Cloud adoption is on the rise in the Middle East, especially in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries over the last two years, says Frost & Sullivan.
Majority of businesses in countries like the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar have already been through the first stage of cloud adoption namely, virtualization.
According to Frost & Sullivan, the GCC took less than two years to adopt the cloud computing service since the big data evolution took off in 2010.
With the highest penetration in the region, countries in the GCC are expected to lead the uptake of e-commerce and mobile payments, Frost & Sullivan said. More than 30 percent of the internet users in the GCC regularly use the internet for researching and online shopping.
Middle East countries also offer great platform for smart city infrastructure projects. ICT is the principal infrastructure and the basis for providing essential services to the residents of a Smart City.
The need for a better and rapid economic growth, quality of life, and resource constraints such as water and power, are driving the need for establishing a Smart City culture throughout the urban centers of the Middle East.
Most cities in the Middle East are now using their move toward clean technology as the foundation to a larger Smart City strategy, Frost said.
Frost & Sullivan is highlighting the ICT trends in Middle East at GITEX Technology Week 2014. As a Knowledge Partner for GITEX 2014, Frost & Sullivan will present four in-depth industry white papers, officials at Frost & Sullivan said.
