Gitex Technology Week more innovative than ever

Under the theme, “Lets Create, Disrupt and Re-imagine Together”, Gitex Technology Week — one of the world’s most influential information and communication technology events — is set to welcome more than 130,000 trade visitors, looking for business tie-ups with more than 3,500 exhibitors.

The event is hosting 80 per cent of the world’s leading ICT brands under one roof at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre from today until October 24.

This year, the event will see a 26 per cent increase in international exhibitors and a 12 per cent increase in exhibitors overall in comparison to 2012. Sponsored by the UAE Ministry of Finance, the government sector continues to attract the highest government participation of any trade event in the region. This year sees government participation up 25 per cent compared to 2012.

Launched in 1981, Gitex is the ICT business gateway to the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia, or Menasa region. Focused on providing exhibitors with high return on investment through direct business opportunities with decision makers, Gitex has maintained its position as the industry’s trendsetting authority.

The growing popularity and demand for the Menasa region’s biggest ICT event will attract the industry’s key decision makers from more than 150 countries for potential business agreements. Top international brands have already announced bigger participation for the event.

The Middle East continues to be a booming market for the ICT industry with total spends projected to increase 5.5 per cent from 2012 to $192.9 billion in 2013, according to IT research firm Gartner.

“ICT trends like mobility, the cloud, and big data are commonly used industry buzzwords, however Gitex Technology Week is the Menasa region’s only event that offers visitors an in-depth understanding of these concepts as well as knowledge on how they can be used to deliver enhanced return on investment,” Dubai World Trade Centre senior vice-president Trixie Loh Mirmand said in a statement on Saturday. The event is again ready to set the standard for ICT thought leadership and business development for every attendee from small businesses to multinational corporations and government agencies, she added.

This year, there will be substantial numbers of international exhibitors and visitors; new country participants hail from Belarus, Brazil, Finland, Kenya, Lithuania, Serbia, Slovenia, Tunisia and Ukraine. The official country partner of Gitex is Serbia, under the auspices of the Serbia Investment and Export Promotion Agency, as the Eastern European country looks to boost trade ties with its rapidly-growing ICT-related firms.

Gitex also attracted a new major international partnership this year as the GSMA Mobile 360 Series comes to the Middle East for the first time. The event will also welcome back InfoComm MEA for the third successive year to assemble the widest range of audio-visual systems and technologies in the region.

Among the features appearing for the first time is the Big Data Conference. The event is the first stand-alone session on what is one of the ICT industry’s most compelling and challenging trends.

Gitex is also expanding on its ability to celebrate innovation and support local talent. The Cloud Awards will put a spotlight on cloud computing’s contribution to the business community, while the Gitex Hot Stuff Awards is the largest consumer electronics gadget competition in the region. Adding to this competitive spirit is the Student Lab competition, which is sponsored by the UAE Ministry of Presidential Affairs and held in association with Google.

Among other new events are the Smart Sessions and GSM Exchange, while returning by popular demand is the Digital Strategies Forum. — abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com