‘Digital economy is expanding fast in the Arabian Gulf’

Times News Service

MUSCAT: C-suite executives from over 100 of UAE’s companies said the digital economy is expanding in the Arabian Gulf and many among them were planning to expand their digital footprint this year.

The assertion came via a recent survey of 120 company chairmen, CEOs and presidents conducted by Cobweb Solutions UAE—the Dubai-based, Middle East arm of UK-based Cobweb, Europe’s leading managed cloud solutions provider — which was scaling up its own workforce to meet increasing regional demand for cloud solutions.

The majority (81 per cent) of respondents, from a variety of segments, including tourism, retail, finance, insurance, construction, chemicals, healthcare, automotive, real estate and marine, said they had definitive plans to boost their digital capabilities this year, with the remainder saying they were considering it.

The survey also revealed that 97 per cent of respondents were fully convinced digital assets will improve their competitiveness, while 3 per cent had doubts.

Altaf Alimohamed, managing director of Cobweb Solutions UAE, said the results meant a positive outlook for the regional economy with C-suite prioritisation of digital transformation strategies likely to keep Gulf companies relevant within the region and beyond.

“There’s increasing acceptance that to be successful in today’s ever-changing world, where digital innovation is disrupting how every industry operates, organisations need to become more engaged with customers, empower employees, transform products and services using digital content and optimise their business operations,” he said.

“This is coupled with the realisation that to achieve these goals, businesses need digital transformation strategies and to make better use of new cloud-based services which help fast-track the implementation and development of their plans,” he added.

“Now, more than ever, IT investment has to be closely married to business processes and strategy with businesses needing deeper insights through intelligent reporting and analytics. The good news is that new subscription-based managed services make these essentials available in a highly cost-effective way,” Alimohamed said.

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