The last two decades have witnessed a phenomenal growth in digitalization in GCC. At the end of 1995, the market capitalization of the top 15 public Internet companies was US$16.7 billion. The valuation of the top 15 companies had increased more than 125 times and mushroomed to $2.1 trillion.

As for the usage trends; young people in the GCC are particularly keen on personalization and customization, seek to influence the design of new technologies.

Governments in the GCC region have acknowledged the economic and social benefits that going digital can bring, and have developed ambitious plans and strategies.

As for companies, digitalization can bring plentiful benefits that allow them to overcome current business constraints. However; many companies in the region have not been as quick to seize the potential of digitalization to cope with the users’ and governments’ interests and plans. A survey of 306 business executives in Qatar & UAE revealed the following insights:

• Almost 45%  of companies are familiar with the concept of digitalization. It is higher among senior managers than among technical staff, and 47% of middle managers said they were well acquainted with the concept.
• 47% of companies in the region believe that their strategic digital transformation initiatives complete on time compared to a 66% global average.
• Companies are extensive users of the website (100%) and social media channels (90%) for communicating with stakeholders.
• More than 60% of surveyed companies believe big data and advanced analytics are important; particularly for understanding customers through a detailed analysis of structured and unstructured data (such as social media).

A Figure Shows The UAE & Qatar Top 3 Technologies.