The Microsoft supremo Bill Gates is set to appear at next month's Abu Dhabi Media Summit, which will focus on the rise of digital media within the industry.
The co-founder of the US software company will present "The next road ahead" at the three-day summit, which begins on October 9.
Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, the chairman of the event, will give a welcome address.
"The continued evolution and strengthening of the summit mirrors the continued development of Abu Dhabi and the UAE as an important hub for the media industry," Mr Al Mubarak said.
More than 400 people from the media industry are expected to attend the invitation-only event, due to be held at the Yas Viceroy Hotel.
The theme of the summit is "Redefining the digital frontier", with a focus on online media in the emerging markets.
Online media attracted just 4 per cent of the Arab world's US$4.7 billion (Dh17.26bn) advertising spending last year - far less than in many more developed markets, according to the Arab Media Outlook.
However, internet advertising is the fastest-growing of all mediums in the Arab world. It is forecast to account for 10 per cent of the total ad market by 2015.
Other people at the Abu Dhabi Media Summit will include Bob Bakish, the chief executive of Viacom International Media; Alec Ross, senior adviser for innovation at the US department of state; and Fadi Ghandour, the founder of Aramex.
Previous speakers at the summit have included Rupert Murdoch, Eric Schmidt and James Cameron.
