Welcome to the MoMo Family
Posted on: May 12, 2010 – Filed under: Global
We were thrilled to attend our new chapter location #100 debut in Islamabad Pakistan, followed shortly after with Colombo in Sri Lanka and pleased to note Ramallah Palestine will be launching soon. Brief details below – Our Very Best Wishes for All – Welcome to the global family!
The good folks at COMSATS Institute of Technology (CIIT) in Pakistan put together a fantastic launch event in Islamabad on April 19, marking the 100th MoMo Chapter location. With well over 300 people in the Marriott conference center gathered for the festivities, including Ambassadors and Ministers, the gala was certainly top-rate.
However, proving that ‘the cloud’ is not always our friend, Jari Tammisto was unable to bribe FinnAir to fly through the volcano and was therefore forced to make a spirited congrats speech – Via Skype – on the big screens instead.
Mikki Jang, making that incredible journey on behalf of our stranded CEO in Helsinki, did a truly Wonderful job with the media, and on the evening panel discussions, while chapter founders Teemu Kiijarvi from Johannesburg and Lars Cosh-Ishii from Tokyo were in continuous demand to describe their operational experiences and explain the “Meaning of MoMo” to eager and inquisitive audiences.
The news was covered by most major media (online Here and Here) noting the local chapter website is just coming together. Massive Thanks to the kind support from so many players – including Ericsson and Nokia for their generous sponsorship, along with the tireless efforts of Reliplay, Cybercom Media and Riddes – our Hearty Congrats to All involved!
Later the same week, on 23 April, the local team in Colombo – pictured below – got rolling with an afternoon presser prior to the sky-lounge evening function. Inspiring keynotes were delivered by Reshan Dewapura, CEO of the ICT Agency, and several of the main organizing partners, followed by yet another Skype video (damn that Iceland volcano cloud) from Jari and the traditional candle lighting ceremony.
Several daily news clips noted the launch (see Here and Here) and the local chapter website is coming up Here. With no less than eight partner companies leading the charge, and valuable support from the Centre of Excellence for Telco and Mobile at SLASSCOM, we are certain the future is bright for MoMo activities on that beautiful island, full of talented and energetic people, off the tip of India.
Dr. Yahya Al-Salqan prepares to launch MoMo in Palestine [web update July 28th]
The founder of Mobile Monday Palestine is Dr. Yahya Al-Salqan. After six years and nine patents, Yahya left Sun Microsystems in Silicon Valley to start Jaffa.net. “In Silicon Valley, activities like Mobile Monday are part of the essential infrastructure for entrepreneurship. It is important to create a similar structure here for allowing experts to exchange ideas and strengthen the industry,” he said.
Most would agree that the Paltel Group dominates all aspects of Palestinian telecommunications. Paltel Group includes Jawwal (wireless), Paltel (fixed) and Hadara (ISP). Jawwal was the main sponsor for last night’s Mobile Monday event. When asked about entrepreneurship, Ammar Aker, CEO of Paltel Group, cites his own organization. “Jawwal is a company of young people. The average age here is 28 years old. We are creating a core group of determined young professionals with the skills to lead. By the way, one third of this group is women.”
Added May 25th
On May 10 Mobile Monday splashed into Algeria, as the inauguration of Mobile Monday Algiers was held on the 10th of May in presence of the Algerian Minister in charge of ICT, his excellence Hamid Bessalah, at the Palais de la Culture during the opening session of MED-IT.
Jari Tammisto was – there! – presented as a “Guest of Honour” to address the delegates and welcome North Africa into the MoMo family. Several media links Here via Here. Algeria Je Taime!