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Oman’s government departments and businesses are on a drive to evolve the way they serve citizens and customers. The country-specific role amplifies Cisco’s commitment to supporting the development of the Sultanate’s digital ecosystem and technology infrastructure to meet the demands of the digital era. Over the years, Cisco has been collaborating with multiple stakeholders to help boost Oman’s digital transformation and contribute to Oman’s Vision 2040 objectives.

As General Manager of Cisco’s Oman operations, Ali Al Lawati will drive Cisco’s support of the Digital Oman Strategy, which aims to advance the development of the ICT industry. Its key pillars are the development of human resources, as well as the national digital infrastructure and governance. In his role, Ali will use the growing Cisco® portfolio of solutions to strengthen collaboration with the Omani government and Cisco’s partner network to make sure that Cisco remains the partner of choice for digitization.

Oman’s growing numbers of mobile and fixed Internet subscriptions, combined with a young population, offer significant opportunities for the development of a vibrant digital economy. Over the last decade, Oman has made significant advancements in developing its technology infrastructure and capabilities in both the government and private sector.

The rapid growth of the ICT industry in Oman is creating demand for digital, networking, and cybersecurity skills. Narrowing the IT skills gap is an area where Cisco Networking Academy® has been contributing significantly over the years by nurturing and developing talent for the digital era and driving initiatives to attract more young Omani students and graduates to pursue careers in technology. At present there are more than 3000 students enrolled with Cisco Networking Academy in Oman, which has trained more than 15,000 students since its inception. With 71 percent of the enrolled students being female, to date Oman has the highest female participation rate in Cisco’s global IT skills and career building program.

With more than 20 years of experience in the Omani ICT market, Ali Al Lawati has held various roles within the sector, including CEO and Consultant and Head of Projects, in addition to having served on the Board of Directors for a commercial data center entity. Prior to joining Cisco, Ali was the CEO of Nasma Telecommunications and the Head of IT and Telecommunications Projects at Petroleum Development Oman. His breadth of knowledge is reflected in his diverse background, which spans across the ecosystem with positions held at multinational vendors, system integrators, and Cisco customers. Ali’s vast experience with service providers and other key market segments will help Cisco customers embrace the most suitable digital technologies enabled by Cisco’s global experience.

Ali holds a double master’s degree: one for communications systems and signal processing from Bristol University in the UK and the second in business administration (MBA) from Strathclyde University, also in the UK. He earlier received his bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering from the Sultan Qaboos University in Oman.