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Tahawul Tech
13 hours ago
- Business
- Tahawul Tech
Opinion: Telecom Operators need a talent strategy to develop solution visionaries
Ramzi Khoury, partner, Amar Akli and Omar Nowaihed, principals, with Strategy& Middle East, part of the PwC network, have co-authored an op-ed, which examines the steps and practices that telecommunications operators need to implement and adopt in order to capitalise on growth opportunities in the business-to-business market. GCC telecom operators can achieve significant growth in the business-to-business market. That business-to-business opportunity is appealing given the broader challenges facing telecom operators, such as the ongoing commoditization of their core services, intense competition, and rigid business models. To achieve this growth, telecom operators should collaborate with their business customers to deploy advanced digital solutions tailored to their industries and sectors. That means becoming trusted advisors, problem-solvers, and essential partners in their business customers' digital journeys. Telecom operators thereby can diversify revenues, protect earnings from connectivity, and become leaders in the region's information and communication technology industry. The market for advanced digital solutions, which combine technologies to transform businesses and deliver exceptional value, is substantial and growing fast. Mordor Intelligence estimates that this market will rise by 24.3% CAGR in the Middle East from 2025 to 2030, reaching $149 billion.[i] Combined with the demand created by artificial intelligence (AI) and the GCC governments' ambitious digital agendas, that presents an inviting opportunity for regional telecom operators. Better yet, GCC telecom operators are uniquely positioned to succeed. They have nationwide infrastructures, serve a broad base of mobile and fixed subscribers, possess unrivalled market knowledge, and have demonstrated a long-term commitment to localization and GCC countries' sovereignty priorities. To put these advantages to work, telecom operators should become solution visionaries. That means going beyond selling connectivity along with other discrete products and services. Instead, telecom operators should act as consultants, developing a deep understanding of their clients' aspirations, strategic goals, and pain points; and collaborating with them to formulate digital strategies. Telecom operators can assist their business clients to transform and modernize how they operate. A telecom operator could assist a port management company to devise a strategy that defines the purpose of port digitization, sets short- and long-term goals, and provides a comprehensive implementation plan. Part of being a solution visionary is creating comprehensive solutions that integrate multiple products and services. Telecom operators can play a vital role in the region's plans for advanced industrial projects. A telecom operator working with a manufacturer could enable the design of a smart factory. This concept would integrate connectivity, cloud computing, data centers, cybersecurity, internet of things (network of connected devices) sensors, industrial platforms, robotic process automation tools, business process automation tools, and system integration. Solution visionaries illustrate and visualize solutions, enabling clients to experience the outcomes, understand value created, and fine tune design. For instance, a telecom operator might simulate an AI-enabled healthcare system to help a government health provider or authority visualize experiences and outcomes for patients, providers and the community. Being a solution visionary means cultivating long-term relationships with clients. Telecom operators could thereby identify strategic opportunities and find ways to unlock value creation, such as through public-private partnerships. A telecom operator might envision, and propose, an overarching digital value proposition for a major exposition. That could include digital twins (such as virtual representations of the exhibitions), connectivity, ticketing systems, and the other elements needed to stage a successful event. Such relationships are about building innovative business models. Telecom operators could offer clients such options as joint ventures and build-operate-transfer agreements, thereby participating in clients' ventures and lowering clients' capital investment costs. A telecom operator might, for example, provide smart signage and parking solutions to a stadium operator in return for a share of the resulting revenues. While telecom operators already possess some necessary advantages for success in advanced digital solutions, they may need to develop the capabilities of solution visionaries, and the internal structure to support them. First, telecom operators should build their product and service portfolios to offer comprehensive digital solutions. For instance, a solution visionary to the logistics industry may require partnering with, or acquiring, other companies so the telecom operator has more offerings in tracking and monitoring, warehouse automation, and smart logistics. Second, telecom operators should create a dedicated, highly entrepreneurial unit. There should be incentive and performance management systems for the staff to be solution visionaries. The telecom operator should empower the unit's leaders to make fast decisions. The unit's structure should support a multi-sector focus emphasizing emerging technologies and a team-based format for selling. As its capabilities mature, all sales teams can adopt a solution visionaries approach, while the unit remains a center of excellence. Third, telecom operators need a talent strategy to develop solution visionaries. That means hiring, developing, and retaining people possessing a strong understanding of technology and business. These people should be capable of a consultative approach to identify opportunities, conceptualize complex solutions, and drive them to the proposal stage. Handling such opportunities typically requires combined expertise of sector and technology experts, business analysts, solution architects, and deal structuring experts. Advanced digital solutions are the next frontier for GCC telecom operators, an opportunity to create uniquely valuable partnerships with their business customers.
Al Jazeera
13-04-2025
- Health
- Al Jazeera
Israel's attack on al-Alhi Hospital in Gaza City draws global condemnation
A predawn Israeli strike on al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, the last major hospital providing critical healthcare in northern Gaza, has sparked condemnation in Palestine and across the world as Israel continues to attack healthcare facilities. Israel on Sunday claimed it struck a Hamas command and control centre at the hospital, without providing evidence, while Hamas denied the allegations. The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which runs al-Ahli Hospital, condemned the attack, saying it occurred on 'Palm Sunday, the start of the Holy Week, the most sacred week of the Christian year.' It said the twin strikes demolished the hospital's two-storey genetic laboratory and damaged the pharmacy and the emergency department buildings. The Higher Presidential Committee for Church Affairs in Palestine, which is affiliated with the Anglican Church, said the attack constituted 'a grave violation of religious sanctity and fundamental principles of international humanitarian law'. The head of the committee, Ramzi Khoury, asserted that the attack was a direct affront to Palestinian Christians and the global Christian community. Britain's Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell said in a statement on Sunday: 'The Anglican-run Ahli Hospital in Gaza is a place of healing and care for Palestinians living through unimaginable suffering. In unbearable conditions, its heroic doctors and nurses have cared for civilians who have endured 18 months of devastating violence'. 'For the only Christian hospital in Gaza to be attacked on Palm Sunday is especially appalling. I share in the grief of our Palestinian brothers and sisters in the Diocese of Jerusalem,' he said. Gaza's Health Ministry said the bombing forced the evacuation of patients and staff. 'We call on international institutions and relevant authorities to protect the health sector in accordance with international laws and agreements,' it said in a statement. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) said the 'heinous aggression' was 'part of a systematic series of attacks targeting hospitals, schools, shelters and tents for the displaced in Gaza, within the context of a systematic war of extermination that violates all humanitarian and moral standards'. PIJ blamed Israel for sowing panic among patients and staff by issuing a warning shortly before the strike. 'The international silence on Gaza is forcing it to become a graveyard for law and humanity,' it added. Hospitals have special protection under international law. Israel has besieged and raided them nevertheless, some several times, and struck multiple ones while accusing Hamas of using them as cover for its fighters. Last month, Israel struck Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, the largest hospital in southern Gaza, killing two people and causing a large fire. Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the hospital was out of service and a child had died as a result of the disruption of care. The hospital was also forced to move 50 patients to other health centres, but 40 critical patients could not be moved, Tedros added. 'Attacks on health care must stop,' the WHO chief wrote on X. 'Once again we repeat: patients, health workers and hospitals must be protected. The aid blockade must be lifted. Ceasefire.' British Foreign Minister David Lammy said Israel's bombing of medical facilities had 'comprehensively degraded access to healthcare' in the enclave. 'Al-Ahli Hospital has been attacked repeatedly since the conflict began. These deplorable attacks must end. Diplomacy not more bloodshed is how we will achieve a lasting peace,' Lammy wrote on X. Qatar said the attack on the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza was a 'horrific massacre and a heinous crime against civilians' that constituted a grave violation of international humanitarian law. The Foreign Ministry warned about the expansion of the cycle of violence across the region and said the international community must assume its responsibilities in protecting civilians. Jordan also condemned the attack as well as Israel's systematic targeting of civilians in Gaza and the destruction of vital facilities that provide essential services to its population. Egypt, too, issued a statement, calling the attack a grave violation of international humanitarian law and international norms and appealing for the international community's intervention in halting the attacks. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock questioned the modalities of the strike but stopped short of condemning the attack. 'The cruel Hamas terror must be combated. But international humanitarian law applies, with a special obligation to protect civilian areas. How can a hospital be evacuated in less than 20 minutes?' she asked in a post on X.
