GEC NEWS WIREIFS reveal the findings of its Digital Change Survey that polled 750 decision makers in 16 countries including 38 respondents from the Middle East to assess maturity of digital transformation in sectors such as manufacturing, oil and gas, aviation, construction and contracting, and service.
Nearly 90 percent of firms surveyed (87 percent in the Middle East) have ‘adequate’ or ‘advantageous’ funding for digital transformation, indicating a strong willingness to invest and an appetite to evolve their business in order to stay competitive and grow. When asked about prioritized investment areas, the top three choices were IoT, ERP and Big Data & Analytics. These are reflected by the Middle East respondents with Big data & Analytics leading with 52 percent followed by ERP and IoT (39.5 percent each).
“It is apparent that companies today understand the urgency of focusing on digital transformation.” IFS VP of global industry solutions, Antony Bourne said. “Technologies such as big data and analytics, enterprise resource planning and internet of things are paramount to transforming a business. Companies need to apply innovative technologies hand in hand with their relevant industry expertise to succeed and gain a competitive edge. It is this combination that makes digital transformation both meaningful and powerful”.
“In the Middle East, we are seeing a heightened awareness for digital transformation in the GCC especially UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar who have begun implementing Smart City strategies but there is still a large gap between awareness and implementation,” said Luis Ortega, Managing Director for MEASA (Middle East, Africa and South Asia) at IFS. “We are seeing a lot of changes being driven from the top down, especially in the UAE where there is an ambitious strategy to be paper-free by 2020.”
