FUTURE
TECHNOLOGY
Gartner offers future
technology predictions for GCC
Analysts from Gartner have identified six technologies which they believe
are set to reach mainstream adoption in the next five to 10 years in the GCC
region. The predictions are detailed in the Hype Cycle for IT in the GCC [Gulf
Cooperation Council] report.
T
his year’s Gartner, Inc. Hype Cycle for
IT in the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council]
identifies Blockchain, the Internet of
Things (IoT), city operations centres, smart
city frameworks, digital twins and smart
contracts as being among the technologies
that will achieve mainstream business
adoption in the next five to 10 years.
The GCC is an alliance of six Middle Eastern
countries: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United
Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
Of the 29 technologies on this year’s
Hype Cycle, eight are entering the ‘Slope
of Enlightenment’ and climbing toward the
‘Plateau of Productivity’.
“This shows that the GCC region is
entering an important stage and growing
in maturity,” said Santhosh Rao, Senior
Research Director at Gartner.
“However, technologies fuelling Digital
Transformation in the region are taking
longer to reach mainstream adoption.
“Local organisations are cautious about
adopting new technologies. At the same
time, system integrators are not fully
equipped to handle complex digital projects
due to a shortage of skills.”
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“Of the six technologies, enterprises
should focus on Blockchain, the IoT and
digital twins, as these are growing rapidly,”
said Rao. “In addition, local organisations
know that these technologies will help create
competitive differentiation and enhance
service delivery.”
Although Blockchain technology
maintains high visibility, Gartner does
not expect Blockchain architectures to be
suitable for many enterprise activities,
especially taking account of issues of
decentralisation, risk and governance.
However, start-ups may continue to
seek disruptive opportunities using the
original block and chain concept, and Gartner
recommends that business executives
undertake scenario planning accordingly.
“In GCC, Blockchain technology has
received significant interest from the
governments and financial institutions, due
to the increase in the number of digitalisation
projects currently underway,” said Rao.
“Organisations should consider proof-of-
concept experimentation but remain aware
that the general public may not readily
accept non-intermediated information
management and transaction execution
models and decentralised governance.”
Those considering implementing
Blockchain technology should use clear
language and definitions in internal
discussions about the nature of this
technology. They should also identify the
points of integration with their existing
infrastructures (such as digital wallets and
core systems of record) to help determine
future investment plans.
IoT has a business transformation and
evolutionary impact on most organisations
as it can be used as a key enabler to
Of the six technologies,
enterprises should
focus on Blockchain,
the IoT and digital
twins, as these are
growing rapidly.