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National Transformation in the Middle East

A Digital Journey

Digital is having a profound impact on Middle Eastern economies, societies and future sustainability. In light of this, Deloitte has worked with Huawei to develop a white paper regarding the Digital Transformation initiatives being undertaken by government entities in the GCC region in the context of Global trends and by analyzing drivers and challenges.

ICT and Digital Transformation technologies have an increasingly significant role in enabling these plans, especially as they gain maturity and new applications are developed. It is estimated that every 20 percent increase in ICT investment results in an over 1 percent growth in a country’s GDP. Middle East government entities are expected to spend over US$15 billion in 2018 in Digital Transformation enabling technologies. Whilst even the most advanced countries in the region still lag behind other global economies in terms of Digital Government according to National ICT indices.

The paper deep dives into six key themes that are considered of high priority to local policymakers whilst providing global experiences for successfully undertaking Digital Transformation across these themes. It subsequently, provides a roadmap and recommendations for regional government agencies to help them overcome roadblocks in the digital journey and unlock opportunities.

While the study is based on Deloitte and Huawei research, international Digital Government surveys, interviews with regional governments and subject matter experts, we do not however presume that ours is the last word on any given topic: our intent is to catalyze discussions and positive developments in the area in the best interest of regional governments, businesses and civil society alike.

“While there is intense interest and dedication to digital transformation across the GCC, on average, the region still lags behind other developed economies when it comes to digital government. Nonetheless, we are excited by the substantial focus national visions and agendas have put on ICT innovation in the coming years. Digital technologies represent an unprecedented opportunity for the public sector across the Middle East to reinvent itself. Through the convergence of technologies like social apps, mobile tech, big data analytics and cloud infrastructure, we see an intense expansion of the digital ecosystem in the coming years.”

Emmanuel Durou, Partner and Leader for TMT in Deloitte Middle East.

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