Gitex tech week opens doors to future with 5G, robotics and IoT
4,000 exhibitors showcase emerging technologies
Twin tech expos — Gitex Technology Week and Gitex Future Stars — kicked off yesterday at the Dubai World Trade Centre with the participation of 4,000 exhibitors and 750 start-ups from over 175 countries.
Open to business professionals only, the 38th edition of Gitex Technology Week focuses on artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies such as 5G, robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), virtual and augmented reality, all under the tagline ‘Experience Future Urbanism’.
The Gitex Technology Week was inaugurated by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council.
More than 200 government entities of which 80 per cent are from the UAE are showcasing their latest technological know-how and live projects.
While hacking scandals at Google and Facebook have been making daily headlines, the rise of 5G technology is going to force an even greater evolution in digital security, according to Trend Micro, a leader in cybersecurity and data security solutions.
“5G is the ultimate enabler of IoT (Internet of Things), and IoT is about every piece of technology, machinery, and device everywhere talking to each other, so you have this incredibly complicated web of communication happening all over,” said Dr Moataz Bin Ali, Trend Micro’s vice-president for the Middle East and North Africa.
“It’s like a paradise for hackers. It’s a playground. It’s one of the most critical areas of protection that any security vendor needs to provide and cater to,” he said, speaking at the 38th Gitex Technology Week, being held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from October 14-18.
5G, the next iteration of cellular mobile communications, boasts speeds far greater than the current technology (4G), but is just starting to become available.
The network technology was recently launched in limited sections of the United States. Here in the UAE, Expo 2020 announced in July that it would become Etisalat’s first commercial customer for the superfast network.
5G isn’t the only technology driving security technology, Dr Bin Ali said. “As technology becomes bio, [or] more virtual, or augmented, or any of the areas where it is developing, security will need to evolve,” he said.
The need for greater security is also creating opportunities in the region for Trend Micro, who are currently expanding in the Gulf.
The Japan-based company announced in January it would have three headquarters in the region: its GCC headquarters would be in Dubai; Cairo would anchor its operations in North Africa and the Levant; and Riyadh will soon host its own campus, catering directly to the Saudi market.
Government visions
“One of the biggest reasons why — from a Trend Micro perspective — we’re focusing on the [region], is that the governments in these areas are putting up visions that from top to bottom revolve around digitalisation, and this is a very important area for Trend Micro to be [in] because security is the backbone of any digitalisation,” Dr Bin Ali said.
He credited Saudi Arabia and the UAE with driving innovation in the region, adding that the area is maturing with regards to the legal framework surrounding new technology.
“With the region starting to be more open globally to different regulations … it’s more ripe for business. It’s more ripe for ■ investments,” he said, adding governments are also increasing their protection of copyrights. “Regulations are coming up in a nice way.”
But technology growth also brings challenges, especially from hackers. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are the two most targeted countries for cyberattacks. “There is a saying in Arabic: ‘if you feel the sticks coming from the back, that means you’re in the front’,” Dr Bin Ali says.
While most security solutions previously focused heavily on software, the new Trend Micro campus in Riyadh will include three classrooms to host academic programmes that train — and potentially hire — local individuals who can help clients and customers. It will also include laboratories that Dr Bin Ali says will be industry-leading and “probably” include a cybersecurity incubator, where the company will try to “put the perspective of security from the beginning in everything that is happening in businesses”.
The technology innovator said education is a critical part of security, because software can only accomplish so much.
“At the end of the day, we can make products so solid — at a level that can infinitely protect data — but you tend to miss the human factor, and that doesn’t go away,” he said.
Trend Micro started the year with only six employees in Saudi Arabia, but over the past eight months has expanded to 60, with more hiring expected, Dr Bin Ali pointed out.
The company is also looking at what he calls an “Arabic threat intelligence and support centre”, providing Arabic-language support to customers.