Mideast's biggest ICT fair GITEX kicks off in Dubai

Dubai's Emir Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum opened here Sunday the Mideast's biggest ICT fair GITEX, which focuses on smart-phone and tablet technology, cloud computing and ICT security this year. About 3,576 firms from 54 countries are present at Dubai's world trade center for the fair, among which more than 816 firms are first-time exhibitors. The fair is held at a time of solid economic growth and ample demand for ICT in the Gulf Arab region and beyond. According to global market research firm Gartner Inc., the Mideast will spend 192.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2013 in ICT, 5.5 percent up compared to last year. In the center of this year's GITEX are the latest smart-phone products from suppliers like Huawei and Blackberry and smart-phone applications, cloud computing solutions and data security for corporations and consumers alike. Anti-virus software producers like Symantec and Kaspersky booked some of the largest exhibition stands. "The advantage of operating in this region for any supplier of ICT is that the Gulf Arab states are open for new technologies, there are no mental barriers and financial resources are also huge for going ahead to implement state-of-the-art ICT," said Hani Yassin, senior director for technology strategy in the Mideast and North Africa at U.S. chip producer Qualcomm. Among other participants from outside the Mideast and North Africa are China's Huawei, Microsoft, Dell Computers, Germany's software giant SAP, Siemens, Oracle and Fujitsu. The Dubai government is also present and occupies half of a hall in order to showcase its vision of e-governance. On Saturday, the Dubai ruler announced the launch of a smart city project, which would transform all government departments and public services into e-driven platforms so that residents and visitors can access public services through tablets and smart-phones.