Update: The registration is now up for the AWS Summit 2017 in Bahrain, what are you waiting for, register here!
Following the recent and ongoing push this year by the government of Bahrain to move to the cloud, we’re thrilled to find out that the AWS Summit website just revealed that the upcoming summit is taking place in Bahrain on September 25th, 2017, for the first time in the Middle East.
For those who don’t know, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is Amazon’s cloud services. Long story short, it’s a robust collection of cloud services that help power a good chunk of what you use on the internet; to name a few, Netflix, Hulu, Adobe, Reddit, Pinterest, Spotify, and SoundCloud.
Throughout the year, Amazon holds several AWS Summits around the world to bring together the cloud computing community under one roof, to discuss and learn everything AWS. Think Apple Keynote or Google IO but for cloud computing through AWS, where major updates, products, and services are announced, amongst other things.
There’s a ton of opportunity over there, as Middle East startups were some of the first organizations to adopt AWS services when it first launched in 2006. The Middle East has recently been pushing for technology, and the push is being led, amongst others, by Bahrain.
This year, the Economic Development Board launched StartUp Bahrain, a community initiative that aims to bring together startups, corporate entities, investors, incubators, educational institutions, and the Bahrain government to promote and grow the startup ecosystem to turn Bahrain into a strong global and regional launch pad to launch and scale startups from.
Here’s a recap of this years news around the cloud for Bahrain:
- The High Information and Communication Committee chaired by H.H. Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al-Khalifa, reviewed and adopted the “Cloud Computing” policy, making the Kingdom of Bahrain the first Arab country to take such an initiative to enable government institutions to focus on the development of their services.
- Amazon Web Services opened up an office in Bahrain to support entities from startups to government bodies to move to the cloud.
- 10 Bahraini government websites are in the process of being migrated to the AWS cloud. This list includes the Ministry of Justice & Islamic Affairs. Ministry of Health, Central Bank of Bahrain, Ministry of Works, Ministry of Transportations & Telecommunication, just to name a few.
- Tamkeen launched a range of professional cloud certifications in partnership with AWS. Here’s a list of Tamkeen’s professional certifications, which includes the AWS certifications.
- C5 Accelerate launches its Cloud 10 Scalerator, powered by AWS to help startups in the FinTech, MedTech, and EnergyTech sectors, scaleup to the cloud. Apply now!
- Batelco partnered up with AWS to help deliver its cloud products and services to the Bahraini market to help companies innovate and grow faster.
- The Bahrain Polytechnic join the AWS Educate Program. Students and staff can now use the cloud environment to help deploy and deliver projects for Engineering, Information and Communication Technology, and Web Media degrees.
Khalid Al-Rumaihi, Chief Executive at the Bahrain Economic Development Board stated earlier this year, “[We are] committed to helping drive forward the development of a strong and supportive environment for innovation and entrepreneurship in the Kingdom. This encompasses a number of areas, including access to finance, education initiatives and regulatory developments, but having the world’s leading cloud computing provider open an office in Bahrain will play a vital role”.
Keep an eye out for more updates on the upcoming event! Follow @startupmgzn on Twitter and Instagram and @startupbahrain on Twitter and Instagram for the latest updates and announcements, and make sure to visit the AWS Global Summits page every now and then for registration.