Top 10 enterprise IT in the Middle East stories of 2019

1. Abu Dhabi AI university is key to UAE’s future as the oil dries up

Abu Dhabi’s fledgling artificial intelligence-focused university is a core pillar of the United Arab Emirates’ 30-year plan to remove its economy’s heavy reliance on oil. The Gulf state is developing healthcare, financial services, renewable energy and materials technology sectors, which will make up the UAE economy when the oil runs out. But first, it needs to ensure its citizens have the skills to drive them.

2. Saudi banks trial blockchain-based identity technology at ATMs

US blockchain identity platform firm ShoCard is working with Alhamrani Universal, Saudi Arabia’s largest automated teller machine (ATM) provider, to develop the country’s first biometric bank access technologies. The ShoCard prototype is aimed at solving card fraud issues that continue to blight banks and consumers globally. A study by Gemini Advisory showed that in the US alone, 60 million credit cards were compromised last year and sold on the dark web.

3. Middle East businesses welcome Amazon Web Services region launch

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has connected the Middle East to its global network with the launch of its Bahrain AWS region. The cloud supplier already has infrastructure in the region, but the launch of the Bahrain AWS region, with three datacentres, will connect to its global network.

4. Inside Oman’s new tech startup drive

Oman is following in the steps of its Gulf Cooperation Council neighbours by turning its focus to building a nationwide tech startup ecosystem. The Gulf state has already laid strong foundations for the development of its tech credentials with its overarching policy vision, dubbed 2030 Digital Oman Strategy, or eOman.

5. Interview: Abdul Nasser Al Mughairbi, head of digital, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is transforming its business through digital projects that range from deciding where to drill for oil and gas, to helping the company decide where to sell its final products. The state-owned oil company has driven the United Arab Emirates’ economy since it was founded almost half a century ago, and its head of digital, Abdul Nasser Al Mughairbi, has been driving digital transformation since 2017.

6. Interview: Yasmeen Al Sharaf, head of fintech and innovation unit, Central Bank of Bahrain

Yasmeen Al Sharaf graduated from the University of Bahrain with a BSc in banking and finance, and now runs the department focused on developing financial technology (fintech) at Bahrain’s financial regulator, the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB).

During her 14 years at the CBB, Al Sharaf has held several roles, including one that that involved licensing research and development, where she came into contact with financial services firms trying to set up in Bahrain.

7. Middle East Interview: Dubai-based Fetch

Dubai-based delivery app founder Idriss Al Rifai is well on his way to building one of the largest tech companies in the Middle East. Al Rifai launched Fetchr, the region’s first “phone-to-phone” delivery service, with just three developers in 2012. The company has grown rapidly and now serves 500 cities across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Egypt and Jordan.

8. Revolutionising patient booking in the Gulf

When Dubai-based Fodhil Benturquia fell ill for a short while in 2017, he saw first-hand how difficult it was to book a doctor in the emirate – so he decided to create his own venture to solve the problem of booking an appointment. To this end, he set up and became CEO of Okadoc.com, the UAE’s first online doctor booking portal.

9. Middle East countries accelerate quantum computing research

Universities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have launched quantum computing research groups to cultivate homegrown knowledge of the tech that is set to transform the world. Quantum computing, if practical, would mark a leap forward in computing capability far greater than that from the abacus to a modern day supercomputer.

10. Dubai’s Kentech kicks off digital transformation drive

Energy and industrial support company Kentech is one of many Dubai-headquartered organisations to migrate to the cloud and, with most of the project done, it plans to switch over to the cloud in the first month of 2020.