Page 66 - SAMENA Trends - November-December 2019

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Saudi ICT Sector’s Seven Key Avenues of Growth

THE Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is to analyze consumer behavior. AI will be country’s goal to become a global leader in
in the midst of a digital transformation compulsory to analyze the huge amounts the adoption and application of AI. AI, AR,
as part of its Vision 2030 initiative. The of data from IoT devices, allowing for IoT and M2M communication are currently
country has embarked on a bold national- preventive and predictive decision-making in the early stages of development
level change management program, driven to take place. compared to robotics, which makes it
by the significant growth already in motion 3. E-commerce opportunities in KSA difficult to measure their impact on the
in the ICT sector. In the latest EY report, KSA’s large consumer market has always industry. However, the city of Makkah has
‘Unlocking the digital economy potential of been at the center of discussions about identified opportunities around IoT and
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’, the company e-commerce potential in the GCC region. AI for smart crowd management, traffic
identified the seven key avenues of growth The expansion of e-commerce in the management, and waste management
in the ICT sector that will close the degrees country is one of the significant goals of its during the Hajj pilgrimage season.
of separation between industries. development agenda and the Government 6. Cloud uptake
1. 5G growth agenda is keen to increase the contribution of The adoption of cloud computing in KSA
The Saudi Government is already on alternative retail channels, including has grown rapidly over the past few years,
track to become a world leader in 5G e-commerce, to 80% of retail sector activity with IDC Saudi Arabia predicting that the
services and has made a major financial by 2030. annual spending on public cloud services
commitment to support its rollout. In fact, 4. Start-up focus in 2019 is expected to exceed US$ 260
IBM predicts that 5G mobile subscriptions Saudi Arabia’s current start-up million. This will no doubt rise as an
in KSA will reach US$ 23.2 million by the ecosystem is currently in the early stages increasing proportion of organizations
end of 2028. of development but has significant in Saudi Arabia have adopted, or are on
2. IoT and big data scale-up potential growth. The Government has the way to integrating, cloud for their
IoT is one of the most prominent mobilized substantial resources to computing needs.
growth areas in the ICT industry in provide a launchpad for start-ups and 7. Proliferation of over-the-top (OTT)
KSA. The largest growth in terms of IoT entrepreneurship, with year-on-year platforms
deployment in the region will be recorded growth in funding and investment deals OTT video streaming services have
in the manufacturing, transportation, between 2018 and 2019. changed the business model for content
and healthcare sectors. The hospitality, 5. Innovation accelerated through AI, AR, creators, TV networks, and distributors
retail, and entertainment sectors are and robotics as the market for on-demand services
more gradually adopting the technology The Saudi Vision 2030 plan highlights the continues to gain traction. Think with
Google estimates that of the 6.3 million
millennials in KSA, 97.7% are online every
day and 97.8% are on smartphone devices.
With the onset of 5G technology and higher
network speeds, industry players will have
a wider range of options to reach their
audiences on the go. It’s clear that Saudi
Arabia has the necessary components
and protocols in place, along with defined
targets, to achieve its digital ambitions.
Now it must continue to focus on building
the infrastructure required to support a
mature ICT sector that will fast-track the
country’s digital revolution. At the third
edition of the Future Investment Initiative
this week, EY will further explore how the
digital transformation of KSA is redefining
how the country does business both locally
and on a global scale.

66 NOVEMBER 2019