Dubai hosts Gitex Technology Week
The eyes of the technology business world are focusing on Dubai at the moment due to Gitex Technology Week, which is currently taking place at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Officially opened by Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the crown prince of Dubai, the event commenced on Sunday (October 12th) and will run through to October 16th, with more than 100,000 IT professionals from 150 countries and 3,700 exhibiting companies expected to attend over the five days.
The key themes of this year's event include smart devices, the cloud, big data and mobility - four trends that are expected to shape developments in the business world both in Dubai and the rest of the world over the coming years.
Gitex Technology Week is designed to act as a gateway for IT-oriented businesses to the Middle East, northern Africa and southern Asian regions, highlighting the number of technology trends and innovations these destinations are generating at the moment.
The Middle East's first ever Google for Work event was held as part of the conference on Sunday, with further panels discussing the impact of big data and the cloud in greater detail. The event also boasts significant interactions with social media, effectively expanding the audience to a much larger international scale.
Not only will this trade industry event help to highlight a number of important business issues, it will also tie in with the local government's efforts to transform Dubai into the world's smartest city over the coming three years.
Helal Saeed Almarri, director-general of Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said: 'As Dubai prepares for its transformation into a smart city by harnessing the power of technology to drive development and improve civic services, we welcome Sheikh Hamdan's support for Gitex Technology Week, which once again unites the public and private sectors by bringing the world's technology community together.'
This comes after the Gitex Shopper retail event was held at the Dubai World Trade Centre earlier this month, with in excess of 200,000 visitors stopping by to peruse more than 30,000 products.