Technology trends: AI, cloud, top blockchain agenda for the Middle East

trends

• Published by
  Bianca Wright
  

• over it 10 December 2018
  

Under scrutiny of human rights abuses and abuses – from the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Turkey to the Qatari Saudi-led blockade – the Middle East is under pressure to change gears and clarify its position in the world. Leveraging its smart cities and new visions, the region is investing in artificial intelligence, cloud and blockchain to give it a competitive edge.

Digital transformation is at the top of the region's agenda, as countries push plans to move away from economic dependence on oil and gas. Indeed, digital transformation spending is expected to exceed $ 20 billion by the end of 2018 and more than double by 2022, according to IDC.

An Accenture report notes that Middle Eastern executives are looking at AI (64%) and the Internet of Things (68%) as priority investments in the coming months. Global players like Siemens are investing a lot in the region. The software and engineering giant is injecting $ 500 million in investments through the construction of two Internet of Things centers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

In line with this is the recent Statistics report which found that spending in data centers in the Middle East and North Africa will likely reach $ 5.1 billion by 2020, exceeding the 2017 expenditure of 8.5%. Much of this spending will be focused on supporting smart city initiatives that underlie the ambitions of the region, according to Statistics.

The 2021 UAE vision plan aims to "move to a knowledge-based economy, foster innovation, research and development, strengthen the regulatory framework for key sectors and encourage high-end sectors value added".

The United Arab Emirates are studying how AI, cloud and blockchain can help drive its smart city agenda in Dubai. Smart Dubai is a city-wide initiative to transform Dubai into the smartest and happiest city in the world. "For us, this means going entirely to digital, using emerging technologies like blockchain and AI, with the ultimate goal of promoting happiness and prosperity," according to the IBM Smart Dubai website.

Even the 2030 vision of Saudi Arabia seems to go beyond oil and puts a strong emphasis on the development of technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain. His ambitious project for the future city, Neom, aims to revolutionize everything from biotechnology to water and energy in an independent economic zone and will leverage IA for every resident.

Appetite and blockchain support are strong in the region, with Dubai leading the way. The Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum is a supporter of the blockchain and proposes to have all the documentation of the government, from the renewal of licenses and bill payments to digital passports, digitally transformed using the blockchain by 2020.

The first blockchain platform supported by the government in the Middle East, the Dubai Blockchain Platform, was launched in October and was launched by Smart Dubai and IBM. The platform reduces the processing of payments for 45-day government services to real-time transfers, making payment utilities such as Dubai's electricity and water (Dewa) much easier and faster . All of this is part of the government's goal to create a paperless system by 2021.

Artificial intelligence has been at the top of the profile in the Middle East with countries seeking to diversify their economies and claiming first place in the implementation of machine learning and robotics. Saudi Arabia has infamously granted citizenship to a robot called Sophia, but the United Arab Emirates have also thrown their hat into the ring, even appointing a state minister for artificial intelligence.

Its long-standing partnership with IBM has seen the exploitation of IBM Watson's power to transform its processes. For example, IBM created Rashid, an intelligent agent to guide people through the process of creating a new business. "Able to converse in natural language, Rashid provides a single point of contact to help navigate the bureaucracy."

The minister, Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, recently told CNBC: "In 10 years we will be the capital of AI in service and in government, but I think we will be a center for artificial intelligence in the region". Al Olama also stressed the "agility" of the UAE government saying it will help him become a world leader in technology. The goal is to create a future city – Dubai – with AI technology. The United Arab Emirates launched its Strategy for Artificial Intelligence in October of last year and hopes to cut 50% of annual costs using Artificial Intelligence in areas such as transport, education and energy.

The PwC analysis puts the potential impact of AI for the Middle East at $ 320 billion by 2030, accounting for about 2% of the global total. While Saudi Arabia will see the IA contribute $ 135.2 billion in 2030 to the economy, the highest gains in absolute terms, the UAE will see the greatest impact in relative terms, with a share close to 14% of the GDP of 2030 through the IA. Qatar and Egypt also threw their hat in the ring. The study also reported annual growth of AI in the region, led by the two powerful, from 20% to 34% in the year.

Cloud services are set to grow in 2019 in the region and global players like Microsoft are taking advantage of this growth potential. The software giant is opening a data center in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and the competitor Amazon Web Services (AWS) is doing the same in Bahrain. Both seem destined to challenge existing players like the Chinese Alibaba Holdings, which already has a cloud footprint in the region and is looking to expand until 2020.

Jointly, the Middle East and Africa are worth $ 2.2 billion for cloud services companies, according to IDC, with an average growth of 24% per year. The region is expected to reach $ 5 billion in the cloud by 2022. While cloud traffic in the region is diminished by North America and Europe, the Cisco Global Cloud Index 2016 – 2021 found that the Middle East and 39; Africa should have the highest cloud traffic growth rate (35% CAGR) in that period, followed by Central and Eastern Europe and Asia-Pacific (29% CAGR each).

While the controversy still surrounds many of the countries in the region in terms of human and political rights, the Middle East is set to increase its investment in disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud and blockchain to meet its economy of knowledge and ambitions of smart cities. This push should intensify after 2019, when countries like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia will increase their plans.