Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 53 | Page 30

PROJECT UPDATE LATEST REGIONAL PROJECT UPDATE EGYPT Streaming giant Netflix has moved to reduce the pressure on Egyptian telecom networks while maintaining streaming quality. The company has managed to provide some relief to Internet Service Providers amid unusual demand by cutting Netflix traffic by 25%, allowing the Internet to continue to function well during the current crisis without sacrificing streaming quality. The step has initially been applied in Egypt for a period of 30 days. Netflix says it was able to move quickly to reduce data usage due to its long investment in adaptive streaming technology and its Open Connect programme, which involves Netflix partnering with local Internet Service Providers to deliver content more efficiently. KSA Stc has sent out more than 1.6 billion awareness messages about COVID-19 in 44 days, in 10 different languages. stc has communicated its messages in Arabic and English and eight other languages to millions of citizens and residents, in co-operation with a number of government agencies, such as the Ministries of Health, Interior, Education, Hajj and Umrah, in addition to the Communications and Information Technology Commission. The awareness messages were also sent out in Chinese, German, Malay, Persian, Spanish, Korean, Tagalog and Urdu, and contribute to raising awareness of the prevention of the Coronavirus epidemic. 30 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com