Emerging Trends in ICT for Entrepreneurship and Innovation: An Educational and Industrial Perspectives

Dr. Soubhi Abou Chahine, Beirut Arab University, Lebanon

Dr. Sobhi Abou Chahine Joined Beirut Arab University (BAU) in 1994, where he is currently a Professor in the Electrical & Computer Engineering and the dean of student affairs. He is member of the technical academic committee at the ministry of Education and Higher Education since 2002, which studies the higher education institution files for licensing, audit, and recognition of degrees. He participated in many international projects relevant to higher education reform and quality assurance. In addition, Professor Abou Chahine was an advisor of the minister of Education and Higher Education between 2010 and 2014.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation in a Digital Economy

Dr. Hashim Hussein, Head UNIDO Investment and Technology Promotion Office

Currently Dr. Hashim S. Hussein is the Head of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Investment and Technology Promotion Office in the Kingdom of Bahrain (ITPO Bahrain), and the Arab International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Investment (AICEI). He is also the Executive Director of the World Entrepreneurs Investment Forum, appointed as an International Ambassador for Social Corporate Responsibility; the Secretary General of the Maritime-Continental Silk Road Entrepreneurs Alliance, and the Elected Vice Chairman of the Maritime-Continental Silk Road Cities Alliance. He is also a founding member of the Islamic Creative Economy; and a board member of the MENA Investment Center in Bahrain which is supported by the Organization of Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).

Digital Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Dr. Samir El Masry, Digitalization Company

Prof. Samir El-Masri received his PhD from INPG France. He worked with NTT in Japan for 4 years. He worked in Australia at universities and in industry for 10 years. El-Masri was a Professor for 5 years at KSU Saudi Arabia with 130 research papers and then worked at General Electric for 4 years leading digital. Prof. El-Masri is a well-known digital expert helping large companies in the region and he is the founder of Digitalization.

ICT, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship

Dr. Manal Yunis/Abed Naser Kassar, Lebanese American University

Manal M. Yunis is an assistant professor of information technology management. She holds a PhD in Business Administration with a concentration in Computer Information Systems from the University of Texas-Pan American, an MBA and a BS in MIS from LAU Adnan Kassar School of Business. She is a member of the Association of Information Systems (AIS), Decision Sciences Institute and AIS Special Interest Groups. She has several peer-refereed journal and conference publications, and is the recipient of many best paper awards from conferences and publishing groups.

Abdul-Nasser El-Kassar is an associate professor at Adnan Kassar School of Business. He holds a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, and has received the Post-Doctoral Bridge to Business Program certificate from the University of Florida. With a background in both mathematics and engineering management translated by two master degrees from University of Louisiana, his research ranges from cryptography to engineering management and its underlying mathematics. His research has been published in recognized journals including the Journal of Mathematics and Statistics, Global Review of Business and Economic Research and the Business Review, Cambridge.

Innovation of Digital Transformation in Local Governance

Mr. Philippe Fares, Industry, G8T solution company- Lebanon

Founder and Managing Director of G8T Solutions S.A.R.L. with over than 10 years of experience in analyzing, designing and developing software across the MENA region. From a junior software developer, to taking part in designing and developing a PACS system for prestigious hospitals in the U.S, to leading the development of PRAXIS one of today’s most advanced ERPs in the MENA area. Started G8T Solutions S.A.R.L, a Lebanese software engineering company with offices in Lebanon, Nigeria and Sweden. G8T is currently considered a pioneer in the digital transformation of Lebanese local governments through a state-of-the-art Municipality Management System to answer the arising technological needs in the Lebanese municipalities.

Tackling Sustainability Problems Using IoT: an academic and Industry Overview

Dr. Andre Gloria- Universitário de Lisboa, Portugal

André Glória was born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1994. He received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in telecommunication and computer engineering from ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, in 2015 and 2017, respectively, and is finishing his Ph.D. degree in information science and technology, with a specialty in Internet of Things and Machine Learning, at the same university. From 2016 to 2017, he was a Teaching Assistant for the Artificial Intelligence class in the Information, Science and Technology department in ISCTE-IUL. Since 2018, he has been a Researcher at ISCTE-IUL and Instituto de Telecomunicações-IUL, with research on Internet of Things, Machine Learning, Wireless Sensor Network, Wireless Communications, Sustainability and Green Tech. Since 2020 is an Invited Assistant at ISCTE with classes on "Conception and Viability of Technology-Based Project”. In 2018 he co-founded genviot, a Portuguese technological startup that tackles sustainability problems using IoT, mainly in the water management for irrigation systems. He acts as CTO, being responsiblefor all the research and development, in both software and hardware, of genviot solutions.”

Role of Universities in Promoting Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Dr. Dina Belal, University of Khartoum, Sudan

Ra’edat a Sustainable Women Entrepreneurship Platform

Mr. Ubaydli Al Ubaydli - Arab ICT Union, Bahrian

Spatio-Tempotal data and Entrepreneurship

Dr. Hatem Halawi, Haigazian University – Lebanon

Assciate Professor and chair person of the division of Mathematical sciences (Math and computer science) at haigazian University Research: Spatio-tempotal Databases, geographical Information Systems, Using AI and smart Algorithms in GIS and navigation

Innovation process in smart healthcare technologies

Dr. Sandy Rihana- Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, USEK , Lebanon

Sandy Rihana is a results-oriented professional with a sound academic background covering multiple disciplines including engineering, technology, healthcare and management. A creative thinker, Sandy is multilingual and has presented at numerous international conferences and workshops. She is first author and co-author of more than 40 peer-reviewed articles in various domains in the medical and in the healthcare technology interdisciplinary journals. A computer communications engineer, Sandy received her Master's degree and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the Technical University Of Compiegne, France. While there, she was awarded the Best Ph.D. Prize called the Guy Denielou Prize. She is a Fulbright scholar at University Of South Florida, USA and an invited researcher at Ecole PolyTechnique Montreal. She joined USEK in 2011 to co-found the Biomedical Engineering Department, American Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET). She is currently Professor and the Head of Department. Her research interests are smart healthcare technologies including artificial intelligence for medical applications.

Wearable Biomedical Devices: Hardware & Software

Dr. Abdullah Kasem, Notre Dame University – Lebanon

Abdallah Kassem has previously worked as research assistant at Polystim Neurotechnologies Laboratory of the Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, Canada. He still cooperates with this laboratory doing some researches. He received his B.S in Microelectronics from University of Quebec in Montreal in 1992, his M.Sc and Ph.D in microelectronic from Ecole polytechnique de Montreal in 1996 and 2004 respectively. From 1996 to 2000, he taught computer architecture, microprocessors and digital electronic courses and laboratories at AUB, LAU in Lebanon. Prof. Kassem joined Notre Dame University-Louaize in 2005 as an assistant professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department. He was promoted to the rank of full professor in 2020. Prof. Kassem published more than 70 papers in reviewed journals, book Chapters and international conference proceedings. He is an Associate Editor in IEEE Access and a Guest Editor Elsevier, AEU - International Journal of Electronics and Communications. His research interests include microelectronics design and testing, VLSI, semiconductor device modeling and simulation, microprocessors, engineering education/management, ultrasonic applications, hardware/software embedded system, healthcare applications, e-Health and m-Health. Prof. Kassem is a Professional Engineer in Lebanon (Ordre des Ingénieurs du Liban). He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE) and Organizer and TPC member of many IEEE International conferences.

Innovation of Braille Copy Machine

Dr. Ali El-Zaart- Beirut Arab University, Lebanon

Ali El-Zaart was a senior software developer at Department of Research and Development, Semiconductor Insight, Ottawa, Canada during 2000-2001. In 2001, he started his work in the capacity of assistant professor at the Department of Biomedical Technology, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia. Afterward, in 2004, he transferred to the Department of Computer Science, College of Computer and Information Sciences. In 2010, he has been promoted to associate professor rank in computer science. Since 2011, he has been a faculty member at the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Faculty of Science, Beirut Arab University. On March 2016, he has been promoted to full professor rank in computer science. Currently, he is the director of the center for continuing and professional education and sirector of the center for entrepreneurship. He received a M.Sc. (1996) and Ph.D. (2001) degrees in computer science from the University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada.

Neuro-Marketing: Entrepreneurial Potential of Affective Computing

Dr. Ivana Pavlic – University of Dubrovnik, Croatia

“Stone age” business is over!

Reine Abbas, Spica Tech S.A.L, Lebanon

With more than seventeen years in the gaming industry and fifteen years in higher education, Reine Abbas is one of the first female game designers in the Middle East and the first to be a founder of a video games company. She is the COO and Co-Founder of Wixel Studios, the first independent gaming company in Lebanon and one of the first in the MENA Region. She is also the CEO and founder of Spica Tech, one of the few gaming academies in the region. Abbas’ work has been recognized around the world and she has won many awards, including the WIT Women in Technology Award 2010, the WOW award for artistic expressions 2013 at the 6th New Arab Woman Forum, Inc.com’s World’s five most powerful women in gaming in 2013, one of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Arab Women in both 2014 and 2015 as selected by ArabianBusiness.com, winner of the MIT Enterprise Forum Pan Arab Region competition 2017 and Mena Region winner in the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards of 2019. In 2019, she also won the Best Animation award at the ARFF Paris International Awards for her music video “Right Now”. She was featured in Forbes 2019 and was a TEDx Beirut speaker in 2011.

Dr. Iraj Hashi – University of Dubrovnik – Croatia

Dr Iraj Hashi is Emeritus Professor of Economics at Staffordshire University, Stoke on Trent, United Kingdom where he has worked since 1978. He also has a part time appointment as Professor of Economics and Assistant Coordinator of the ELEGANT project at the University of Dubrovnik, Croatia. He has a long history of working on European projects going back to early 1990s. He has previously worked with the Lebanese universities in the framework of the Tempus Project ASPIRE involving Beirut Arab University and Modern University for Business and Sciences.

Dr. Bassem Kaissi - Modern University for Business and Science, Lebanon

Professor Bassem Kaissi is currently the Vice President for International Affairs at the Modern University for Business and Science in Lebanon. He has over 20 years of experience in human resource strategy consulting and as a higher education consultant and expert. He speaks and consults throughout the Arab & European countries on a variety of higher education and management topics. Professor kaissi coordinated and participated in more than 50 research, capacity building and mobility projects funded by the EU, World Bank, AUF, and UNESCO.