1. What are your reasons for coming onboard the 43rd edition of GITEX Global, what are your expectations, and who are you hoping to meet at the show?
GITEX Global is the world’s largest tech event and features on sharing the innovative technology to all the visitors and to the world. As a company aspiring to provide the most innovative rugged laptops and tablets, we expect to deliver our latest high-performance solutions to all the visitors through GITEX and intend to attract more partners and customers from the Middle East and Africa.
2. Are you planning to launch any products or services, demonstrate new technologies, or sign any partnerships during the show? Please provide details to help us amplify your presence.
We are planning to demonstrate our latest technology, which will be our latest R8 rugged tablet and new-released U11I rugged tablet, equipped with the Intel® 12th generation processors.
The only 8” rugged tablet on the market equipped with 12th generation Intel® Core™ processors, the R8 provides an unrivalled combination of power and portability, weighing just 0.86 kg (1.9 lbs). Its Pentium® Gold CPU offers a performance that’s up to 450% faster than similar devices running on Intel® Atom® processors and up to 800% when equipped with Intel® Core™ processors. In addition, the tablet’s Intel® Iris Xe Graphics boost computing power to process large amounts of data, images and video feeds in real-time, providing a reliable mobile solution to support digital and remote operations for diverse professional applications.
Furthermore, the R8’s fanless design offers boundless customization capability and is purpose-built to manage the heaviest workloads while meeting the demands of the harshest environments, including oil and gas, and mining. Designed to fit in the palm of the hand for ultimate mobility, the R8 is made with durability in mind. Certified with MIL-STD-810H to withstand drops of up to 6 feet, the device also boasts IP66 and ANSI/UL C1D2 certification. This makes it the perfect tool for field service professionals in a wide range of industries who require remote support to capture and access critical information while accurately and efficiently running diagnostics in all conditions, including potentially explosive atmospheres.
In addition, this year we upgraded the CPU of the U11I tablet to the latest Intel® 12th generation Alder Lake platform, with Intel® Core™ i7 and i5 processors, which is significant in part because it enables performance up to 225% faster than the previous, 10th Gen CPU. Sporting the Coolfinity™ fanless thermal solution lets the U11I tablet operate quietly while offering higher reliability and decreasing downtime and repairs that negatively impact productivity. Delivered with Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics boosts the U11I’s computing power to process large amounts of data, images, and video feeds in real-time. Packing these and a trove of functions and features into a rugged tablet appeals to professional users that desire the utmost performance with the ease of a tablet.
3. How important is GITEX Global for your business, and what is the volume of business growth you anticipate from your participation in the show?
We know that GITEX is an extremely crucial and must-go event where all the visitors intend to search for innovative technologies. Hence, we will showcase state-of-the-art technology to all the visitors with the ambition of the network enhancement by 20-30 per cent through this exhibition.
4. How important is the Middle East and Africa for your business, and what is your growth strategy in the region over the coming years?
In the Middle East and Africa, we partner up with local distributors, who have the right channel (partners), as well as co-work with and sell through dedicated system integrators, value-added resellers and IHV/ISV in each country.
Also, it is to mention that we dedicated work with our local distributors for each country (market) to strengthen our market present, and also to expand our business geographic and vertical market coverage together.
Goal is together with channel partners we can position us (both) for steady, long-term profitability. Also, it’s important building lasting relationships with partners, so our strategy is to plan how we can help them now and in the future, and how we can use our know-how/skills and products/solutions to help them achieve their goals, too.
5. To what extent can the region’s bold digital transformation missions elevate the global tech ecosystem?
The bold digital transformation in the region significantly influences the global landscape of the tech ecosystem.
On one hand, the digital transformation mission can help the region with the development of innovation and entrepreneurship. By supporting the startups and tech firms within their regions, they can gain the benefit of strengthening its abilities in creativity and problem-solving. This could potentially trigger more development of cutting-edge technologies and revolutionize diverse industries across the world.
On the other hand, bold digital transformation missions often require the collaboration between different governments, businesses and so on. This makes each other have the increase on knowledge sharing and technology transfer across borders, which means the formation of the global tech community will speed up and the challenges will be resolved with more ease.
6. Which countries and industry verticals are you targeting as part of your business plan over the next 5-10 years?
As Durabook sees the rugged devices demand are growing in the Middle East and Africa market, we are immensely expanding our business plan in these regions over the next 5-10 years. With experiences of almost four decades of industrial experience in the manufacture of personal computers and peripherals, Durabook is selling our innovative rugged solutions across several industry verticals, including automotive, public safety, government, transportation & Logistics, manufacturing, utility & field service, and oil & gas.
7. GITEX Global is accelerating the epic race for AI dominance in 2023: how is your business embracing the AI innovation wave?
Rugged devices can significantly integrate with AI-powered features to boost their capabilities.
Ø Data collection and analysis: the rugged tablets are frequently being used in the industries where require data collection in harsh environments. With the integration with AI, the rugged devices can conduct real-time analysis of collected data. For instance, when workers perform field inspections, AI algorithms can automatically detect patterns or anomalies in the data, which can minimize the time consumption and improve accuracy.
Ø Computer vision applications: If rugged devices integrate with AI-powered computer vision, this can be applied to the implementation of tasks, like image recognition, barcode scanning and so on. These features can help the logistics and warehousing sectors, where the visual data needs to be often utilized.
Ø Security Enhancement: The application of AI to rugged devices can increase the security of rugged devices. For example, facial recognition or behavioral biometrics can be used in security authentication, which makes sure only authorized personnel can get access to sensitive data.
Ø Battery Management: With AI, the power consumption of the rugged devices can be optimized based on the usage pattern, and thus increase the life of battery. This is particularly essential in the field since the charging points might be limited.
Ø Increase on Sensing and Environmental Awareness: As AI integrates with sensors in rugged devices, the environmental awareness can be enhanced. For example, when workers work in outdoor and hazardous environments, with the help of this integration, weather predictions, air quality monitoring, and hazard detection capabilities can be hugely enhanced.
8. Aside from AI, what is the world’s next big technology shift and how should government, business, and society prepare for it?
In our perspective, the following will be the world’s next big technology, which we fully embrace and implement this technology into our products.
Ø 5G: 5G networks will continue to expand to accelerate data transfer, lower latency and increase connectivity for loT devices. In the future, other progressing network (beyond 5G) will continue to be developed into faster and more effective technologies in order to cope with the increasing demand for data.
Ø Renewable Energy: The idea of sustainability is the direction where governments, business and society are stepping forward and progressing. Renewable energy, such as solar, wind and hydroelectric and so on, is what they focus on for leading a more sustainable future. More renewable energy technologies are being invested in developing more efficient energy storage solutions to tackle the intermittent nature of renewables. As a manufacturer of rugged devices, we work closely with governmental agencies to help them to achieve their goals.
In addition, on the government side, they should lay the foundation in advance for clear regulatory frameworks which enable swifter innovation while safeguarding public safety and security. On the other hand, it is advised that government can raise public awareness about emerging technologies with the announcement of its benefits and risks so that the corporates and the public can engage in and be alert to this. Finally, governments, businesses, and stakeholders can collaborate to better address the challenges posed by emerging technologies.
‘Climate resilience’ and ‘energy efficiency’ are two of the main buzz terms in the few years (and the years to come) as it comes under increasing pressure to reduce the impact of climate change and meet customers’ expectations on sustainability. Creating a more resilient infrastructure with minimal environmental impact while meeting these benchmarks is only possible by adopting the latest cutting-edge technology. More importantly, this technology must have the versatility to evolve beyond the transformation phase and support the sector into the future.
9. GITEX Global and GITEX Impact will build up the momentum for COP 28, taking place in Dubai from 30 November -12 December. How do you see the adoption of ESG strategies by tech companies, and what are the critical factors for those initiatives leading to a more sustainable future?
We are seeing the awareness of ESG is gradually gaining of more importance in majority of tech firms and they are implementing more strategies based on this. Particularly, we have seen that the significance of reporting and disclosure standards in the ESG aspect is continuously under discussions by plenty of regulators over the past few years.
What makes the corporates put more effort into structuring well-established ESG lies in the prevention of risks in many aspects such as worker safety, reputation damage or corruption issues and so on. It is especially essential to the tech companies who are exposed to the public since one misstep would lead to tremendous loss in diverse aspects. Hence, the tech companies are dedicated to mitigating the risks of ESG.
Aside from the minimalization of the ESG risk, the tech firms focusing on ESG regulation and implementation can have more enhancement on the financial performance. As Durabook carried out a series of ESG strategies in 2015, we have seen a great increase on equity returns in aspects of lower loan, higher credit ratings etc.
While the initial capital outlay in new technologies may prove expensive, savvy organisations are experiencing the long-term benefits of their investment, from better serving customers and reducing operational costs to meeting environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals. Rugged technology is proof of how digital investments can deliver a strong return. For example, research has identified that, compared with standard consumer models, these devices have lower total cost ownership (TCO) by up to 50% over a five-year lifespan due to decreased downtime and less need for hardware replacement. Beyond the financial returns, these computers are built to serve various functions, performing multiple tasks simultaneously, minimizing human errors and boosting productivity, which can improve an organization’s carbon footprint. With more pressure on monitoring and measuring environmental impact, these devices can also track and record performance data and metrics, identifying how and where lasting improvements can be made.
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