The 44th edition of the annual Dubai-based tech and startup event GITEX Global, which will be held at Dubai World Trade Centre on October 14-18, 2024, is set to feature a stellar line-up of speakers and host delegates from 180 countries.

Aligned with Dubai’s ambition to be the home of 30 startup unicorns by 2030, GITEX Global 2024 will see it launch GITEX Editions, a program for accelerating scaling and global governance for high-growth companies.

The early confirmed speaker line-up includes eight fast-growing startups from eight countries, three of which three are backed by the European Innovation Council (EIC), a EUR10 billion program of the European Union (EU) to identify, support, and scale up breakthrough technologies and deeptech startups.

These speakers include Fabrizio del Maffeo, co-founder, CEO, and Board Member at Axelera AI, a startup from The Netherlands that is valued at US$500 million; Dr. Alexander Zhavoronkov, founder and CEO at InSilico Medicine, a Hong Kong-based biotech company that is currently valued at $1.5 billion; and Dr. Mazen Rizk, founder and CEO at Infinite Roots, which is the EU’s largest mycelium-biotech investment.

The event will also feature Dr. Joseph Fitzsimons, founder and CEO at Singapore’s biggest quantum startup Horizon Quantum Computing; Dr. Sunghyun Park, founder and CEO at Rebellions, a company that is expected to become Korea’s first artificial intelligence semiconductor chip unicorn with a $1.5 billion value; and Svilen Rangelov, co-founder and CEO at Dronamics, a UK-based cargo drone airline that is on a mission to change e-commerce worldwide.

Plus, the audience will also hear from Emilio Scervo, Chief Technology Officer and Board Member at Buggati – Rimac, the first and fastest-growing Croatian unicorn, and Philippe Notton, founder and CEO at SiPearl, a France-based high performance semiconductor manufacturer for artificial intelligence interfaces and supercomputing.

One of the key topics at this year’s event will be cybersecurity, and it will be discussed by Chenxi Wang, Managing General Partner of Fortune 500 fund US-based Rain Capital, and Ekaterina Serban, Vice President of Privacy and Information Security at German automotive and services supplier Bosch.

Debuting at the GITEX Global stage will be Michael Spranger, President of Sony AI Inc, and Chris Duffey, Futurist and Head of GenStudio, Adobe, who co-authored the world’s first book on AI, with AI, and Isabell Gradert, Vice President Central Research and Technology for Airbus in Germany.

Regarding the sponsors of its 2024 edition, GITEX Global has announced that Tech Destination Pakistan, represented by Pakistan Software Export Board, a Pakistani government-owned guarantee limited company, has this year been declared the 2024 event’s Tech Destination of the Year.

“This partnership highlights our commitment to innovation, technology and global collaboration,” added Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Minister of State for IT and Telecommunication. “We look forward to showcasing Pakistan’s brilliant tech talent and tremendous potential in this prestigious platform.”

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