The last two decades have witnessed 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:
For more information, please download “The State of Digitalization in GCC Businesses Q4 2016” full report.