Page 147 - SAMENA Trends - September 2019

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

2018 the creditor banks stated a goal to transfer the TT shares to chance,” he said. Sayan, information technology, said he should
a ‘competent’ investor. (September 23, 2019) Bloomberg be kept in work integrated while domestic and forefront of the
national production and added: “As a nation, our goal is big. We
The Information and Communication Technologies Authority want to see in 2023, Turkey is the world’s largest 10 economies.
hosted the third SME and Informatics Congress. Informatics Sayan announced that the opening of “5G Valley” will be held in
Association of Turkey, Ankara Chamber of Industry, organized Istanbul in October. Sayan emphasized the importance of SMEs,
by the Ankara Chamber of Commerce and KOSGEB cooperation which make up more than 99 percent of the country’s total
programs; Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Transport and enterprises and bring about 55 percent of the total employment
Infrastructure Ömer Fatih Sayan, BTK President Ömer Abdullah to the economy. “They want to adapt to the new world order” in
Karagözoğlu, KOSGEB Vice President Recep Kılınç, ASO Board the words of SMEs to invest in technology called. BTK President
Member Özgür Savaş Özüdoğru, TBD President Rahmi Aktepe Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu also spoke at the opening of the
and guests from the IT sector attended. Deputy Minister of UAB program. Karagözoğlu pointed out that technology has reached
Sayan made a speech about the importance of SMEs’ use of a wider audience in today’s world than ever before, and that new
information technologies. Saying that the limits of information inventions are made every day. Stating that we witnessed very rapid
technologies have disappeared completely, Sayan said that changes and transformations in almost every stage of life from
thanks to online network systems, the world has turned into a the economy to health, from the development of communication
small village, but at the same time it has turned into a huge market tools to the advances in transportation, Karagözoğlu said, “These
where competition is much more intense. Sayan emphasized that developments show that those who do not use information
the value and quality of the countries’ commercial and economic technologies are not able to survive.” Karagözoğlu stated that
lives have increased at the same time as a reflection of this, it is inevitable for SMEs, which play an important role in growth,
and that this development and progress means opportunities prosperity and employment, to benefit from technology in the
and opportunities at the same time. Sayan pointed out that the most effective way in order to gain an advantage in international
tendency of SMEs to use information technologies is a little below competition. He stated that the productification process can be
their expectations, “We want SMEs to see IT as an opportunity, not listed as acceleration. Karagözoğlu pointed out that domestic and
an obligation. On the contrary, this is an opportunity to carry them national software should be focused on. “We want our companies
to the top of the ranking.” Information technologies for SMEs, not to produce domestic products in their own fields as well as to
only the ownership of the web site should not mean that Sayan, prefer domestic and national products. This will bring us closer to
“the global world now companies ‘I do not invest in technology, the goals of our country.”
prefer traditional ways to achieve success’ is close to zero (September 19, 2019) btk.gov.tr

United Arab Emirates

The UAE has ranked first globally in mobile-broadband Environmental Sustainability, Air Transport Infrastructure, Ground
subscriptions and network coverage, and second in mobile- and Port Infrastructure, Tourist Service Infrastructure, Natural
cellular telephone subscriptions, according to the Travel & Tourism Resources, and Cultural Resources and Business Travel. The UAE
Competitiveness Report 2019, issued by the World Economic also ranked first globally on the Internet and Telephony Level of
Forum. Commenting on this achievement, Hamad Obaid Al Competition in 2018, compared to 104th in 2016, according to
Mansoori, Director-General of the Telecommunications Regulatory the Knowledge Index Report, published recently by the United
Authority, TRA, stated, “The UAE’s global achievements are the Nations Development Program and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al
result of plans and strategies developed by the UAE Government Maktoum Knowledge Foundation. (September 10, 2019) gulftoday.ae
under the directives of its leadership, and the team spirit of the
government entities. Today, we have the best and most advanced More than 200 cyber-attacks against government and private
services in the UAE, and we have a well-developed infrastructure sector companies were reported in the first eight months of the
that makes us ready to enter the age of Artificial Intelligence, the year, the UAE’s telecoms authority said. The Telecommunications
Internet of Things, IoT, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Our Regulations Authority (TRA) said 230 cyber-attacks occurred from
high global ranking in many international reports confirms that January to August of this year, a 27.4 per cent decline on the 317
we are on track to achieve the UAE Vision 2021 and the goals recorded in the corresponding period in 2018. The authority said
of the National Agenda.” The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness its Computer Emergency Response Team thwarted 40 attempts
Report 2019 is issued every two years by the World Economic to infiltrate computer systems in August alone, down from 51 in
Forum. It is based on four key indicators: Enabling Environment, the same month in 2018. The TRA said it had launched a series
Travel and Tourism Policy, Infrastructure, and Natural and Cultural of awareness campaigns across the Emirates, including lectures,
Resources. The report measures 14 sub-indicators: Business seminars and workshops, to promote cyber safety. Instances of
Environment, Safety and Security, Health and Hygiene, Human cyber-attacks include hacking, identity theft and fraud, the TRA
Resources and Labor Market, ICT Readiness, Prioritization of said.
Travel & Tourism, International Openness, Price Competitiveness, (September 4, 2019) thenational.ae
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