Ninety one percent of leaders in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) believe that data helps to create a strategic advantage in strengthening their level of customer trust and bottom line, according to a recent study.

IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) conducted a study with Oxford Economics, titled "Build Your Trust Advantage," and found that torchbearers in the MEA outpaced their peers by 48 percent in their capacity to respect customers’ data privacy as a core competitive advantage.

In the region, 80 percent of leaders extensively use data to develop new business models, compared to a global average of 70 percent, while 73 percent already use data to make informed decisions on entering new markets, compared to a global average of 66 percent.

Seventy percent of participants in MEA believe that decision-making automation processes will increase in their business landscape over the next 2-3 years, while 65 percent of worldwide leaders believe the same.

The study emphasized the importance of creating trustworthy ecosystems, the practice of transparency, reciprocity and accountability when handling data and engaging customers and business partners, among other recommendations.

Close to 900 C-level executives across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) participated in the survey.

(Reporting by Gerard Aoun; editing by Seban Scaria)

(gerard.aoun@refinitiv.com)

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