Dubai is set to transform into the ultimate digital epicentre of the world as the UAE hosts the world’s largest tech show, converging the most advanced companies and best minds to deep dive into the making of the Web 3.0 economy.
Starting today and on till October 14 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, Gitex Global returns with its largest ever edition, featuring 5,000 companies spanning 26 halls and two million sq. ft of exhibition space, at an extraordinary 25 per cent year-on-year increase, pushing its capacity limit at the venue.
The GITEX 3.0 edition, in its 42nd year presents the most empowering curation ever with seven multi-tech themes experimenting in the metaverse, a decentralised future of the internet, and a sustainable global digital economy.
Event scale reflects digital ambitions of UAE & region
The five-day event’s record size and continued expansion mirrors the ambitions of the UAE and region’s digital transformation movement, as government initiatives such as the National Program for Coders, the Dubai Metaverse Strategy, and Next GenFDI propels the UAE to the forefront of the global digital economy.
This is amplified by new Gitex Global 2022 launches of X-Verse sponsored by TMRW Foundation, in collaboration with Decentraland, one of the world’s most immersive metaverse journeys featuring 28 experiential brands; and Global DevSlam, the Middle East’s largest ever coder and developer meetup, both of which sold-out to a global audience within two months.
Omar Al Olama, Minister of State for AI, Digital Economy & Remote Work Applications, says: “Gitex this year is bigger than ever. It spans two million sq. ft. with over 5,000 exhibitors from more than 90 countries, which makes this truly the biggest tech show in the world. This year, my office has partnered with Gitex to ensure that we’re not just showcasing technology, but actually inventing and developing technology.”
The Minister also highlights that the Global DevSlam event is poised to be one of the biggest developer events in the world.
Trixie LohMirmand, Executive Vice President of Events Management at Dubai World Trade Centre, Gitex Global’s organiser, says: “Gitex is not just a big gathering of people. It’s the super-connector humanising the virtual and digital economies.
“Gitex serves a profound purpose of enabling and accelerating the digital economies of UAE and many of its alliance partners through connecting earnest stakeholders with outstanding minds from the world, and materialising these connections into actionable partnerships.”
UAE and region rising as global tech hub
Gitex Global 2022 will welcome an unprecedented 52 per cent of new exhibitors this year choosing the show and the UAE as the first-choice partner in their market access strategies.
The influx of global interest will see North Star hosting the biggest Unicorn meetup of the year in Dubai, with 35 Unicorns from 15 countries looking to explore new opportunities and expand in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets. The Africa Fast 100 programme presents the largest ever gathering of African start-ups to be hosted outside Africa, as the African tech companies have been touted as the next ones to watch by global investors.
Debut international exhibitors such as Binance, Ooku, AMD, Tencent, and ByteDance, are seeking to extend their brand reach to a global audience through Gitex, along with FTX Exchange, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges with a five million-plus global customer base and an average daily trading volume of $12 billion.
UAE entities inspire R&D in transformative tech
UAE companies are shaking up the global tech scene with their bold undertakings and commitments in tech R&D and inventions, including Technology Innovation Institute (TII) a leading global scientific institution and the applied research pillar of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council.
TII will have a significant presence at Gitex Global, showcasing AI and Digital Science, Directed Energy, and Autonomous Robotics Research. Dr Ray O. Johnson, CEO of Technology Innovation Institute, says: “We are delighted with our significant presence at Gitex Global, billed as the largest tech event in the world.
“Our journey has just begun. Research today is a collaborative field, and we look forward to the networking opportunities with the technology world’s leaders to accelerate our breakthroughs in the years to come.”
e&, the region’s largest telecom operator is another prominent Gitex Global exhibitor. Earlier this year, the carrier was ranked as the world’s strongest telecom brand by Brand Finance, becoming the first in the MEA region to achieve this milestone. Gitex Global 2022 will be the first major exhibition for e& (previously Etisalat) since the launch of its new brand identity earlier this year.
Hatem Dowidar, Group CEO of e&, says: “Given the e& transformation journey we embarked on earlier this year, the 2022 edition of Gitex Global is truly special for us, as it is the first major global technology event where we will showcase the strides we’re taking to progress into a global technology and investment group that creates technology to empower every person and organisation to stride into a great wide-open future.”
World’s largest PPP creation platform
Gitex unifies the participation of 250 government entities leading strategic digital projects and public-private partnerships or PPPs, with Digital Dubai Authority and Abu Dhabi Digital Authority among the UAE government bodies advancing smart city and digital projects.
Tariq Al Janahi, Acting CEO, Digital Dubai Authority, says: “Following the vision of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister and of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, to digitalise life in the city, this year Digital Dubai’s participation at Gitex Global 2022, in partnership with 32 government and seven private sector partners, will showcase the latest digitalisation solutions built by Dubai Government, also displaying future plans to build a holistic city-wide digital ecosystem ensuring Dubai becomes a global benchmark for building digital economies.”
Mansoor Al Marzooqi, Executive Director, Strategy & Innovation Sector, at Abu Dhabi Digital Authority, says: “Gitex Global 2022 is a global tech platform that gives the Abu Dhabi government the opportunity to showcase new digital initiatives in government services, digital government solutions, data and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and digital enablement, all of which have been carefully developed to further strengthen Abu Dhabi’s digital capabilities, enabling, supporting and delivering a digital government that is proactive, personalized, collaborative and secure.”
Huawei, Gitex Global’s Diamond Sponsor and a world-leading innovator in next-generation networks, is among the multinationals establishing long-lasting collaborations, and will this year showcase its newest end-to-end products and advanced ICT solutions focusing on AI, digital power, cloud, 5G, cybersecurity, and industry applications.
Alaa Elshimy, Managing Director and Senior Vice President of Enterprise Business Group, at Huawei Middle East, says: “Gitex Global provides us with a golden opportunity to network with our customers, partners, industry leaders and experts from the Middle East and around the world. We will share insights on steps we are taking to advance digital development across a range of industries, highlight technological updates that can address climate change and drive clean energy development, and further release new innovative connectivity solutions and cloud services for the region.”
Microsoft will also present its most elevated Gitex Global involvement yet, participating in all tech sectors including Global DevSlam and X-Verse. “At Gitex Global 2022, our focus is on mixed reality and the impact it can have on industry specific scenarios,” says Naim Yazbeck, General Manager of Microsoft UAE. “We recently announced the availability of the industry-leading HoloLens 2 mixed reality headset in the UAE. Backed by the reliability, security, and scalability of our cloud, this state-of-the-art holographic device provides the most intuitive and immersive mixed reality experience which we will showcase at the event and demonstrate how mixed reality can support a wide variety of industry applications and use cases.
"Microsoft comes to Gitex Global 2022 fresh from the anniversary celebration of our UAE cloud data centres. Through the trusted, versatile, flexible Microsoft Cloud, we have empowered enterprises that think big to deliver on their ambitions, and we pledge continued support for all such innovators across the region.”
The GITEX 3.0 edition features seven tech themes: North Star Dubai start-ups, Ai Everything, Future Blockchain Summit in association with VARA, Fintech Surge, Marketing Mania and two sell-out new launches of Global DevSlam and X-Verse.
More information is available at www.gitex.com
