Exclusive interview with OER
about Bill Gates & MVP Summit
Tariq Hilal Al-Barwani, Oman’s popular IT expert and Microsoft’s Most
Valuable Professional, shares details of his rendezvous with Bill Gates in an
exclusive write-up for OER
I was surprised and thrilled when the world’s largest software company,
Microsoft, appreciated my efforts to promote IT in the local and international
community. Microsoft honoured me with Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Award,
the first ever for an Omani national.
I was invited by Microsoft to attend the MVP Global Summit 2007 in Seattle,
Washington. The summit was conducted at the Washington State Convention Trade
Center and Microsoft’s main campus in Redmond. Of course, Bill Gates kicked
off the event with a keynote address in which he shared his insights, thoughts
and vision for technology, in addition to the future growth and development of
Microsoft. Later, Gates interacted with invitees in a Q&A session. It was
great meeting the richest man in the world, who is worth US$56 billion (as of
March 2007).
At the MVP Global Summit, the recipients, drawn from all over the world, were
appreciated for their talent and contribution. We received exclusive access to
Microsoft’s technical content, participated in direct feedback sessions, and
met with the company’s executives, product teams and peers from around the
world. I was very pleased to see the flag of Oman fluttering among the other
award-winning countries. I had the chance to meet, discuss and share ideas
with a number of people, on various topics related to technology, development
and future insights.
Utilising the unique opportunity, I promoted Oman as a hot destination for
investments in the IT industry. A large number of people showed keen interest
in knowing more about the technology park – Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM) – to
explore opportunities in information and communication technologies in Oman.
More than 400 technical sessions were organised during the summit in which
MVPs met each other, created relationships with Microsoft experts and provided
real-world insights and feedback to technological solutions. It provided the
MVPs an opportunity to exchange information with Microsoft executives and
product managers, share best practices, network, as well as have fun.
Inspired by Bill Gates
During the keynote address and presentation, I found that Gates expressed
himself very openly, directly and candidly. No one had to guess what his true
feelings on the subjects were – it was like an open book. All of us were
inspired by Gates, as he enthused us to think, plan and take positive action
in our life and profession. He meets challenges in his life and career with an
open mind and great enthusiasm. His adventurous, courageous and independent
attitude and personality cast a great spell on those aspiring to reach his
level of achievement. I think Gates has a natural flair and instinct about
understanding what people want, and he responds to them accordingly. He knows
the pulse of the market and accordingly develops products. Today, we are
driven majorly by Microsoft products; be it in PCs, mobiles or entertainment
systems. Gates had an idea, a plan and worked hard towards it – that’s the
secret of his success on his own terms.
After appreciating the achievements and efforts of MVPs, Bill Gates began by
discussing the magic of software. He said Microsoft, throughout its entire
history, had focused on one thing, and that was building great software, both
as a platform and as a set of direct tools that empower people to do new
things.
Gates also talked about the transition that we’ve gone through recently, i.e.,
from 32-bit to 64-bit computing. Using a typical desktop machine, he
highlighted the growth of computing, pointing out that today such machines
were powered by two processors. He said five years from now such machines
would host more like 16 or 32 processors, and even more at the level of the
server. He also looked at the hardware aspects (the graphics yesterday, today
and what tomorrow holds in terms of crystal clear looks and feel, and how
Microsoft was working on utilising the technology).
Bill then looked at corporate training, what it is today and how it will
change completely. All education and lectures were going online; in some cases
for free. He also looked at the evolution of the television media, pointing
out that while earlier we always used to think of a TV with a limited number
of channels. But with the evolution of the information superhighway, videos
are now being delivered to one, based on the shows one might be interested in
and one cares about, all customised, based on one’s likings and desires.
Gates also illustrated how the shape of the data centre may change in the
future. He said Microsoft and others, who are into large-scale internet
services, were building data centres that today have hundreds of thousands of
computers but in the future centre would literally have millions of computers.
They were making sure that even if one computer failed, the system would
automatically recover. He also detailed the techniques being applied in data
centres, even going down to very small ones.
The summit made it clear to me that the Sultanate should emphasise more
aggressively on the importance and benefits of technology, as this medium can
surely be an additional means of income for the country. There has to be an
increased stress on the importance of education, especially in schools where
students are introduced and equipped with the necessary IT skills. There’s a
lot of potential in Oman. I’m confident that Oman can do more to become the
hub of the Gulf in technology, of course, with the right resources and mindset
on board.
Tariq’s persona
Tariq has been carrying a number of achievements under his belt since the age
of five – from creating softwares such as virus cleaners, system check-up and
optimisation for the benefit of the public, assisting the then sole telecom
company (Omantel) to developing an Internet application to serve its
customers, educating and teaching the public on various IT matters, to
introducing TV and radio channel programmes in cooperation with the Ministry
of Information to promote digital literacy in the country. Tariq wears
different hats as a programmer, analyst, mentor, manager, columnist, teacher,
consultant and an advisor. The ambitious whiz-kid started his career with
www.omanaccess.com and went on to develop his own IT portal www.tariq.net that
has since been acquired by OHI Telecommunications. He is currently pursuing
PhD in Information Technology.
Microsoft Most Valuable Professional
The Microsoft MVP Award recognises exceptional technical community leaders who
foster the free and objective exchange of knowledge by actively sharing their
real-world expertise with users and Microsoft. Each year, a panel of Microsoft
employees reviews the contributions of each nominee for quality, quantity and
level of impact on the technical community. The assessment for the Microsoft
Most Valuable Professional Award is made not just on the basis of computer
skills and proficiency, but also on the knowledge and skills one successfully
passes on and shares with other members of the community.