Wednesday, Apr 11, 2012
Gulf News
Abu Dhabi: The UAEs ICT industry is growing by 25-30 per cent per year across all sectors including hardware, software, mobile and internet services, according to experts taking part in the 8th Financial Technology Summit in Abu Dhabi said.
The UAEs ICT industry is among the most promising sectors [in the country], Khalid Faraj, managing director of Experton Group, Middle East and North Africa (Mena), told Gulf News.
Banks in the UAE invest more than $1.2 billion (Dh4.406 billion) yearly on ICT and financial technologies and services including online banking, social media, and mobile banking, he said.
Saudi Arabia comes first in the Mena region. About 60 per cent of the investments in the ICT in the Mena is in Saudi Arabia and 20 per cent in the UAE.
Khalid Eid, managing director of the World Development Forum, said in order to achieve a competitive advantage, banks are looking to technology to lead their innovation both internally and externally to outmanoeuvre the competition.
According to Srood Sharif, CIO of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Innovation is no longer a nice-to-have flavour, but rather it is an essential element for survival. He said technology can be used as an enabler to provide a higher quality user experience and as a drivers for next generation business offering. Fadi Chehayeb, CIO of the National Bank of Kuwait, said: A successful innovation strategy should address the culture of innovation across the organisation.
By Shehab Al Makahleh, Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2012. All rights reserved.
