Successful business leader shares his experience with AUS students and alumni

As part of its Career Advancement Executive Lecture Series, the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs at American University of Sharjah (AUS) invited Osman Sultan, Chief Executive Officer, Emirates Integrated Telecommunication Company, du, to speak at the university recently.

During his talk entitled "The New Digital Age at the Heart of the 'Youniverse," Sultan addressed the broad picture of the new digital space that young, and even very young, people are interacting with and using as an enabler for what they want to venture in life. The thought-provoking presentation also addressed the impact of the digital age in the new organization of societies at economical, societal and individual dimensions. 

"The world never stops changing. When I was the age of many students here, the keywords of business were different. Little by little, we started to hear keywords such as brainpower and innovation. This means that a shift has happened," said Sultan. "We used to go to the Internet like we go to a library. Later, we went to the Internet like we go to a shop - our interaction with the Internet had become transactional. Today, we are in the phase of social networking, with access to everything, everywhere," he added.

Sultan urged the audience to be part of the continuously changing structure of the digital world by ensuring an adequate supply of technologically-trained workers, and building the ability for learning and knowledge management. 

"By the end of the year, there will be more mobile devices than people on the planet. A Masai farmer who has a mobile phone has access to more knowledge and information than Ronald Reagan had when he was US president 25 years ago. If the farmer has a smartphone, he can access more knowledge and information than US President Bill Clinton 15 years ago," said Sultan. "Communication is enabling huge opportunities for creativity," he added.

The event was attended by H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdullah Al Thani, Director General at Sharjah Statistics Center; Eyad Shihabi, Managing Director at HP; Mustafa Kaddoura, Vice President - Commercial at Dubai World; Jamal Lootah, HR Senior Director, du; Walid Ibrahim, du CEO, Chief of Cabinet; AUS senior staff, deans, faculty members, staff, students and alumni. 

According to Dr. Nada Mourtada-Sabbah, Vice Chancellor for Development and Alumni Affairs, "The Career Advancement Executive Lecture Series brings to AUS a number of high profile and leading business experts to allow AUS graduating seniors to connect and interface with high powered professionals in their respective fields."

Such events are held regularly by the university and have proven to be quite popular with students as well as other members of the campus community.