Doha, Qatar: Qatar leads on the use of wider AI technology and big data and analytics. It ranks highest for enterprise use of AI, big data, and private 5G networks. The importance of private 5G networks ranks among the highest globally, supported by progressive regulatory frameworks, in the country.
Qatar’s global progress in adopting artificial intelligence, big data, and advanced 5G networks was revealed in the recent GSMA report entitled, ‘Accelerating digital industries in the GCC and wider MENA region’.
Globally, Qatar and the UAE are among the leading countries for local enterprises making advanced use of genAI technology, with the financial services sector leading.
In the GCC, the utilities and energy sector has the highest score for importance of 5G to digital transformation, with Qatar leading. This speaks to a regional trend of using networks and AI technologies as well as renewables to modernise energy grids (smart grids, digital twins, smart meters).
According to the report, for enterprise digital transformation, 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA)’s importance is slightly lower in the GCC (compared to other MENA countries), as the three GCC countries surveyed have extensive fibre coverage (especially Qatar and the UAE).
Qatari enterprises have the highest expectations for the importance of private networks for digital transformation, reflecting the momentum seen in the last couple of years in terms of deployments.
The Communications Regulatory Authority has also adopted policies to support private 5G networks.
It further elaborated, cybersecurity and cloud are the most used technologies enabling digital transformation across the GCC and wider MENA region. The use of AI is growing across MENA, but there is a gap versus more established technologies in terms of share of enterprises making advanced use. This comes as no surprise given that AI is a new technology. For all technologies, moving from moderate to advanced use will be key in the next five years.
The GCC shows more advanced use of technologies than the rest of MENA. The UAE leads on advanced use for four of the seven technologies (cybersecurity, cloud, generative AI and edge) while Saudi Arabia leads on IoT.
Looking at the overall digital transformation scores, the three GCC countries (Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE) are in the top seven of the 15 developed countries surveyed. This confirms that the GCC plays an important role as a leading (and benchmark) region on digital transformation, offering a favourable environment for developing and scaling new technologies and innovations.
The report noted the GCC is a benchmark for implementing national agendas for digital transformation (e.g. Qatar’s Digital Agenda 2030, Saudi Vision 2030 and the UAE Centennial 2071). As tech progress accelerates (especially in AI) and enterprises advance their digital transformation, national agendas in the GCC and MENA should be updated with a regular cadence, factoring in the key objectives driving enterprise digital transformation.
