Full Emirates LitFest sessions now available online for free

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Updated 07 August 2022
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Full Emirates LitFest sessions now available online for free

Emirates Literature Foundation, home of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, one of the top literary festivals in the world and the biggest celebration of stories in the Middle East, is bringing some of the most compelling sessions from their 2022 edition to viewers’ fingertips via YouTube for free.
Panel sessions include “Global Leadership: Work, Family, and our Future,” with UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director General Expo 2020 Dubai Reem Al-Hashimy and former CEO of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi.
There is also an out-of-this-world dialogue about the best scientific discovery of all times with YouTube content creator, Ahmed El-Ghandour, known as Da7ee7, head of the UAE astronaut program Salem Al-Marri, and professor and author Serhii Plokhy.

It is our mission to bring the joy of literature and literary conversations to everyone, and allow global audiences to enjoy the LitFest experience.

Ahlam Bolooki, director of Emirates Airline Festival of Literature

Viewers can catch Sunday Times bestselling author Dr. Rupy Aujla and cookbook author, presenter, entrepreneur, and social media influencer Zahra Abdalla, as they discuss modern ways of “Cooking the Classics.” East meets West where Lucinda Dickens Hawksley, prolific author and direct descendant of Charles Dickens; Daniel L. Newman, author and chair of Arabic studies at the University of Durham; and Karim Hauser, head of international relations at Spain’s Casa Árabe; reflect on the long history of globalization in context of art, literature, and food.
Viewers can watch four masters of the crime thriller genre — Felicia Yap, Lucy Foley, Mark Billingham and Polly Phillips — as they talk “Originality in Crime Fiction,” and enjoy “Between the Covers,” a riveting discussion with poet and novelist Noor Naga and editor Selma Dabbagh on erotic writing in Arabic literature.
Ahlam Bolooki, festival director, said: “We strive to make the literary landscape more inclusive and accessible to all by making some of the diverse and interesting conversations from the festival available online. It is our mission to bring the joy of literature and literary conversations to everyone, and allow global audiences to enjoy the LitFest experience.”
The foundation also shares in-depth conversations with writer and blogger Jenny Lawson, and Emirati movers and shakers Omar Saif Ghobash, the assistant minister for culture and public diplomacy at the UAE’s Foreign Ministry, and Khalaf Ahmad Al-Habtoor, founder and chairman of Al-Habtoor Group of Companies.
Poetry lovers can enjoy the world premiere of the multi-lingual, multi-genre collaboration of Emirati spoken word poet Dr. Afra Atiq with Colombian-American award-winning poet Carlos Andrés Gómez, and singer, songwriter and music producer Brent Shuttleworth.


ITC Infotech accelerates Vision 2030 through digital hub in Riyadh

Updated 17 January 2026
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ITC Infotech accelerates Vision 2030 through digital hub in Riyadh

ITC Infotech’s commitment to delivering real digital change in the Middle East is reinforced by strengthening collaboration and working more closely with customers on the ground. The establishment of its Digital and AI Engineering Hub in Riyadh brings superior digital engineering and AI skills closer to businesses, allowing for speedier collaboration, localized innovation, and solutions targeted to regional needs. This strategic expansion aligns with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and underscores ITC Infotech’s long-standing emphasis on partnership-led growth and customer-centric innovation.

The hub was officially inaugurated on Jan. 15 by Sanjiv Puri, chairman and managing director of ITC Ltd. This facility is designed to help enterprises leverage advanced technologies and convert digital ambitions into measurable business outcomes. This move aligns closely with Saudi Arabia’s efforts to build a knowledge-driven economy powered by innovation and technology.

Saudi Arabia’s digital leap

Vision 2030 is more than just economic diversification; it is a clear blueprint for creating a technologically advanced society. This vision is centered on the integration of artificial intelligence and digital engineering, which are transforming industries and enabling long-term, sustainable growth. The strategic importance of AI is clear, with the Saudi Data and AI Authority estimating that it may add $135 billion to the Kingdom’s GDP by 2030. This commitment is supported by significant investments, including $14.9 billion announced at LEAP 2025 to advance digital infrastructure, talent, and next-generation technologies, as well as historic projects like the $2.7 billion Hexagon Data Center in Riyadh. Together, these efforts are laying the foundation for a secure, resilient, and future-ready digital ecosystem that can support AI adoption, data-driven governance, and smart city development at scale.

What the hub offers

ITC Infotech’s Riyadh hub is designed to fuel this momentum by focusing on three core areas:

  • AI-powered platforms: Delivering predictive analytics, intelligent automation, and data-driven insights to help businesses transition from reactive operations to proactive strategies.
  • Digital engineering solutions: Leveraging Industry 4.0-driven smart manufacturing capabilities, integrating AI-led modeling, connected systems, and advanced analytics to optimize production performance, improve asset utilization, and proactively reduce operational and quality risks across the engineering lifecycle.
  • Cloud-native architectures: Building agile, secure, and resilient ecosystems that enable faster innovation and seamless integration across enterprise systems.

These capabilities are designed to enable organizations to innovate, scale, and compete in a rapidly evolving digital economy. Beyond technology, the hub is fundamentally anchored in building a team of the region, from the region, for the region and for global impact. Through structured skill-building programs, deep partnerships with academia, systematic knowledge transfer, and immersive, hands-on delivery models, the hub is creating a future-ready Saudi workforce fully aligned with Vision 2030 and capable of serving both national and international priorities.

Driving enterprise transformation 

The ITC Infotech hub aims to enable transformation rather than simply deploy technology. By driving AI adoption, accelerating digital engineering, and building cloud-native ecosystems, ITC Infotech seeks to help businesses:

  • develop new business models to meet evolving market needs.
  • improve operational efficiency through predictive insights and automation.
  • support sustainability goals by optimizing resources and reducing risks.
  • build a skilled local workforce capable of leading future innovations.

These outcomes support enterprises as they transition to more resilient, data-driven, and digitally mature operating models.

The road ahead

ITC Infotech is a wholly owned subsidiary of ITC Limited, one of India’s largest conglomerates, with over 25 years of experience as a trusted technology services partner to enterprises globally. The company focuses on next-generation enterprise transformation, delivering services across infrastructure and application modernization, cloud, cybersecurity, digital engineering, and AI-led innovation.

As Saudi Arabia continues its digital journey, ITC Infotech’s combination of global expertise, strong local presence, and collaborative delivery model positions it as a long-term partner in advancing Vision 2030. ITC Infotech’s hub in Riyadh reflects this commitment, bringing advanced capabilities closer to customers, investing in local talent, and enabling enterprises to adopt AI at scale as they compete in an increasingly digital world.