DUBAI
A recent white paper from Frost & Sullivan, a business consultancy, has identified the Middle East as a region of high potential for the Internet of Things (IoT), or the technology that connects everyday devices such as fridges or televisions through the internet.
The report, from Frost & Sullivan’s Digital Transformation practice, explores disruptive opportunities in IoT across the automotive, health care, energy and manufacturing industries with GCC-specific examples. Key global players in the region include Siemens, Real-time Innovations, and Texas Instruments.
In the Middle East, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, which lead in smart cities and smart government initiatives, will see high adoption of IoT for smart transportation. There are already examples of integration, like the driverless car powered by solar energy at Masdar City in Abu Dhabi. Similarly, the health care market in the region holds robust potential for IoT as new and existing hospitals in the GCC compete to be the most innovative and advanced in the region. In 2016, there were over 100 projects related to new hospital construction or improvement of existing hospitals. The combined construction value of these projects was $18.70 billion (Dh68.68 billion).
“IoT can generate a strong return on investment by reducing support costs, increasing customer loyalty and referrals, uncovering insights to cross-sell or up-sell to customers, and developing customer-appealing products,” said Haritha Ramachandran, associate director, Digital Transformation, Frost & Sullivan, in a statement.
The report identified several verticals in which IoT is fuelling growth opportunities, including: Automotive, health care, energy, and manufacturing.
