The UAE has been appointed to chair the World Bank’s Cloud Computing Working Group, a development which, as per the analysts, will provide a boost to the Gulf country’s digital transformation efforts.
Dr. Bushra AlBlooshi, Senior Consultant Research and Innovation at Dubai Electronic Security Centre (DESC), an affiliate of Digital Dubai, led the working group’s meeting on November 28, stated the Dubai Media Office recently.
Previously co-led by Singapore and the United Kingdom, the working group brings together 27 countries, international groups, and top companies with an aim to advance global standards and practices in cloud computing.
Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, the Director General of Digital Dubai, during his interaction with the Zawya, said that the UAE’s selection to lead the World Bank body “reflected the exceptional reputation” of the country in the fields of new technology and cloud computing.
Al Mansoori also noted that cloud computing has become a “key pillar” of 21st century smart cities and “digitalised knowledge societies”.
The World Bank’s working groups convene experts from stakeholders in the public and private sectors worldwide, with the task of co-developing knowledge products, including playbooks, how-to notes, surveys and benchmarks.
As per Amazon Web Services (AWS), the adoption of cloud technology will add USD 181 billion to the UAE economy over the next decade.
“Nearly 1% increase in cloud adoption by the UAE organisations will result in a 0.21% or USD 854.7 million average gross domestic product growth, which is three times the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) average and the highest in the region,” AWS stated further.
Elaborating on the prospect further, Yasser Hassan, managing director, commercial sector, for Mena and Turkey at AWS, told The National in May 2023, “The UAE can accelerate its digital transformation and unlock new opportunities for economic growth and social development [using cloud].”
“As cloud computing continues to gain momentum, it is imperative for the UAE to continue to support cloud adoption and develop a skilled workforce to enhance the country’s competitiveness on a global scale,” the official stated further.
Given the fact that cloud computing will be 17% more effective in the UAE than mobile broadband, over 91% of the cloud adoption impact in the Gulf nation can be attributed to the national productivity gains or “spillover effects” on the economy, while the remainder is driven by cloud spending from UAE public and private organisations, AWS believes.
Agreeing with the AWS, industry experts are now batting for the UAE businesses moving to the economical path of having cloud systems hosted by specialised companies, rather than creating their own infrastructure of servers, hardware and security networks.
In 2021, almost 43% of organisations in the UAE region adopted cloud computing, compared to 49% in Western Europe and North America region. Public cloud adoption added 2.26% to the country’s GDP, generating an economic value of USD 9.5 billion.
In 2023, The Dubai Chamber of Commerce announced the launching of a cloud computing business group. In 2022, the Gulf nation got its own Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud region and new Azure availability zones. The American tech giant is likely to open a data centre in the country.
The Dubai Chamber of Commerce, earlier in 2023, said that start-ups and small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the UAE will gain economic benefits worth USD 17.1 billion from hyperscale cloud computing by 2030.