Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com, Inc. company, has announced new generative AI capabilities in Amazon Connect, its cloud contact center service. The enhancements include the addition of Amazon Q in Connect, which provides agents with recommended responses and actions based on real-time customer questions; Amazon Connect Contact Lens, which adds AI-generated summaries of customer conversations for quality management purposes; Amazon Lex in Amazon Connect, which uses generative AI to make it easier to build effective self-service experiences for customers; and Amazon Connect Customer Profiles, which aggregates customer data from popular software-as-a-service applications. Customers using the service include Choice Hotels, NatWest Group, NeuraFlash, Traeger Grills and USAN.Generative AI offers an unprecedented opportunity for contact center leaders to redefine how they create and measure their customers’ experiences. Amazon Connect removes the challenges of building and deploying models in contact centers by allowing non-technical business leaders to set up a cloud contact center with generative AI capabilities within minutes.The new generative AI capabilities of Amazon Connect include:Amazon Q in Connect: Assists agents with recommended responses and actions for faster customer support. Amazon Q in Connect helps understand customer intents and uses relevant sources of information to deliver accurate responses and actions for the agent to communicate and resolve unique customer needs, all in real time.Amazon Connect Contact Lens: Generates concise customer contact summaries after each interaction to provide supervisors with context-rich details. Amazon Connect Contact Lens now generates concise customer contact summaries after each interaction to provide supervisors with those context-rich details.Amazon Lex in Amazon Connect: Simplifies bot building and creates improved self-service experiences. From the Amazon Lex administrator console, contact center administrators can create robust chatbots and IVRs by simply describing in natural language what they want the self-service system to accomplish.Amazon Connect Customer Profiles: Automatically creates unified customer profiles for personalized customer experiences. With just a few clicks, managers can review, make any necessary edits, and complete the setup of customer profiles so contact center teams can begin providing personalized customer service that improves customer satisfaction and agent productivity.“The contact center industry is poised to be fundamentally transformed by generative AI, offering customer service agents, contact center supervisors, and contact center administrators new ways to deliver personalized customer experiences even more effectively," said Pasquale DeMaio, vice president, Amazon Connect, AWS Applications.In addition to these new generative AI enhancements, Amazon Connect has extended omnichannel capabilities to include out-of-the-box support for two-way SMS messaging, as well as in-app and web voice calling with support for video. These new omnichannel communications—as well as the generative AI enhancements to Amazon Lex, Amazon Q in Connect, and Amazon Connect Customer profiles—are generally available. New generative AI capabilities in Amazon Connect Contact Lens are available in preview.

Dubai: Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com, Inc. company (NASDAQ: AMZN), commissioned a new report quantifying the relationship between public cloud computing adoption, national productivity, and economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The report highlights the potential for the UAE to unlock USD $181 billion in additional economic value over the next decade (2023-2033), or 2.5% of the UAE's cumulative GDP by accelerating adoption of cloud.The study, performed by Telecom Advisory Services LLC, and directed by Raul Katz, Director of Business Strategy Research at the Columbia Institute for Tele-information (Columbia Business School), provides a cutting-edge econometrical method for calculating the aggregate productivity gains realised by economies that adopt cloud computing. It extends previous economic research focused on firm-level productivity by establishing cloud adoption as a driver of national productivity and economic growth.Unleashing the Economic Power of Cloud Computing in the UAEIn 2021, public cloud adoption made a significant impact on the UAE's economy. According to the report, it contributed 2.26% to the country’s GDP, generating an economic value of USD $9.5 billion, the largest public cloud contribution to GDP in the region. This "productivity" effect is in addition to the "construction" effect of building and operating cloud infrastructures in the UAE, which, in the case of AWS UAE Region, are projected to contribute $11.2 billion to the UAE economy by 2036 and support nearly 6,000 full-time equivalent jobs annually.In the MENA, the UAE is where cloud adoption is driving the most economic growth in terms of spillovers. The report finds that a 1% increase in cloud adoption by UAE organisations will result in a 0.21% (USD 854.7 million) average GDP growth, which is three times the MENA average and the highest in the region. Over 91% of this impact, can be attributed to the national productivity gains or so-called “spillover effects” on the economy, while the remainder (9%) is driven by cloud spending from UAE public and private organizations. As an economic stimulant, cloud computing is 17% more effective in the UAE than mobile broadband.Yasser Hassan, Managing Director, Commercial Sector, MENAT at AWS, said: "The findings of our report highlight the tremendous opportunity for the UAE to accelerate economic growth and position the country as an attractive and influential economic hub, in line with the government's “We the UAE 2031” vision launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. As cloud computing continues to gain momentum, it is imperative for the UAE to continue to support cloud adoption and develop a skilled workforce to enhance the country's competitiveness on a global scale. With the support of AWS, the UAE can accelerate its digital transformation and unlock new opportunities for economic growth and social development."The study demonstrates that the economic impact of cloud computing is guided by returns to scale, - greater adoption of cloud computing will lead to proportionally greater productivity gains and economic impact.The UAE has ambitious plans to diversify its economies through digitization. In 2021, 43% of organizations in the UAE region adopted cloud computing, versus 49% in Western Europe and North America. With the government's focus on digital transformation, it is well-positioned to become a hub for cloud computing in the region.“The widespread adoption of cloud has already led to increased efficiency, cost savings, and job creation in various industries. As more businesses and organizations continue to migrate to the cloud, the economic benefits are expected to grow even further,” added Yasser.The report identifies four key advantages of cloud computing: First, it enhances business efficiency and effectiveness, streamlining processes and improving outcomes; second, it offers access to a wide range of services, enabling businesses to leverage advanced technologies; third, it boosts productivity by facilitating collaboration, mobility, and agility within the workforce; fourth, cloud computing promotes environmental sustainability by reducing carbon emissions per unit of data transmitted

Transforming the business of fun since 2001, Embed, the ultimate cashless solutions provider for the amusement, entertainment, and leisure industries, will showcase their latest groundbreaking tech innovation at the DEAL SHOW in Dubai from March 14 – 16.The Tech of TransformationIn its commitment to technology innovation, Embed makes history every year – launching industry-firsts and breakthrough innovations for more than 20 years to enable, empower, and ease the business of fun. Since launching the Mobile Wallet virtual game card in 2019, it’s still the only non-banking, non-finance, and non-loyalty brand to sit in customers’ Apple Wallet or Google Pay.This year, Embed is adding to its tech innovation legacy in the industry with its Tech of Transformation – a roster of integrated hardware and software solutions developed with only the biggest names in the tech sector.“It’s our continuous pursuit to develop tech solutions that will propel businesses to become FECs of the Future. In line with this goal, we partnered with the largest and most respected tech brand in America, Amazon, to create a software solution that will transform FECs’ operations, revenue landscape, and consumer journey,” says Renee Welsh, CEO at Embed.To introduce this new line of solutions, Embed is kicking off with STATS, a brainchild development with none other than Amazon Web Services (AWS).STATS is the game-changing business intelligence dashboard that will make business insights work hard for operators - so they won’t have to. This Software as a Service (SaaS) solution is a response to an ever-growing challenge that FEC operators face in the industry’s transition from coins to cashless; from traditional to digital:“Even now, a lot of businesses find data analysis daunting. Operators need these collated and analysed instantly to make informed business decisions immediately. STATS was designed specifically to produce customisable, tailor-fit, real-time reports in a snackable, easy-to-access format according to specific business needs – minus the tech intimidation and data overload,” shares Renee Welsh.“Given that FECs come in single or multiple locations, we worked closely with both small-medium and large FEC customers to understand their needs; the deep data insights they wanted from their Embed system. We combed through their data sets, and created ones that will suit the needs of any organisation. Out of these efforts, demos, and trials came a dashboard so flexible and versatile that it won’t matter what size of FEC is using it – they can maximise it,” shares Andy Welsh, CTO at Embed.Embed’s current data reports solution REPORTS, an analytics platform, allows operators to access 150 different reports. “While REPORTS is already a smart data powerhouse in itself, STATS is a step towards more in-depth, dynamic data reporting. Our customers who use this are heavily reliant on REPORTS to address challenges with inventory management, loss prevention, and revenue management,” explains Renee Welsh. “Research shows that staff who are assigned data analytics work spend 90% of the work week on nitty-gritty data-related tasks – and this does not include the analysis required to gain actual insights that drive business decisions. The STATS dashboard is our commitment to being part of the solution; developing this automated dashboard with flexible widgets will help eliminate the counterproductive data work operators struggle doing,” she continues. Embed worked with AWS, the world’s leading provider of cloud platforms, to develop STATS’ backend on QuickSight, enabling FECs to access these ready-made dashboards. This cloud-based solution does not need to run on any server that can cause downtimes and lags. Cloud connectivity also ensures accessible and secure data.“We are excited about this partnership collaboration because it gives both AWS and Embed the opportunity to help an entire industry go digital. A non-technical person should not be weighed down with software data extraction to arrive at data-driven business decisions. STATS will handle the numbers; operators can focus on growing their business,” says Conor McNamara, ASEAN Managing Director at Amazon Web Services.Savvy, Simple, and in a SnapGet smart, near-real-time reports in a state-of-the-art viewer that you can access easily – data anytime, anywhere, across single or multiple business locations, attractions, and various consumer touchpoints.Track and YieldFind business strength in numbers. Track game and guest activities and get deep insights on:Games performance and revenueGuest activity, average dwell time, and spending habitsManpower managementInventory managementA Cloud for Your JudgmentMake data-driven business decisions stat! Keep reports handy and secure with this cloud-based solution, powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS) QuickSight.Tactical PlanningWith its intuitive analysis, use STATS for reports on operational planning and forecasting game revenue and sales based on retro data. Learn more about the business as it grows.Stacks on StacksIncrease profitability as STATS gives a free hand to customise a business dashboard with interactive widgets called STACKS. This way, data becomes bite-sized and easy-to-interpret to identify key revenue management areas with tangible ROI.Additional Innovations: eShop & Staff MerchandiseJoining STATS in Embed’s Tech of Transformation roster are two new innovations that will ease operations:eShop is an online shopping portal where Embed customers can conveniently purchase hardware, parts, and accessories anytime, anywhere in just a few clicks. The only one of its kind against competitors, this one-stop shop features 24/7 service to enable customers to customise and maximise their existing Embed solutions, as needed, with brackets, adapters, server parts, scanners, and even product kits and bundles.As a response to an issue FECs are facing on missing staff passes and essentials, Embed is also introducing Staff Merchandise, a series of customisable wristbands, key fobs, and lanyards to match an FEC’s theme - giving the manpower a makeover with a consistent look that stands out.Visit booth #3-C24 OF DEAL SHOW AT DUBAI WORLD TRADE CENTRE and catch free demos of these latest releases from the Embed Mavericks, along with the rest of the breakthrough innovations like the KIOSK+, the award-winning Mobile Wallet, the integrated cloud-based software solution TOOLKIT, the smartTOUCH arcade debit game card reader, and a full range of wearables and game cards from Embed’s famous Bling Bar!

As LEAP 2023 wraps up, Mobily unveils a new series of agreements and partnerships across a wide range of technology fields, including cloud centers, digitalization, and cybersecurity as well as presenting their Digital Hub initiative.Thousands of delegates, experts and industry leaders attended the last day of the Kingdom’s mega-event, which envisioned the future of technology and provided a platform for new products and solutions.Highlights on day four for Mobily are announcements of new Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with companies such as Tata Consulting Services, Cisco AWS and many more.Digital Hub initiativeDuring the conference, Mobily presented its Digital Hub initiative, which enhances the Kingdom's position as the first regional hub. The center also includes an integrated system of submarine cables that connect the world from east to west, in addition to Terrestrial networks, data centers, landing stations, and the JED1 IX International Neutral Internet Exchange in partnership with Equinix.M. Thamer Al-Fadda, Senior Vice President, Wholesale and Carrier Services, said: "During the past few days in LEAP, we have signed a number of agreements with our partners, through which we look forward to achieving our goal of enhancing digital infrastructure and improving customer experience. In carriers and operators’ sector, we have invested to provide a diversified portfolio of services and solutions for expanding the local and international infrastructure. In addition to building new partnerships to achieve sustainable growth in the communications and information technology sector.”CiscoMobily inked a new 3 year-long collaboration with Cisco Systems Company to leverage the latter’s managed Security Services to cement the company’s infrastructure and offering. The agreement aims to maximize Mobily’s cybersecurity capabilities through enhanced monitoring and incident response, in addition to deploying cybersecurity content and platform management and threat Hunting solutions as well as identity and access management and Cybersecurity Infrastructure Management, which will all further accelerate the company’s operation excellence.Commenting on the agreement, Bader Alasoos, SVP, Mobily Cybersecurity department, said: “Mobily Cybersecurity department with Cisco Systems team have jointly worked on developing state of the art SOC services model, leveraging latest in technology and internally developed security content and best practices. The Security Operations delivery model caters for Mobily infrastructure growth and address challenges of Cybersecurity in our strategic IT, cloud and Telecom ventures aligned with Kingdoms 2030 vision.”Mohammed Tantawi, General Manager of Cisco Systems, said: “The next 3 years of Mobily and Cisco partnership are filled with exciting new initiatives that will transform Mobily’s Security and detection systems, developing new capabilities that will help early detection and comprehensive response to security incidents, enhance user experience for corporate and Mobily customers when interacting with digital platforms.”TCSTata Consulting Services (TCS) and Mobily signed an agreement, which will see both TCS and Mobily work hand-in-hand to develop a remote center in Jizan. The development of the center will also open up new job opportunities for local Saudi talent and benefit from low attrition, low running costs and a long running relationship with the region.The development of the center will see Mobily becoming an anchor customer with TCS for a fixed committed business. The investment will deploy a Six Sigma process consultant that will further optimize and automate the business process.Amazon Web ServicesMobily has signed an agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to become an Advanced Partner in Saudi Arabia. As part of the agreement, Mobily will establish an AWS Cloud Center of Excellence staffed with AWS-trained and certified Mobily personnel. The collaboration is in line with Mobily's aim to accelerate the digitization of the Saudi enterprise market. It includes launching a portfolio of cloud services, such as Edge Cloud solutions, Private 5G, and industry 4.0 solutions, as well as the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML) services.Omar Al-Rasheed, Chief Strategy and Digitalization Office of Mobily, Said: "Mobily's partnerships with hyperscalers are essential to move up the ICT value chain and accelerate the journey of enterprise digital transformation. We are excited to collaborate with AWS, which has a wide range of edge services for enterprises, the largest developer community, and the biggest market share in IaaS. Building on both parties' joint capabilities would indeed unlock new opportunities and possibilities."RedhatMobily and Redhat have signed an agreement to build a strategic partnership to enhance digital transformation. Through the deal, Mobily will build a horizontal native cloud with a simple architecture that will support 5G functions. This includes 5G SA, vRAN, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. The cloud system will further accelerate Mobily's innovations and form the basis for digital transformation with the help of automation, security and freedom, while also providing flexibility to choose the right technology as required.

 The UAE Space Agency and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have signed a Statement of Strategic Intent and Cooperation to support the creation of a vibrant, sustainable, competitive, and innovative space sector in the United Arab Emirates.The UAE Space Agency is responsible for the development of policies, strategies, and places related to the space sector. The Space Agency works closely with research institutes, industry, and fellow government agencies to build relevant space capabilities and support the long-term growth of the space ecosystem in the country.Through this cooperation, the AWS will collaborate with the UAE Space Agency and related UAE government space organizations and institutions on three specific initiatives, The Space Industry Development Program; Talent for Space Program; and Open Data Sponsorship Program.The Space Industry Development Program focuses both on the growth of existing commercial space organizations as well as the promotion of an environment conducive to new entrants like space startups. This initiative is set to provide them access to AWS Activate and the AWS Founders program, both designed to provide startups with AWS credits, technical training, and business support. In addition, this initiative will provide UAE commercial companies, startups, universities, and civil and government entities access to AWS experts.As for the second initiative, The Talent for Space Program, it includes outreach and training designed to support talent development for the space industry in the UAE, particularly with regards to cloud computing and big data. Specifically, AWS will offer related research institutions with the ready-to-teach Cloud Career Pathways curriculum.The Open Data Sponsorship Program initiative will encourage collaboration among the UAE space and research community through the sharing of data sets on AWS related to space data-driven initiatives such as space surveillance and space situational awareness programs. Ibrahim Al Qasim, Deputy Director General of the UAE Space Agency stressed the importance that the UAE Space Agency attaches to international cooperation between the public and private sectors in the field of space. Space is the next frontier of business growth set to propel the national economy for the next 50 years. The strategic intent agreement will support to create a competitive private sector, build national capabilities, promote public-private partnerships, boost R&D and encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship.Al Qasim said: "We have talented national cadres who are capable of innovation and creativity to achieve the best results and continue the country's march of achievement in the space sector. This agreement with Amazon Web Services comes as a part of our objectives and goals in provide our national talents, startups and SME’s with best skills and learning programs, in addition to enable companies working in this sector with best applications and facilities."“This agreement focuses on providing commercial and public space companies, and young professionals the technical tools and resources they need to be successful for the long term,” said Wojciech Bajda, Director, Public Sector Middle East and Africa, Amazon Web Services, Inc. “We look forward to working together on these initiatives as the UAE Space Agency continues to make important contributions to science and the global space industry and support the growth of the space sector.”Bajda noted: “This year we announced that the AWS Middle East (UAE) Region is now open. We have a long history of working with customers in the UAE, with many having used our services from the early days of AWS, including some of the region’s leading and most innovative enterprises and startups.”The new UAE region give customers in the UAE more choice and flexibility through local access to the most advanced cloud technologies, enabling them to store and process their data locally with the assurance that they retain complete ownership of their data and control over the location of their data.AWS also released data highlighting the economic impact of the new region. AWS estimates that the new AWS Middle East (UAE) Region will support nearly 6,000 full-time jobs annually at external vendors through investment of AED 20.1 billion (US $5.47 billion) with an estimated economic impact on the UAE’s GDP of AED 41 billion (US $11.16 billion) over the next 15 years.