COVID-19 drives UAE companies to increase tech investment

DUBAI: Almost half of technology leaders, both globally and in the UAE, expect budgets for IT/ technology to increase, driven by a surge in spending on operational efficiencies, customer engagement and data-driven insights. This is among the key findings of The Harvey Nash/ KPMG CIO Survey 2020, one of the largest IT leadership surveys in the world, with over 4,200 responses from CIOS and technology executives across 83 countries.

Farhan Syed, Partner, Head of Advisory at KPMG Lower Gulf, explained: “The coronavirus pandemic disrupted every sector around the world, and has catalysed digital transformation. While the pandemic may not have necessarily altered business strategies, it has reaffirmed the importance of data, cloud and cybersecurity. Technology is thus helping businesses to adapt and anticipate beter in a volatile business environment.”

According to the KPMG study, organizations have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic in different ways. Almost half of UAE respondents expect a slow recovery and are implementing a flexible, experience-centric technology transformation to emerge stronger from the crisis.

The KPMG study notes that UAE digital leaders outperformed their global counterparts when it comes to investing in customer experience and engagement.

For UAE businesses, data is the new oil — 63 per cent of CIOS rated data collection as their most successful digital offering, as compared with 42 per cent of global CIOS.