Cloud computing set to steal spotlight at largest tech expo

Dubai: The organisers of Gitex Technology Week will play an increased educational role this year as the industry pushes ahead with cloud computing as a solution for the information communication and technology sector.

Taking shape for over a year, cloud computing — the internet-based and shared-resources computing — has companies such as HP, Microsoft, IBM and Oracle describing how enterprises and individuals can benefit from their new stream of products and services.

The exhibition will see two full days of conference around the cloud, called Gitex Cloud Confex. The size of the cloud computing industry is expected to reach $44 billion worldwide by 2013 according to research company IDC and in 2009, spending on cloud-related technologies, hardware and software was valued at about $17 billion.

New elements

While the number of companies exhibiting and the space they take up has not seen much growth in the past two years, the organisers have been working to bring new elements to the exhibition to keep visitor numbers up.

Hitting 30 years since it began pulling together the industry players, the exhibition has grown in size 93-fold, starting off with just 820 square metres of space and 46 companies, compared with 3,500 now.

Helal Saeed Al Merri, Chief Executive of the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), organiser of the event, said that the exhibition has had a direct impact of 1.5 -2 per cent of gross domestic product and Dh100 million in revenues from exhibition space and visitors.

"Gitex has had a lot of impact from bringing [business] visitors, not only on Dubai but also to the UAE and the region as a whole," he said, adding that many ICT companies' first entry into the market has been through the exhibition. The indirect contribution to the industry is enormous but difficult to measure, he said.

TRA re-elected to ITU

The UAE's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) was yesterday re-elected as a member of International Telecommunication Union Council at the 18th ITU Plenipotentiary Conference taking place in Mexico.

The UAE is participating in the conference with a high-level delegation headed by UAE Minister of State Reem Al Hashemi, who said: "We also hope that this successful experience is a prelude to more distinctions and good fortune in the future. We know that it reflects the diligence of the TRA, under the administration of Mohammad Nasser Al Ghanim, in enhancing its capabilities, efficiency and human resources, to respond and interact constructively with the vital requirements of an ever changing communications field, not only at the local level and in relation to the internal needs of the UAE."

Mohammad Nasser Al Ghanim, TRA director-general, said: "Winning the membership for the second time in a row is a testament and clear evidence of the leadership policy's success of UAE that is seeking to strengthen the country's position in global forums."