If 2020 was a year of unprecedented changes and 2021 was a year of recovery and resilience, then 2022 proved to be everyone’s favourite child.
This was especially true for the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa region as we broke new ground to foster dialogues on climate change, advanced our space exploration capabilities, and captured the pulse of the world at one of the most watched global sporting events.
Emerging technologies underscored these monumental accomplishments, giving wings to human aspirations and bringing renewed focus and vigour to economies, businesses, and day-to-day lives.
2023 promises to be equally remarkable.
Here are the top five technology shifts that will shape our economies and drive us as a region to advance our economic, scientific, and creative contributions to the global arena.
Business will demand cloud without compromise to scale-up
According to a Dell commissioned Forrester Consulting study, 83 per cent of companies will have implemented multicloud by 2023, with three out of four firms needing flexibility in their cloud infrastructure mix today.
Cloud will become critical to an organisation’s survival this year, and business leaders will piece together an ecosystem of different services to meet their unique needs.
Foresighted leaders will also closely evaluate new cloud options for cost efficiencies, distribute IT capabilities across various providers, and develop a cloud strategy to maintain data security, good governance, and stakeholder value.
Cyber recovery will become an organisation’s lifeblood and define every move
The more agile a business becomes, the more it needs to prioritise cyber recovery. Organisations will establish authoritative identity management, policy management and threat management framework for consistent identity, policy and recovery of an enterprise.
We will continue to see an increase in industries requiring zero-trust frameworks. It will become the globally accepted best practice for cybersecurity architecture. More than any other aspect, security in the multi-cloud will be needed to be consistent and accessible. Silos will be the enemy of real zero-trust security.
Quantum Computing will be the new frontier of digital transformation
For decades, quantum computing has only been accessible to the world’s largest research institutions and government agencies. But in 2023, quantum computing is getting real, and businesses need to identify and devote the team, tools, and tasks and start experimenting or risk missing this technology wave.
As the new frontier of digital transformation, businesses will begin to pilot the use of quantum and harness its advanced computing capabilities to speed up innovation. Investing in quantum simulation and enabling data science and AI teams to learn quantum’s new languages and capabilities is critical in 2023. Healthcare and finance are two sectors where the impact of quantum will begin to be felt.
Edge will usher in a new era of business breakthroughs
In today’s data-driven world, transporting large quantities of data from its source to a centralised data center or cloud is costly and inefficient. A business can achieve real value when computing resources are moved closer to where data is generated and consumed.
Edge computing’s astronomical growth will continue in 2023. It will rapidly become a key differentiator and usher in a new era of business transformation. Edge will enable new use cases and capabilities across many industries, verticals and markets.
AI will become the engine of innovation in every organisation
The journey to intelligent, automated, and efficient business outcomes starts with AI. AI will reach an important turning point next year as it is adopted across every organisation – irrespective of size.
Leaders are increasingly looking at ways to harness the value of data and are turning to AI to keep pace with changing trends and remain one step ahead of competitors. AI will become the main innovation engine in 2023, and the impact of human–machine partnerships will reverberate worldwide.
For regional businesses, the new year is full of promises. With digital transformation accelerating at pace, emerging technologies will drive the future development of digital economies across our region.
From smart cities built around sustainable energy consumption to seamless engagement between community and government, the digital economies of tomorrow will rely on a digital core.
So come with me on this journey and witness how technology will only continue to speed up innovation and catapult us into the Digital Future – and we all must be ready to adapt.
By Mohammed Amin, Senior Vice President, Middle East, Turkey, and Africa (META), Dell Technologies
Let’s connect: Twitter @mamin624 and LinkedIn
