19 October 2009,
His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, inaugurated the five-day event for products and services of more than 3,000 companies from across the world.
This year, the main highlight of Gitex — which has a 19-year track record as a signpost to emerging IT technology trends — is the balleyhooed global preview of Windows 7.
The preview of Windows 7 and the increase in high-profile delegates and industry decision-makers to the show highlights the importance of the region’s ICT market, and the key role Gitex Technology Week plays in helping it to grow, said Helal Saeed Almarri, Chief Executive Officer of the Dubai World Trade Centre.
Shaikh Mohammed, accompanied by Dubai Crown Prince Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and senior government officials, toured the exhibition, which spans 72,000 square metres, to take a look at the technological innovations, products and services that are on display by many industry leaders such as Aastra, Avaya, Brother, Cisco, Dell, du, Dubai Internet City, Etisalat, hp, NEC Philips, Oracle, Panasonic, Pro Technology, Sanyo, Symantec, Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, Thuraya and Verbatim.
“We are already seeing huge interest this year as the industry gets together and discuss opportunities for the future,” added Almarri.
Steven Guggenheimer, Corporate Vice-President, Microsoft Corporation, presented Shaikh Mohammed the first commercially available Windows 7 PC in collaboration with HP.
Compared to last year, when the show drew more than 3,300 exhibitors and a bigger number of visitors on the first day, the turnout on Sunday was subdued despite upbeat projections for the regional IT market.
In the Middle East and Africa region, IT spending in 2009 will be $36 billion, according to a report by industry analysts at International Data Corporation. From the end of 2008 to the end of 2013, IT spending will grow 7.3 per cent a year, compared to the 2.6 per cent gross domestic product growth per year. The spending increase means the employment of IT professionals will increase by 321,000 jobs over the next four years. There are currently an estimated 1 million IT professionals in the region.
Shankar, Marketing Manager, Brother International Corporation Gulf, said it might be too early to speculate on the outcome of this year’s show. “My current assessment is that there has been a decline in the number of exhibitors as well as visitor turnout, based on this first day of the event. This might be due to that fact that last year’s show did not see the full brunt of the economic downturn as the 2008 exhibition was staged just a month after the Lehman Brother’s debacle; unlike now when the crisis is in full swing and has affected most of the global industries. However, we get the vibe that companies still remain optimistic about their investments and towards customers’ buying behaviour.”
This year, Gitex expanded its exhibition halls, a step that underscores its importance for the regional IT market while “disproving the gloomy expectations” for the current edition, said Ahmad Zeidan, Channel Sales Manager, Netgear Middle East.
“Interestingly, the focus of this year’s event has shifted from new product launches — with only 30 per cent of the show dedicated to the unveiling of new offerings — to building relationships and offering more value add to current offerings,” said Zeidan.
Vikram Suri, Managing Director, Sage Software, said: “We believe Gitex is a springboard that will help the IT market and other industries that benefit from its continuous advancement to bounce back, and this has spurred the presence of leading IT players at the event.”
At the show this year, more serious customers are seeking solutions that complement their objective to perform, increase efficiency and be ready for the upturn. “We are expecting the region’s economy to take a significant turn for the better through more optimised business processes,” Suri said. It is evident that companies are preparing for the impending recovery of the region’s economy. “We see regional mid-sized and micro-multinational companies looking for affordable, user-friendly and quick-to-install integrated solutions that can help them reduce IT infrastructure costs, with aims of establishing a stronger footing in their respective markets and be better positioned as the market starts to pick up,” said Suri.
Gitex 2009 has attracted more companies that have become increasingly receptive to technologically advanced solutions that can help them address issues on cost-efficiency and automation, said Nada Haddad, Marketing Manager, Mindware.
“In addition, focus on getting strong return on investments has never been this strong, which is why vendors are looking for distributors with a strong reseller/channel network. As a leading IT distributor in the Middle East, Gitex is still the key event for us to highlight the value added services we offer to vendors, while increasing awareness on our vendor portfolio,” said Haddad.
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