Digital transformation is not a one-time project or installation, but a continuous and ongoing evolution, an industry expert said. The digital transformation disrupts the entire economy and affects all sectors. All industries must automate to reduce costs, remain competitive, and improve the customer experience. "It's gaining ground in the Gulf countries, but at different levels for different entities. Jay Srage, CEO of Centrigent, a technology consulting firm, and chief operating officer and professor at Michigan Ross School of Business, told TechRadar Middle East's direction of technology development, Centrigent was launched in 2017 to help businesses and governments accelerate the adoption of emerging technologies, while the school trains senior executives to define sustainable strategies for the digital age, in the areas of Healthcare, retail and finance Srage was the former president of Qualcomm for the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe.
Srage said that digital transformation goes beyond 5G and includes data science, artificial intelligence and cloud computing. The idea of the United Nations and the WEF (World Economic Forum) is to connect all the people on the planet, but now there is an "industrial digital divide". "Regulation and education are the main obstacles for digital transformation in the region. Self-driving cars already exist in 2017 but they have not arrived yet and people do not know what machine learning is and do not make the difference between machine learning machine learning and machine learning. deep learning. Emerging technologies are very complex and difficult to understand," he said. She congratulated the European Union for putting in regulations on AI, drones, data privacy and 5G much faster than any other region. "In the Arabian Gulf, regulations do not exist yet, but they are taking small steps. In the UAE, one of AI's mandates is to boost its ecosystem, which requires regulation." The RTA (Roads and Transport Authority) in the Emirates The United Arab Emirates talks about taxi theft and this requires regulation before implementation," he said. In the UAE, he said digital transformation had started but at different levels. "The sectors with the most digital maturity in the world are the telecommunications, banking and automotive, while in the UAE it is telecommunications, banking, oil and gas," he said.
Four technologies that define digitization.
At present, Srage said that there were many technologies, but the four technologies that emerged to define digital transformation are 5G, AI, data science, and technology. Cloud Computing. Other than that, she said that artificial intelligence was the most important thing. According to research firm International Data Corporation (IDC), AI investment in the Middle East and Africa is expected to be €263 million this year, up from €200 million last year. This investment is expected to grow between 25 and 30% per year. Amnesty International's investment in the United Arab Emirates is expected to rise to €56.03 million this year, compared to €37.54 million last year, recording growth of more than 49%. Srage said that 5G would be the most disruptive technology this year, but machine learning has entered the second phase of disruption. "The first phase is the hype and the second phase is where you have products that are irrelevant and can't be applied. The third phase is where you get relevant products. "5G is more mature, but you won't see it anytime soon on an industrial level. This will benefit consumers because of the speed. When the integration of AI with 5G takes place in the next two years, you will see autonomous cars being driven safely and this will expand to other areas endowed with 39, relevant and powerful applications, "he said. When asked about the Internet of Things (IoT), said the IoT had been there since 2008. "It never got sped up because the network wasn't providing enough security and latency. 5G will be the catalyst for the IoT. IoT used to be considered a standalone technology, but now it is a hardware or software application," he said. According to IDC, digital transformation in the Middle East will grow by 19,55% to reach €24,84 million this year, up from € 20,79 million last year "You have digital transformation solutions coming into play and industries want to adopt them, but they're not fast enough or don't even know how to do it. It can be divided into two sectors: those who want to make a digital transformation and who do not know how and who decides to move. "In addition, she said that those who adopt are also very few and that the third category is the one that does not know how to do it.
Lack of industrial-grade AI solutions.
Over the past two years, Srage has stated that there are very good solutions available on the market, but many industries have not heard of it and don't know where and how to apply. However, she claimed that 60% of the AI solutions claimed were not "authentic AI" and were simply rule-based or automation solutions. "Today, there are very few commercial or industrial grade AI solutions. For AI to work, you need a quality data set that machines need to learn. For this, you need a year or two of data that will allow the AI start generating accurate forecasts. Accuracy is very important to AI," he said. The big question, she said, is how to integrate the availability of solutions in the market. In the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates has set a very ambitious digital agenda and has gone beyond the industry in digitization. "You have AI solutions in healthcare, but you don't see it applied in hospitals. There are VR and AR solutions for retail, but you don't see it in shopping malls," he said. According to Srage, the Three major industries (telecommunications, banking, and automotive) are adopting these technologies at a faster rate, but in these sectors, some are adopting and some are not."Automakers like Audi, BMW, and Mercedes Benz are very active in connecting cars with 5G and AI and data processing through cloud computing solutions, but they are not the only ones in the world. "Other manufacturers aren't adapting fast enough," she said.
Different levels of adoption.
The UAE government is driving the push for AI integration, Srage said, but "when we look at industries, there are different levels of adoption." In the telecommunications sector, key players in the Gulf countries such as Etisalat, duet and STC are at the forefront of adoption, she said, adding that the banking sector had started to adopt, but in general. Some key areas. In addition, he said that in the United States, the government framework set to go paperless by 2021, the United Arab Emirates Centennial Project 2071, and Saudi Arabia's vision for 2030, but industries do not follow "The UAE government The United Arabs is aware of the smart city, education and digitization of services for digital transformation, while for Saudi Arabia it is the education sector. "Industries are the first to digitize because they collect a large amount of consumer data . This is different for different industries, with some seeing the internet as a digital option and some telecom operators seeing data as an option. "Every industry is digitizing in its own way," she said.
Digital transformation is based on senior managers and not IT managers. It starts with the CEO, Srage said, and the CEO needs to connect with different departments to understand. "You can't have someone from the company to do it because they don't have the background, so you need a 4.0 consultant to work with all the sections to create a strategy." , a digital audit, a plan, an integration, then an education," she said.