Countries in the Mena region will spend $243 billion – 5.6 per cent of the global IT spending – by 2018, a report from Gartner reveals.
“Saudi Arabia, the largest GCC economy, is investing in various digital government initiatives. The UAE has ambitious plans to build multiple Smart cities and provide several government services online to its citizens,” the Gartner report states, adding that the total spending on IT in the region is expected to increase by eight per cent to reach $12.2bn in 2014.
The IT sector spending is expected to be focused on products and services, including internal services, software, IT services, data center, devices and telecom services.
Other sectors where investments are expected to increase include mobility, Smart government, big data and the Internet of Things (IoT), as well as communications, media and services, banking and securities, government, manufacturing and natural resources.
Among these many sectors, spending on telecom services, which include fixed and mobile telecom services, is expected to be the highest throughout the forecast period, the report adds.
20 November
AMEinfo
