AvePoint and Microsoft at Smart City World Expo in Barcelona [Video Interview]
Hi Ya’ll! Welcome to another episode of Dux Quax where today we’re reporting live from Smart City Expo World Congress 2016 in Barcelona!
We had the opportunity to catch up with Joneil Sampana, Microsoft Group Program Manager for World Wide Public Sector, to talk about all of the exciting technologies being displayed here at the Smart City Expo. The focus is really on helping governments become more effective in planning and executing initiatives through technology, and Microsoft is tapping into its vast partner network to bring together the right solutions so civic leaders can get the most out of their existing Microsoft investments.
[ctt template=”1″ link=”O01fl” via=”yes” ]”#Microsoft is helping civic leaders & government officials understand & adopt an inclusive vision for their cities.” #SCEW16 @AvePoint_Inc[/ctt]
Watch my interview with Joneil at Smart City World Expo in Barcelona below!
More from Dux Quax:
- Microsoft’s Satish Thomas Talks Microsoft AppSource
- Microsoft’s Julia White Talks Innovation and Transformation
- Microsoft’s Jeff Teper Rounds Up the Top 8 Innovations Added to SharePoint in 2016
- Microsoft’s Bill Baer Talks SharePoint Announcements at Microsoft Ignite
- Microsoft’s Chrisophe Fiessinger Shares the Elevator Pitch for Office 365 Groups
Transcript: Dux Quax at Smart City Expo World Congress
Dux: Hey, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Dux Quacks here in Barcelona, with Smart City Expo World Congress. With me is Joneil. Joneil, why don’t you introduce yourself? Tell everybody what you do.
Joneil: Good morning Dux. Yes, so my name is Joneil Sampana. I work for Microsoft Services. I run the Worldwide Public Sector Program Office for Dynamics. And that covers health, cities, education, public safety and also security.
Dux: Awesome. I mean Dynamics has gotten a lot of great buzz in the past few weeks, right?
Joneil: Yes.
Dux: With the launch of Dynamics 365 and App Source. How long have you been doing this? And what do you think about this new visibility of Dynamics?
Joneil: Well to answer your first question, I’ve been with Microsoft for the last two and a half years. Before that I was actually a Salesforce shop. So I have some knowledge in both ends. But your second question about the visibility?
Dux: Yeah.
Joneil: About the launch itself?
Dux: Yeah. I mean what’s the feeling. What’s the sentiment?
Joneil: Excitement. There’s a lot of excitement about the 365. The connection between ERP and CRM, creates this end-to-end possibility that’s never been done before. So we’re very excited about that.
[ctt template=”1″ link=”7hfz5″ via=”yes” ]“#Dynamics365 connection between ERP and CRM, creates this end-to-end possibility that’s never been done before.” #SCEW16 @AvePoint_Inc[/ctt]
Dux: Awesome. And speaking of excitement, there’s a lot of buzz here in Barcelona, right?
Joneil: Amen to that. Yes.
Dux: So can you tell everybody why we’re here?
Joneil: Well you know what? There’s so many partners to showcase their solutions, but I think more so than the solutions. We’re helping civic leaders and government officials understand and adopt an inclusive vision for their cities.
Joneil: So taking a step back and taking the big picture, and then trying to find trustworthy partners to help implement some of those capabilities. I mean in the last year alone, we’ve seen a tremendous growth in Smart City initiatives.
Dux: Yes we have.
Joneil: And just walking around here you feel a lot of the, you know excitement. You feel a lot of the interest around leveraging modern technologies. So really better government.
Dux: That’s right.
Joneil: I’ve seen Internet of Things (IoT) stuff. I’ve seen machine learning. And with all new Microsoft investments around AI and bots, I think it makes a great case. Especially in customers who already have Microsoft investments.
Dux: That’s true. That’s true. Yeah, I think with all these new capabilities with the technology, there’s a new sense of hope. And excitement how technology can unleash human potential, and really try to solve the world’s largest social issues: And so now with data with sensors with IOT, the capabilities and the potential is limitless really.
Joneil: Yeah. And then I was pleased to see a lot of customers here as well, who are Microsoft customer. Just raising their hand and showcasing us to how they’re able to leverage their Microsoft investment, you know in the spirit of doing new with less.
Dux: Yes.
Joneil: To be able to better serve citizens.
Dux: I mean speaking around that, do you have any stories or customers you wanna talk about or share? Just little snippets of the value they’re getting out of their Microsoft investments.
Joneil: You know I’ll chose one. Now this is a city. The city of Brampton, out in Canada. And they received a lot of interest regarding their new citizen services. Because they received a lot of immigrants recently over the last few years.
Dux: Sure.
Joneil: And so with this multi-cultural demographic, they wanted to provide citizen services in a more inclusive way. So they actually reached out to Microsoft Services, some of our partners, to implement a solution that understands their assistance needs. And in a incremental, agile approach. Or have this two year road map to deliver those services.
Dux: Phenomenal.
Joneil: Yeah.
Dux: Phenomenal. Well Joneil, thanks again for your time. But before I let you go…
Joneil: Sure.
Dux: …let me ask you this question. If you were a Microsoft product, what would you be and why?
Joneil: If it’s not Dynamics?
Dux: No, no. Not Dynamics.
Joneil: Not Dynamics.
Dux: Can’t include Dynamics, yeah.
Joneil: Well I’d have to say it has to be HoloLens. And I say…
Dux: HoloLens?
Joneil: HoloLens.
Dux: We see a lot of people walking around here, right?
Joneil: But I say it only because with HoloLens, there’s a new way that we can actually provide more culturally and richer experiences for citizens. So the potential again is limitless there too.
Dux: Awesome. Well pleasure to meet you, Joneil.
Joneil: You bet.
Dux: Thanks again. And folks until the next episode, we’ll see you. Bye.
Joneil: Bye.
AvePoint and Microsoft CityNext at Smart City Expo 2016
Come chat with us and AvePoint, a Microsoft partner helping governments use IoT to dramatically improve service to citizens via their Citizen Services solution, at the Smart Cities Expo. Microsoft and AvePoint will be attending the expo in Barcelona, Spain from November 15th – 17th.
Try AvePoint Citizen Services Now on Microsoft AppSource
Built on Microsoft Cloud technology, AvePoint Citizen Services modernizes incident and case management to better serve the constituents you support.
With over 20 years of business and technology experience, Dux has driven organizational transformations worldwide with his ability to simplify complex ideas and deliver relevant solutions. He serves as the Chief Brand Officer of AvePoint who has authored the LinkedIn Learning course How to Build Your Personal Brand, the book SharePoint for Project Management, as well as numerous whitepapers and articles. As a public speaker, Dux has delivered engaging, interactive presentations to more than 25,000 people at leading industry events around the world. He also hosts the modern workplace podcast #shifthappens that focuses on how leading organizations navigated their business transformation journey. Dux advocates tirelessly for inclusion, using technology for good, and philanthropic initiatives. Connect with him: http://dux.sy
