Meridian Exchange

Digital Sovereignty & Infrastructure Resilience

Connecting policymakers, regulators, infrastructure operators, cloud providers and investors to strengthen digital resilience in an era of geopolitical risk.

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Dubai, UAE

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10–11 November 2026

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Day 1 Summit · Day 2 Workshop

00 Days

00 Hrs

00 Mins

00 Secs

Supported By

The continuity question is no longer whether systems can be recovered. It is whether critical services can continue operating when infrastructure, connectivity, operations, and personnel are all under pressure simultaneously.

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GLOBAL DIALOGUE

A DIVERSE COMMUNITY. A SHARED PURPOSE.

Bringing together key voices from government, industry and beyond

STRATEGIC
ROUNDTABLES

Focused discussions.
Real outcomes.

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SENIOR
DELEGATES

Influential leaders.
Meaningful dialogue.

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GOVERNMENT

& REGULATORY LEADERS

Shaping policy for
a resilient digital future.

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INDUSTRY

& TECHNOLOGY EXPERTS

Driving innovation.
Building resilience.

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ABOUT

MERIDIAN EXCHANGE

DIALOGUE TODAY. A STRONGER DIGITAL TOMORROW.

Meridian Exchange is a closed-door policy and industry forum convening senior government, regulatory, infrastructure, cloud, cybersecurity, financial services and technology leaders.

The forum is designed to examine how sovereign jurisdictions, allied economies and critical sectors can strengthen digital sovereignty, infrastructure resilience and continuity frameworks during periods of geopolitical disruption, conflict risk and systemic technology dependence.

Unlike a traditional conference, Meridian Exchange operates as a structured roundtable summit, with working discussions conducted under Chatham House Rule and designed to contribute to practical recommendations, policy pathways and implementation frameworks.

SHAPE POLICY → STRENGTHEN RESILIENCE → ENABLE CONTINUITY → BUILD SOVEREIGN FRAMEWORKS →

POLICY DIALOGUE

Closed-door discussions on digital sovereignty, sovereign data continuity and critical infrastructure resilience.

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SUMMIT & WORKSHOP

Day 1 features a closed-door strategic roundtable summit, followed by a focused workshop programme on Day 2.

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OUTCOME-LED

Roundtable outputs designed to support recommendations, frameworks and future implementation pathways.

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CURATED ACCESS

Invitation-only participation for senior leaders across government, regulation, infrastructure and technology.

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STRATEGIC THEMES

FIVE PRIORITIES DEFINING
THE SUMMIT DIALOGUE

Meridian Exchange is structured around the policy, technology and infrastructure questions shaping digital sovereignty and critical services continuity.

IDEAS
ALIGN PEOPLE
BUILD RESILIENCE

MERIDIAN EXCHANGE A MORE SECURE
CONNECTED
AND RESILIENT
TOMORROW

DIGITAL
SOVEREIGNTY

National control over critical data, platforms, infrastructure and digital service continuity.

DATA EMBASSY
MODELS

Cross-border continuity frameworks for essential systems hosted under trusted bilateral arrangements.

INFRASTRUCTURE
RESILIENCE

Architecture, redundancy and operational planning for national-scale infrastructure disruption.

QUANTUM-SAFE
SECURITY

Future-ready controls for sovereign data corridors, encrypted systems and critical digital assets.

CRITICAL SERVICE
CONTINUITY

Keeping public services, finance, trade, telecoms and infrastructure operational under pressure.

FIVE
PERSPECTIVES.
A STRONGER
DIGITAL TOMORROW.

01 — 05

PEOPLE SHAPING TOMORROW

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS

Confirmed contributors include senior voices across government, regulation, cybersecurity, cloud, data centres, quantum security, academia, legal technology, business councils and digital infrastructure.

DIVERSE
PERSPECTIVES
SHARED PURPOSE

MERIDIAN EXCHANGE IDEAS TODAY
A MORE SECURE
TOMORROW

Naser Al-Rashedi

TECHNOLOGY POLICY & GOVERNANCE EXPERT

Meridian Exchange

→

Antonio Rotondo

CHAIRMAN

European-Emirati Business Council

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Amro Almashharawi

CEO

Data Center Prime (DCP)

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Christopher Booth

CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER

Electronic Government Authority, RAK

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Jonathan A Kwofie

HEAD OF CYBER SECURITY

Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA)

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Vijay Velayutham

PRINCIPAL INFORMATION SECURITY OFFICER

Ministry of Energy & Infrastructure

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Dr. Nader M. Ghazal

CHAIRMAN

African-Asian Council for AI & Cybersecurity

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Muhammad Shafique

PROFESSOR, DIRECTOR EBRAIN & ICAS LAB

New York University (NYU) Abu Dhabi, UAE

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Prof Hossam Elshenraki

PROFESSOR IN CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

Dubai Police Academy

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Kanat Kutluk

PRESIDENT

Dubai Turkish Business Council

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Shiju P.

HONORARY TRADE COMMISSIONER

India Commonwealth Trade Council

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Ahmed Mostafa

DATA CENTER DIRECTOR

Meinhardt

→

Ammar Al Horani

DATA CENTER BUSINESS LEADER & GLOBAL ACCOUNTS DIRECTOR

Eaton | Middle East, Turkey & Africa

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Dr. Arianna Mazzeo

SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION & CREATIVE INDUSTRIES PROF.

Canadian University Dubai

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Heide Young

MANAGER CYBER STRATEGY & ENGAGEMENT

NEOM

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Dr. Pramod Kumar

PRINCIPAL SCIENTIST

Quantum Photonics

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Sanjay Kumar

DIRECTOR – DESIGN & EXECUTION

Data Centre, DAMAC

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Jacob Mathew

HEAD OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

UAE Government Entity

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Andrea Stazi

PROFESSOR OF COMPARATIVE LAW OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES

San Raffaele University of Rome | Academic Fellow, Centre for Technology, Robotics, AI & the Law, National University of Singapore

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Dr. Naim Maadad

CHAIRMAN

Australian Business Council

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Himmath Mohammed

CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER

Gulf Data Hub

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Vanessa Abernethy

CHAIRMAN

New Zealand Business Council - UAE

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Akmaral Orazaly

PRINCIPAL RESEARCHER

Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government

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VIEW ALL CONFIRMED SPEAKERS →

STRATEGIC DIALOGUE

THE FOUR STRATEGIC ROUNDTABLES

Focused, cross-sector discussions to translate shared challenges into practical frameworks for a more secure, resilient and prosperous digital future.

IDEAS
POLICY
TECHNOLOGY
PEOPLE

MERIDIAN EXCHANGE A STRONGER
DIGITAL TOMORROW

THE LEGAL LACUNA

Data Sovereignty Law
in Disruption Conditions

FOCUS

Examining how data sovereignty rules, service continuity obligations and emergency procedures should work when critical data infrastructure faces severe disruption.

OUTPUT Legal & Policy Framework

THE DATA EMBASSY
BLUEPRINT

Sovereign Data
Continuity Across Borders

FOCUS

Reviewing how Data Embassy models can help governments and critical sectors maintain sovereign control over essential data, systems and services when infrastructure is hosted across borders under agreed bilateral frameworks.

OUTPUT Data Embassy Governance Model

CONFLICT-RESILIENT
INFRASTRUCTURE
ARCHITECTURE

Building a Sovereign
Data Node

FOCUS

Designing sovereign data environments capable of maintaining operations despite geopolitical disruption, cyber incidents, connectivity pressure or infrastructure degradation.

OUTPUT Resilient Infrastructure Blueprint

QUANTUM TRUST
ARCHITECTURE FOR
SOVEREIGN ENCLAVES

Cross-Border Quantum
Security Frameworks

FOCUS

Exploring PQC, QKD and governance frameworks required to secure sovereign data corridors, Data Embassy environments and cross-border enclave infrastructure.

OUTPUT Quantum Security Roadmap

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TO EXPLORE

GLOBAL INFRASTRUCTURE

THE WORLD'S DATA CENTRE FOOTPRINT

Data infrastructure is becoming a strategic layer of national resilience. Understanding where critical capacity is concentrated is essential to understanding digital sovereignty, continuity and geopolitical exposure.

11,000+ DATA CENTRES
WORLDWIDE

INFRASTRUCTURE CONCENTRATION

Major digital infrastructure remains concentrated across a limited number of strategic markets.

SOVEREIGN CAPACITY

National control over data infrastructure is increasingly linked to continuity and strategic resilience.

CROSS-BORDER DEPENDENCE

Infrastructure dependencies create new questions around jurisdiction, security and operational continuity.

GLOBAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURE STRATEGIC ASSET

DATA CENTRES GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION

SOVEREIGN DATA CONTINUITY

THE DATA EMBASSY CONTINUITY MODEL

SOVEREIGN DATA CORRIDORS

From Primary Sovereign Nodes
to Trusted Jurisdictions

Meridian Exchange explores how recognised cross-border Data Embassy frameworks can preserve the continuity of essential services when a participating jurisdiction's primary infrastructure is under pressure.

PRIMARY SOVEREIGN NODE TRUSTED BILATERAL AGREEMENTS QUANTUM-SAFE CONTROLS CRITICAL SERVICE CONTINUITY

CRITICAL SECTOR LEGACY MODEL DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE BLUEPRINT

Banking & Financial
Continuity

Payment Rails &
Clearing Systems

Using Data Embassy continuity models to keep payment systems, clearing networks, capital markets and digital banking services available during major disruption.

Government and
Citizen Services

Digital Public Service
Platforms

Supporting digital identity, immigration, licensing, public records and essential government services through sovereign continuity arrangements.

Logistics & Cross-
Border Trade

Trade Continuity
During Outage

Enabling customs, trade finance, logistics visibility and international commerce through trusted digital corridors between partner jurisdictions.

Critical National
Infrastructure

Utilities, Telecoms &
Transport

Supporting continuity for utilities, telecommunications, transportation and other strategic services through legally recognised sovereign data environments.

Identify

Map critical national data assets, systems and services.

Recognise

Create bilateral Data Embassy arrangements with trusted partner jurisdictions.

Secure

Apply sovereign controls, service levels and quantum-safe security standards.

Activate

Enable continuity through trusted digital corridors when primary systems are under pressure.

MERIDIAN EXCHANGE

HOW MERIDIAN EXCHANGE WORKS

DIALOGUE TODAY. A MORE RESILIENT TOMORROW.

INVITE

120–150
Senior Delegates

By invitation only, across government, industry and academia.

DIALOGUE

Closed-Door
Strategic Discussions

Frank, solution-focused dialogue on critical themes.

ROUNDTABLES

Four Policy
Roundtables

Deep-dive sessions with multistakeholder perspectives.

WORKING DOCUMENTS

Actionable
Outcomes

Policy options and implementation frameworks.

PLENARY SYNTHESIS

Key Insights
& Recommendations

Consolidated outputs to inform real-world action.

LASTING IMPACT

Continuity
& Collaboration

Stronger partnerships for a more resilient digital future.

SUMMIT & WORKSHOP AGENDA

SUMMIT DAY

10 NOV 2026