The State Of Iot In Middle East
The usage and adoption of IoT applications in Middle East region has resulted in an profound impact across a variety of domains such as public security, defence systems, transportation and healthcare. Connected devices can help in providing real time updates facilitated by situational awareness to act at operational level thus monitor the status of asset optimisation resulting in better decision making processes. Significant amounts of investments in IoT projects are expected to occur in industries such as manufacturing and transportation thus enabling the companies to digitalize their operations. Education is another sector which will benefit from IoT techniques thus resulting in more digital and interactive sessions for student learning purposes. Transportation is another sector which is expected to witness significant changes as a result of integration of various IoT strategies. The Road and Transport Authority (RTA) in UAE has planned to improve transportation system where people will be able to interact with different commute systems using integrated smart devices such as smartphones working over network of shared data and information.
IoT on a government level can also aid with a number of benefits into that of financial sector such as improved cyber security means, predictive analytics and payment protection gateways with the implementation of transaction security systems along with integration of innovative payment mechanisms. Because of a significant lead taken by UAE in digital adaptation, it is expected that Middle East region will contribute towards highest investments into IoT projects with estimated projections around 12 bn USD dollars by the year ending 2020. Among the Middle East countries, UAE has turned out to be the most significant pioneer in the field of digital adaptation of IoT where Dubai is expected to be among the first prototypes towards smart city approaches. With one of the most sophisticated underlying infrastructure, Dubai is well placed to convert itself into a truly smart city of future. The significance of Dubai’s smart city plan lies across six major dimensions ie. Smart government, Smart devices, Smart mobility, Smart energy and Smart infrastructure. Recently, Dubai has initiated a digital governance initiative considering broader dimension of smart mobility. Smart gate functionality integrated into national ID has made possible for the residents to access myriad of services in upcoming future. Smart government and smart services are the long term vision to bring transformation and make Dubai a modern hub for business. Along with the digitalisation of processes, the government has taken initiatives to act proposals for efficient resource utilisation with focus on smart energy initiatives such as Smart Grid Meters based on IoT for automated distribution of utilities such as electricity and water services to residences.
Information Technology Market in Middle East has also seen a huge leap in the preceding years thus covering a whole array of industries. The use of smartphones has been on a rapid rise with users shifting rapidly towards smart application solutions thus IoT can play a vital role to provide better user interaction. Thus the integration of IoT into UAE economy has helped in the transformation and management of efficient services and networks in real time.
