 Welcome to ITU telecom world 2018 in Durban, South Africa where I'm very pleased to be joining the studio today by Bazarra Imam Ali-Bari who is Director, Strategy and Business Department for the Nile Centre for Technology and Research, the NCTR. Mr Ali-Bari, thank you very much for being with us today. It's a pleasure to be here, Max. Thank you. Good to see you again. Now, I wanted to talk about smart digital developments. The theme for this year's ITU telecom world, what does that mean to you? Well, Max, we always need to go to the basics when we talk about such high-level concepts. And if we go to the basic principles behind digital development, we can talk about probably three of them. For example, being open, supporting open standards and open source and open technologies. Also being collaborative and having smart partnerships and engaging the customer and the user in all your products and services. This is what we do at NCTR and that's why we are spearheading the ICT industry in Sudan. And if we take digital development to the next level, which is digital transformation, we believe at NCTR that simply digital transformation is about technology serving people. All people. We're not talking about people who live in big cities, we're not talking about people who come from a certain social class. We're talking about all people and this has always been our mandate at NCTR to create products and services with social impact and that's why we have been awarded by the ITU several times including this year in Durban. And tell us a little bit about what you've been awarded for here. We have been awarded as the most innovative exhibitor in Sudan, Pavilion and also for our partnership and products with social impact. This is actually the second time in a row to be awarded this award here. Tell us a little bit about the partnerships, the social impact that you're having. For example in 2016 we won the ITU Telecom Award for our E15 product which actually was launched in Sudan in 2015 and this year actually we have been awarded for a range of products. One of them is an MIS for microfinance in particular which has a large social impact in Sudan and it has been adopted by many microfinance institutions in Sudan and it has been so great so far. Excellent. And in terms of, we're talking about innovation here, what single innovation, innovative technology, product, service, strategy or policy, do you think it's going to make the most difference? For me, Max, I wouldn't say technology because technology changes every day and I wouldn't say products or services because they are a result of technological changes. But I would go for strategy, not because I'm in strategy but because it's very simple. We need to have, if we want to digitally transform communities and countries, we need to have clear goals and we need to have strategies and tactics to achieve these goals and we need to get into action and we need to monitor our movement and this is what we have to do always on an incremental and iterative basis and this is what the strategy is all about. What are the biggest challenges for digital transformation in Sudan? Well, there are many but let me start by budgets, for example. It's always difficult to convince those who make decisions, budgetary decisions, to invest in ICT and especially when the economy is not doing very good, it's a challenge. So we always have to come up with disruptive and interesting business models to convince the customer. Also I can talk about legacy technology and when there is that emotional connection between the customer and the technology he has already invested in, it's very difficult to convince him to change and it's always a challenge. Also we get caught into the details of technologies and processes and we forget about the most important thing which is the user experience and for us it's always important to engage our users and customers right from the beginning and make them part of the whole journey. So the switch from analog to digital television for example, in terms of technology people have really got used to just being able to bring their television images into their homes in one way and then suddenly being with a lot of countries are fighting a little bit more complicated. Switching from one to another. In terms of winning the ITU telecom world award, how has that impacted your particular image or your profile etc.? You know prior to winning the award we had a very good position in the local market in Sudan but we knew that we needed a breakthrough, something to let us know how we are doing in terms of international and regional competition. We needed a testimony for our products and services and we got that testimony from the highest authority in ICT in the world which is the ITU and we are very glad and thankful for that. It has been great so far and we would love to continue the journey with the ITU. From your perspective what is the value of attending events such as ITU telecom world? Well I think this year especially 2018 is a very special year because the ITU is hosted here on African soil for the first time. So we are very happy to be part of this experience and we would love some day to have such an event in Sudan. I think it's a great value for us considering the partnerships we have built here, the people we have met and the deals we have actually finalised. And it's always a pleasure to see the whole world in one place and get to know each other and we would love to be part of this experience for as long as it takes. Well we wish you the very best of luck in the future and thank you for joining us in the studio today. Thank you very much Max. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.