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Insights from IBM

What are your reasons for coming onboard the 43^rd edition of GITEX Global, what are your expectations, and who are you hoping to meet at the show?

Our participation in GITEX Global is a testament to IBM's commitment to supporting the UAE National agenda in becoming a global AI and technology leader. As the UAE is considered to be a regional hub for digital innovation and transformation, we are eager to take part in this event to showcase how IBM's AI and hybrid cloud cutting-edge solutions can effectively address business challenges and enhance organizational efficiency.

Are you planning to launch any products or services, demonstrate new technologies, or sign any partnerships during the show? Please provide details to help us amplify your presence.

We are working on some collaborations and experiences at GITEX around our newly launched watsonx platform. More details to follow as we get closer to the event.

How important is GITEX Global for your business, and what is the volume of business growth you anticipate from your participation in the show?

MEA businesses are becoming more aware of the importance of embracing digital transformation to maintain their competitiveness in a rapidly changing global economy. AI plays a pivotal role in their digital transformation strategies, and IBM recognized the demand for AI solutions and advancements in the market. This led to the creation of watsonx, a comprehensive AI and data platform that we will also showcase at the event. watsonx empowers enterprises to effectively leverage cutting-edge AI technologies alongside reliable data, enabling them to expand and enhance their AI capabilities with confidence.

We will also showcase other IBM's technological innovations and cutting-edge solutions related to sustainability, Data and AI, Security and Infrastructure. This will provide an opportunity for collaboration and idea exchange for IBM and its clients and partners, further bringing us towards our shared mission of helping clients solve the most pressing business problems through technology.

How important is the Middle East and Africa for your business, and what is your growth strategy in the region over the coming years?

IBM has been in UAE for more than two decades and in MEA for over a century, always at the forefront of innovation: From enabling the South African census efforts as CTR in 1920, to installing the first information handling system at Saudi Aramco in 1947.

Our primary focus in the region is to accelerate government and business agendas through advancing technologies like AI for business and hybrid cloud. In line with national agendas, we remain committed to working with different government entities on enhancing citizen and digital government experiences.

To what extent can the region’s bold digital transformation missions elevate the global tech ecosystem?

The digital transformation we witness today in MEA holds immense potential to elevate the global tech ecosystem to new heights. MEA is a fertile region for startups, entrepreneurs, and established tech players to collaborate, invest, and share expertise. The development of cutting-edge solutions to address regional challenges can lead to the creation of scalable and adaptable technologies that find applications worldwide.

Moreover, the rapid digitalization of industries in the MEA region stimulates global interest and participation, attracting international investors and businesses seeking new growth opportunities. As the region becomes a hub for technological breakthroughs and market disruptions, its impact on the global tech ecosystem will be nothing short of transformational, driving progress and ushering in a new era of innovation and collaboration.

Which countries and industry verticals are you targeting as part of your business plan over the next 5-10 years? 

IBM is helping clients in MEA capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Thousands of governments and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, public, energy and telco rely on IBM's hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely.

GITEX Global is accelerating the epic race for AI dominance in 2023:  how is your business embracing the AI innovation wave?

IBM is committed to unleashing the transformative potential of foundation models and generative AI. We provide open, trusted, and targeted value creating AI solutions for businesses. watsonx, our recently launched integrated AI and data platform, embodies these principles, offering a seamless, efficient, and responsible approach to AI deployment across a variety of environments.

With IBM, every client is an AI value creator. Whether it's fine-tuning open-sourced models, creating their own, deploying AI on-premises or in the cloud, or gaining transparency into AI decisions, IBM stands ready to empower every business in the age of AI.

Aside from AI, what is the world’s next big technology shift and how should government, business, and society prepare for it?

Over the next few years, we foresee a profound computing revolution that could significantly disrupt established business models and redefine entire industries. We anticipate quantum computing— in combination with existing advanced technologies — will dramatically impact how science and business evolve. By accelerating the discovery of solutions to big global challenges, quantum computing could unleash positive disruptions significantly more abrupt than technology waves of the past decades. The integration of quantum computing, AI, and classical computing into hybrid cloud workflows will drive the most significant computing revolution in 60 years. Quantum-powered workflows will radically reshape how enterprises work.

Our vision at IBM Quantum is to scale quantum processors to a size where they’re capable of solving the world’s most challenging problems. We have set our sights on a key milestone: a 100,000-qubit system by 2033. And now, we’re sponsoring and partnering on targeted research with the University of Tokyo and the University of Chicago to develop a system that would be capable of addressing some of the world’s most pressing problems that even the most advanced supercomputers of today may never be able to solve.

GITEX Global and GITEX Impact will build up the momentum for COP 28, taking place in Dubai from 30 November -12 December. How do you see the adoption of ESG strategies by tech companies, and what are the critical factors for those initiatives leading to a more sustainable future?

IBM was named technology partner of the 2022 COP27 in Egypt. At the conference, we showcased how technology and consulting can help business and government leaders align sustainability goals to organizational objectives, responding to regulatory demands and without compromising profitability. With yet another COP Conference (COP28) in our region, IBM remains committed to helping organizations advance from sustainability ambitions to action.

Sustainability is about much more than reducing emissions. Businesses need to apply a 360-degree sustainability approach, with goals spanning their entire operations - focusing on areas like asset management, IT infrastructure, supply chains, climate and weather insights, analysis and reporting of ESG data, the broader impact of their business on the community, and more. 

The central challenge for any sustainability initiative is data visibility. With AI-driven technologies, companies can more easily collect and analyze the vast amounts of sustainability data scattered across their business and automate feedback between operational endpoints and corporate sustainability initiatives. Technology is able to help businesses move beyond capturing and reporting data to improving operational performance, turning data into insights that help them make smarter, more sustainable decisions every day.