Internet-of-Things spending for manufacture-related processes in MEA region forecasted to grow by 16 per cent in 2016

Sharjah Tatweer Forum reveals IoT to play significant role in promotion of entrepreneurial innovation of emirate

Internet-of-Things (IoT) spending for manufacture-related processes in the Middle East and African region (MEA) is poised to increase by 16 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) starting 2016, running up to a total of over USD1.22 billion, according to a recent report from the International Data Corporation (IDC), a leading market, research, analysis and advisory firm. The study reveals that a major factor to this growth is the continuous demand for fast-moving consumer goods in the region, which has encouraged manufacturers to invest largely on efficiency-building smart technologies to increase productivity and enhance efficiencies. In line with this, the Sharjah Tatweer Forum (STF) has pointed out the significance of IoT, which plays an important role in the move to help advance and promote entrepreneurial innovation in the emirate.

The IDC report states that the increased IoT spending will cover key processes like food traceability, maintenance and field services, manufacturing operations, and production asset management, which is being seen as very ripe for investment. Meanwhile, another related report from KPMG entitled the '2016 Global Transformation Study' shows that business leaders understand the importance of investing in continual business transformation--revealing a large number of businesses are now in the midst of business transformation planning or execution or have already implemented a transformation program in the past two years.

“The emergence of IoT has ushered us further into the future--where computing devices, mechanical and digital machines can now be interrelated no matter how remotely distant they are from one another,” said Jassem Albloushi, Chairman, STF. “The Sharjah Tatweer Forum understands the significance of IoT and the important role it will play in the move to drive in more growth and development for Sharjah. We remain steadfast in our commitment to actively promote entrepreneurial leadership and innovation by utilizing IoT and leveraging its advantages and benefits to our members and their businesses.”

The STF arranges several opportunities for its members to interact with pioneers in the technology sector and learn more about best practices that can help accelerate adoption of this advanced technology--further utilizing it as an effective tool towards the smart transformation. The young leaders continuously meet senior officials from leading IT companies like Twitter, Netflix, UC Berkeley, 500 Startups, Silicon Valley, Nordic Innovation, SAP Innovation Centre etc. The members also actively participate in key workshops like Stanford Research Institute 'SRI' and IoT Summit conference, which is focused on extensive discussions on how to further develop IoT products, in addition to other national and international conferences. They also take part in meetings and lectures about important timely topics like emerging trends, modern technological innovations, big data analysis, smart cities, cloud computing and information security.