Exclusive interview with OER about BillGates & 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.