission: One Day Ticket: Dh30 and Five-Day Ticket: Dh30. People under the age of 18 will not be permitted entry. University students must be accompanied by faculty members and will be permitted entry during the November 20-22 ONLY.

As the organisers of Gitex and Gulfcomms 2006, Dubai World Trade Centre offers over 27 years’ experience of delivering world-class events in the Middle East, providing local, regional and international exhibitors with unmatched expertise and in-depth market knowledge.