Middle East ICT spending set to top $32 billion in 2014
Spending on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the Middle East is set to exceed $32 billion in 2014, according to the latest predictions from the International Data Corporation (IDC).
The widespread use of new digital technology is expected to bring changes in a variety of sectors, including public services such as healthcare.
“We anticipate that major players in the region will make significant investments to enhance their infrastructure as they look to scale up their cloud and Big Data capabilities,” said Jyot Lalchandani, IDC’s group vice president and regional managing director in the Middle East, Africa and Turkey. “In this context, securing data will become more vital than ever before.”
If the IDC’s predictions are accurate, the Middle East will be one of the fastest growing ICT markets in the world, with a 7.3 per cent increase on last year’s spending.
The public sector is expected to be a major driver of this increase: along with the communications and financial services sectors, it will be responsible for 74 per cent of total ICT expenditure in the region.
A key driver of public sector ICT investment is the rollout of the Smart City Dubai initiative, which has led other cities in the Middle East to embrace digital technology.
In addition, a move to multi-channel public service delivery, with a focus on self-service transactions, is expected to drive an increase in the use of computers and other technology among both governments and their citizens.
In a further trend, IDC notes that governments will need to strengthen their online security when it comes to managing data, in order to ward off the threat of hackers. This will itself increase ICT spending, as well as reducing the number of security breaches experienced by service providers.
About Kevin Sorkin
I am the Founder and CEO of Pendragon International Media Ltd, publishers of Global Government Forum. This portfolio also includes research services and important world leading events for public servants such as the Global Government Summit, the Global Government Finance Summit, the Global Government Forum Innovation conference, Global Government Digital Summit and Putting Citizens First. I am also the founder of the Civil Service Awards and Civil Service Live, established industry leading brands and extremely important events for government. I also launched and published Civil Service World. Over the years I have established relationships with the most senior officials in government and the private sector and have built a very strong and positive reputation across the industry.
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