Kuwait’s Digital Future In The Spotlight At Dedicated IoT Forum

Senior executives from across the private and public sector gathered in Kuwait today for ‘IoT: Driving Kuwait’s Digital Future’, a conference to explore the country’s immense potential as a hub for the Internet of Things.

The event, which is being jointly organized by Bloomberg Businessweek and Oliver Wyman, featured keynote speakers including Sheikh Yousef Al-Sabahthe Director General of Kuwait Ports Authority, Dr. Saad Al-Barrak the chairman of ILA Group and Nawaf Algharabally the CTO of Zain Kuwait, who shared insights on how IoT has the potential to transform Kuwait’s economy and society.

The number of connected objects globally will rise to between 50 and 100 billion by 2020, up from 15 billion in 2014, according to Oliver Wyman. These connected objects, including everything from autonomous cars to drones and pacemakers, will form part of a nascent multi-billion dollar IoT industry. They will also create huge volumes of data which – when analyzed and processed – will help make drastic improvements to systems and services by providing valuable insights.

In the GCC, IoT is evolving at a rapid pace as telecom service providers have leapfrogged legacy infrastructures to deploy the latest 4G technology and fiber-optic backbone. Operators in the region are also at advanced stages of testing 5G technology, which will act as a key enabler of IoT.

In addition to keynote speeches by dignitaries and CEOs, the event included two panel discussions focusing on Kuwait’s potential as a hub for IoT and the roadmap for achieving this. Among the panelists were: Qusai Al Shatti, Deputy Director of the Central Agency for Information Technology in Kuwait,; Dr. Meshan Alotaibi, Assistant Undersecretary of Consumer Affairs at the Ministry of Electricity and Water; Hamad Al-Marzouq, Chief Enterprise Business Officer of Zain Kuwait; Herbert Klausner, CEO Siemens Kuwait; Amin Tazi, Head of Strategy and CEO Support Office at Ooredoo;.

“IoT will be fundamental to services and advancements that will define the 5th Industrial Revolution. IoT will touch all industries and sectors providing huge benefits in terms of efficiency and quality of services. At ‘IoT: Driving Kuwait’s Digital Future, we had the opportunity to explore Kuwait’s potential as an IoT hub and the potential challenges that Kuwait will need to overcome as part of the country’s focus on driving technological advancement,” said Rogerio Dienes, Partner and Head of Communications, Media and Technology for MEA at Oliver Wyman.