FEATURE: SMART CITIES
Smart cities & digital
transformation take
centre stage
such as cognitive computing, natural
interfaces, 3D printing, robotics,
and next-generation security.
However, as IT organisations are
not transforming quickly enough to
keep pace with new innovations,
new ways of creating value need
to be fleshed out in order to drive
monumental change over the
coming years.”
International Data Corporation
(IDC) held its annual IT Forum 2015,
September 14, an event that offered
a comprehensive, up-to-date, and
reliable stage for the more than 300
IT professionals in attendance to
discuss strategic IT decisions based on
global best practices and emerging
technology solutions. Held at Dubai’s
Jumeirah Beach Hotel, the forum
enabled the Middle East’s leading
IT decision makers to connect and
collaborate within the ideal setting for
sharing ideas and establishing a true
peer-to-peer community.
The Middle East region is expected
to be one of the world’s fastest
growing IT markets over the coming
years, with IT spending anticipated
to grow 9% year on year in 2015.
Growth in the Middle Eastern
markets will be driven by tangible
economic stability and resilience
supported by increased government
spending. The growth in these
markets will be driven by tangible
economic stability and resilience
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INTELLIGENTCIO
supported by increased government
spending. The biggest verticals in the
region — contributing to nearly 74%
of overall Middle East IT spending
in 2015 — will be the consumer,
public, communications, and finance
sectors, but looking ahead, the
fastest growing verticals will be the
transportation, public, and energy
sectors, as much of the large-scale
infrastructure upgrade projects
planned by the region’s governments
are focused on these areas.
“Across industries, businesses
everywhere are transforming the
way they engage with customers
and how they innovate in product
and service delivery,” says Jyoti
Lalchandani, IDC’s group vice
president and regional managing
director for the Middle East, Africa,
and Turkey. “IT is especially vital
to these efforts, often in the form
of transformational technologies
such as cloud, mobile, social and
analytics, as well through new and
emerging ‘innovation accelerators’
With the world’s leading IT vendors
displaying their pioneering new
products and services at the forum, this
groundbreaking exposition provided
an ideal opportunity for the region’s key
IT players to map out areas of concern
and discuss steps for addressing
them by mutually exploring strategies
for improving efficiency, fostering
innovation, reducing costs, and
increasing business competitiveness.
The event also featured a panel
discussion on Smart Cities and the
UAE’s vision for 2020. This particular
session analysed the role of ICT in
improving citizen services in public
safety, transportation, and public
works, as well as its function in fostering
innovation and civic engagement.
“Smart Cities can be viewed
as a construct by which local
governments can be transformed,”
continues Lalchandani. “Cities need
to transform in order to develop
sustainably, meet citizen’s rising
expectations, and attract investment,
new business, and talent. This is a
complex undertaking, especially
when coupled with constrained
financial resources, fast-growing
populations and ageing or limited
infrastructure.”
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