Dubai, UAE, 23^rd November 2003

Comtrust, the e-solutions business division of Etisalat, recently hosted a group of students from Al Ain’s Men’s College for a crash course on regional e-business. The visit is part of Comtrust’s ongoing partnership with HCT to help e-commerce students get to grips with the reality of e-business in the Middle East. “By putting our considerable e-business resources and expertise at the disposal of the UAE’s educators, Comtrust can play a role in helping to develop tomorrow’s e-business leaders,” said Ahmed Abdulkarim Julfar, General Manager.

According to Alan Pomering, E-commerce Instructor, Al Ain Men’s College, the visits play an important role in helping students gain an insight into the regional industry. “E-commerce is only going to grow in importance in the UAE and the region as more businesses see the efficiencies of developing an online capability. Such interactive learning opportunities are invaluable for programs such as e-commerce at the HCT.”

The daylong visit was broken up in to four parts, with the first three taking the form of interactive presentation on specific areas of Comtrust’s e-business expertise – eSecurity, eHosting and ePayments – and culminated with a tour of Comtrust’s state-of-the-art data center. The insight into Comtrust’s business was something Al Ain Men’s College student, Khaled Al Khaili, found quite informative.

“The visit to Comtrust was very interesting. I leaned about e-security, e-payment, and e-hosting. I can now understand how there will be more safety in e-business in the future in the UAE. It also improved my knowledge about improving the safety of online transactions, and how businesses deal with Comtrust for these services.”  Other students echoed Al Khaili sentiments. “It was interesting to learn that some companies keep their server safe and secure in the Comtrust building,” said Hamad Al Dhaheri. “I didn’t know Comtrust provided this hosting service as part of its e-security operations.”

Al Dhaheri was not only surprised at the scope of Comtrust’s regional e-business offering. “I thought Comtrust was only dealing with web design but my ideas changed when I saw the technology they use to secure online transactions. Now I know how the financial transactions go through the Internet and how to secure these transactions. I got to see how e-business will be in the future, and how security is the most important thing in online transactions,” said Ahmed Al Kendi.

After gaining a practical insight into such areas as Comtrust’s Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technologies, the growing regional demand for outsourcing and gaining an understanding on how Comtrust’s ePayment system works, the students were then given a tour of Comtrust’s cutting edge data centre, the engine room of Comtrust’s e-business offering. Here the students were treated to a tour of the infrastructure supporting some of the region’s most advanced and progressive e-business initiatives.

According to student Mubarak Al Nuaimi, the day’s visit was a worthwhile exercise. “Our visit to Comtrust was very important and its timing was very good as we have just started our e-commerce program. Comtrust gave us a good view of the future in online business and what we might be doing after graduation. The services that Comtrust is providing, such as e-security and e-consulting, are work fields that might be open to e-commerce graduates.”

Pomering said he was happy with the day’s activities and believes the students benefit from such experiences. “The students’ visit to Comtrust provided them an exciting and practical introduction to the steps Etisalat and the UAE are taking to ensure online transactions are more secure. For the students, it takes the learning into the real world and shows them the importance of reliable technology.”

Julfar said the students were impressive, leaving him feeling confident about the future. “It is very encouraging to see the calibre of students studying within the UAE. It bodes well for the future of regional e-business,” he concluded.