IDC to host 16th edition of annual Middle East CIO summit in February

The concept of the Digital Economy has gained significant prominence over the last few years, and the rate of digital adoption is increasingly rapidly across the Middle East region as organizations adapt their business models to the changing characteristics and demands of their customers.

This will be the focus of the discussions at the 16^th of the IDC Middle East CIO annual summit, which takes place on February 22-23 at Dubai’s iconic Atlantis, The Palm.

“Today, almost every country in the region has a cohesive national vision for a digital economy that focuses on driving local economic value, employment creation, and social development by reaching the underserved,” said Jyoti Lalchandani, IDC’s group vice president and regional managing director for the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa.

“Whether it is accessing essential government services, purchasing products on digital platforms, or the shift to online learning and working, the impact of this mass transition to digital is evident everywher,” he said.

According to him, IDC research showed that mobile broadband penetration in GCC countries has reached 100%, more than 50% of consumers in the region shop online, and in the UAE, 80% of digital payments are now contactless. To set themselves apart in an increasingly competitive market, organizations need to leverage infrastructure, data, and skills alongside critical technology enablers such as 5G, the cloud, and AI. Only then will they be able to successfully re-invent their business models, create new customer experiences, and drive innovation with their partners,” he added.

Summit to Examine Digital Economy’s Impact

Taking place under the theme ‘Enabling the Digital Economy’s Leaders’, the summit will examine the current state of the digital economy, assess its ongoing impact on citizens, customers, employees, and operations, address the key challenges that need to be overcome, and outline proven best practices and strategies for driving future success.

It will incorporate five different Transformation Zones demonstrating pioneering use cases and technological advances in the areas of the metaverse, DevOps, customer experience, sustainability, and Industry 4.0.

An enviable line-up of expert speakers will be on hand across both days to explore some of the region’s most pressing tech concerns, providing essential guidance on topics such as driving sustainability in the technology vendor selection process, enhancing application modernization strategies, ensuring effective hybrid cloud deployment, developing AIOps strategies and practices, leveraging low-code/no-code platforms,  orchestrating digital infrastructure for hybrid environments, charting a data-driven digital strategy, embracing intelligent automation, implementing predictive analytics, embracing a zero trust security approach, making sense of cybersecurity policies, regulations, and compliance besides optimizing the impact of 5G: network architectures, market strategies, and use cases.

The event will also feature insights from IDC’s CIO Advisory Council for the Middle East, whose members include some of the region’s most respected ICT leaders and experts, including, Wesam Lootah, CEO, Corporate Support Services Sector, Dubai Municipality (UAE), Eng. Faisal Bakhashwain, Deputy Minister for Digital Transformation, Ministry of Human Resources & Social Development, Saudi Arabia, Dr Ammar H Alhusaini, Acting Director General, Central Agency for Information Technology, Kuwait, Yazeed Al Otaibi, Assistant Deputy Minister for Planning & Digital Transformation, Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia, Sundah Alsehali, Public Sector CIO, Saudi Arabia, Jason Roos, CIO, King Abdullah University of Science & Technology, Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz Abanmi, COO, Saudi Payments, Saudi Arabia, Saud Al Dhawyani, CTO, Emirates NBD (UAE), Ayman Alharbi, Senior IT Director, The Red Sea Development Company & Amaala, Saudi Arabia and Bander Al-Shahrani, Head of IT, Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia.

The IDC Middle East CIO Summit has been a staple of the region’s ICT calendar for 16 years, serving as the ICT community’s premier source of learning about the industry’s latest developments.

The 2023 edition will feature an intricately tailored agenda of informative presentations, in-depth discussions, and expert-led panel sessions on today’s hottest ICT issues.