Top 10 Middle East stories of 2020

The Middle East is rapidly becoming a leader in digital transformation. There is good reason for this – the countries that make up its member states are investing in diversifying their economies.

While reducing a heavy reliance on oil revenues is a huge step for a region that has grown wealthy from an abundance of the black stuff, the great advantage for many of the oil-rich countries in the Middle East is that they have cash to invest while making this transformation.

As a result, the likes of Saudi Arabia and the UAE are using advanced technology such as artificial intelligence to support new industries such as healthcare and financial services to gradually replace oil revenue as they dry up.

This has been happening for a number of years and, as some of the articles in this top 10 show, organisations in the Middle East face the same challenges as those in the western world.

But the Middle East is diverse and countries find themselves at different stages of their digital journeys. Take Egypt. The North African country is currently in the early stages of investing in a technology industry by comparison with some of its neighbours.

Egypt is, for example, at the stage where new laws are being introduced to support a datacentre industry, while its citizens are being offered training in using technology. One thing is for certain – tech education is vital if the region is to create a prosperous IT sector. Filling skills gaps will become a huge challenge in the future.

While oil will spring to mind for many years to come at the mention of the Middle East economy, this year’s top 10 Middle East articles tell a different story.