UAE ICT Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023-2028)

The UAE ICT market is expected to register a CAGR of 8.5% during the forecast period. With a tech-savvy and globally connected population with a robust, high-tech, and high-coverage network, the UAE has consistently provided a favorable environment for ICT operators.

Key Highlights

• The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region's primary hub for international trade and business, the UAE, is a highly competitive market for the information and communication technology (ICT) sector. Initiatives by the UAE government aim to create a competitive knowledge economy and a free, effective, efficient, and internationally integrated business environment to lessen its reliance on oil revenue and expand the private sector. To promote the growth of the knowledge-based economy, the UAE government is implementing several actions.
• This is in addition to the frequently shown dedication of the government of Dubai and the UAE's goal of becoming a global power leader in IT. Projects like Smart Dubai, the Dubai Internet Future Foundation, and the Ministry for Artificial Intelligence, a Minister for the Future, and artificial intelligence (AI) are encouraging signs of the Emirate's prospective commitment.
• Dubai, one of the seven Emirates that make up the UAE, is governed by federal ICT law and is a component of a unified, national ICT infrastructure. The two companies, Etisalat and DU, serve the telecoms market in Dubai, just like they do for the rest of the UAE. The UAE's telecom providers have played and will continue to play a vital role in the country's adoption of big data, blockchain technology, and artificial intelligence (AI) applications.
• Cybersecurity is one of the significant challenges for any growing ICT market, and the UAE is no exception. The region witnesses one of the highest numbers of cyberattacks in the world and is vulnerable to such attacks. For instance, according to a survey by Sophos, a British security software and hardware business, there were 408 attacks on average per week in the UAE and 925 attacks per week on average against organizations worldwide during the fourth quarter of 2021.
• The global COVID-19 outbreak still poses severe obstacles to the world economy and its prospects for recovery. Although the Middle East is looking for ways to restart economic activity gradually, the impact there has been the same. The ICT sector is still feeling the repercussions of this economic shock and how it has affected how businesses, governments, and consumers are recovering.

UAE ICT Market Trends

Artificial Intelligence to Drive the Market

• The UAE places a significant priority on artificial intelligence (AI). According to the International Trade Administration in the US, AI is anticipated to contribute around 14% of the country's GDP (or USD 96 billion) by 2030. Between 2018 and 2030, AI's contribution to the UAE economy is anticipated to grow by 33.5% annually.
• The UAE AI Strategy 2031 was introduced to increase productivity in the transportation, health, space, renewable energy, water, technology, education, environment, and traffic sectors as part of the government's UAE Centennial 2071 goals. AI integration into sectors like education, healthcare, space, transportation, and aviation has already started in the Emirates. The ambitious objectives of the government to diversify its economy and develop a knowledge economy include AI as a vital component.
• A license for AI and coding has been introduced to promote AI investments and entice AI firms and programmers from around the world to settle in the United Arab Emirates. Additionally, the license intends to realize the objectives of the UAE's Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031. Businesses with the license will be able to work at the DIFC Innovation Hub, the largest cluster of FinTech and innovation businesses in the region, which accounts for more than 60% of all FinTechs in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations. The license also allows businesses to apply for UAE Golden Visas for their workers.
• The UAE National Program for Artificial Intelligence, or BRAIN, is an extensive and well-organized collection of resources highlighting the latest developments in robotics and AI, focusing on the UAE's goal of becoming a global leader in the responsible application of AI and its tools. The numerous efforts, partnerships, collaborations, and achievements in the field of artificial intelligence will be defined and highlighted in this program, along with their effects on humanity.
• By 2035, it was predicted that AI would contribute roughly USD 37 billion to the financial services industry in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). According to a survey conducted by D.P. World, Jafza, and Seyfarth, the UAE's logistics sector was predicted to boost the country's economy by 8% in 2021.

Smart Cities and 5G Developments to drive the ICT Market

• The UAE has made considerable investments in smart city projects with the intention of creating new smart cities from scratch and enhancing infrastructure in already existing cities. Since October 2013, the Dubai government has been working to make Dubai a smart city by implementing innovations in six major sectors: urban planning, transportation, communications, infrastructure, electricity, and economic services.
• The goal of the city-wide campaign is to make Dubai the establishment of Digital Dubai Authority and support the world's smartest city. The Dubai Paperless Strategy, introduced in 2018, was fully implemented across the emirate's 45 government bodies in December 2021. These organizations offer more than 1,800 digital services and over 10,500 important transactions.
• Some of the efforts include public Wi-Fi, electric car charging stations, real-time traffic monitoring, and an E-wallet for the Roads and Transport Authority. Authorities in the UAE will seek to keep their country's status as a pioneer in smart technology. Ongoing public sector expenditures in significant infrastructure projects centered on 'smart' buildings are anticipated to increase, creating opportunities for American businesses.
• The UAE launched its 5G network as the first nation in the Arab world and the fourth worldwide. The biggest telecom operators in the country, Du and Etisalat, introduced limited 5G networks in 2019 and made the 5G-capable ZTE Axon 10 Pro smartphone available to both post-paid and pre-paid consumers. The demand for 5G services is expected to increase over the next few years due to the UAE's technological leadership and high GDP per capita.
• For instance, in June 2021, a 6G initiative unveiled by Etisalat is anticipated to be around 100 times faster than 5G. By researching and creating the 6G ecosystem's key tenets, they have invested in the development of 6G. The development and growth of the UAE's telecom network and infrastructure will probably present economic prospects for American businesses.
• In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the number of fifth-generation technology (5G) mobile subscriptions was predicted to rise from one million in 2020 to around 150 million by 2026, according to Ericsson. Global digitalization was expedited by the COVID-19 pandemic, which also emphasized the value of broadband connectivity.

UAE ICT Market Competitor Analysis

The UAE ICT market is highly competitive as both global and local players dominate it. With support from the government and the introduction of new and technically advanced projects of AI, Smart Cities, IoT, etc., competitiveness in the market is expected to grow even further. Some of the key market players are Oracle Corporation, SAP AG, Microsoft Corporation, Salesforce, and IBM Corp.

In October 2022, at Gitex Global 2022, Informatica, a market leader in enterprise data management, revealed that it inked a multi-year, strategic framework deal to provide enterprise data management services to Abu Dhabi government agencies. The proactive, individualized, collaborative, and secure digital government was enabled and supported by the Abu Dhabi Digital Authority (ADDA). The Data Enablement Program, a multi-year strategy led by ADDA, intends to make the Emirate of Abu Dhabi a data-driven state to further its strategic goals and harness the power of data to spur economic growth and speed up the development of the digital economy throughout the Emirate.

Additional benefits of purchasing the report:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support

This product will be delivered within 2 business days.