IDC launches Gulf advisory council

International Data Corporation (IDC) has launched its Technology Advisory Council in the Arabian Gulf with the aim of advising governments, regulators and the private sector.

The newly formed committee comprises nine representatives and chief information officers (CIOs) from the private and public sectors, including Dubai Aluminium (Dubal), Abu Dhabi Ports and Saudi Arabia’s ministry of finance.

“The constantly evolving nature of the technology landscape is having a profound impact on the leadership challenges facing those tasked with managing it,” said Jyoti Lalchandani, the vice president and regional managing director at IDC Middle East, Africa and Turkey. “We want to have a council to bring together CIOs. We want to make it a representative council to talk to governments and other stakeholders to be the voice of certain changes we want to see.”

The council aims to become a forum to discuss topics such as research and development, innovation in technology and development of IT skills across the technology sector. Mr Lalchandani described the skills shortage as a “major challenge” in the growth of the industry.

“In the last couple of years things have drastically changed. The growth that has been happening in this region and the changes we have gone through necessitates having a council to discuss what is happening,” said Ahmed Al Mulla, the vice-president of Dubal and a member of the Technology Advisory Council. “[The council] will be an important element in bringing agenda and bringing CIOs together.”

Information communications and technology spending in the Middle East is expected to reach US$96 billion this year, according to IDC. IT spending in the Middle East is growing at about 7 per cent, faster than the worldwide growth of 5 per cent. Saudi Arabia is the region’s biggest market, accounting for almost $7bn of spending, while Qatar is one of the fastest-growing markets.

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How to play the stock market recovery in 2021?

If you are looking to build your long-term wealth in 2021 and beyond, the stock market is still the best place to do it as equities powered on despite the pandemic.

Investing in individual stocks is not for everyone and most private investors should stick to mutual funds and ETFs, but there are some thrilling opportunities for those who understand the risks.

Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank, says the 20 best-performing US and European stocks have delivered an average return year-to-date of 148 per cent, measured in local currency terms.

Online marketplace Etsy was the best performer with a return of 330.6 per cent, followed by communications software company Sinch (315.4 per cent), online supermarket HelloFresh (232.8 per cent) and fuel cells specialist NEL (191.7 per cent).

Mr Garnry says digital companies benefited from the lockdown, while green energy firms flew as efforts to combat climate change were ramped up, helped in part by the European Union’s green deal.

Electric car company Tesla would be on the list if it had been part of the S&P 500 Index, but it only joined on December 21. “Tesla has become one of the most valuable companies in the world this year as demand for electric vehicles has grown dramatically,” Mr Garnry says.

By contrast, the 20 worst-performing European stocks fell 54 per cent on average, with European banks hit by the economic fallout from the pandemic, while cruise liners and airline stocks suffered due to travel restrictions.

As demand for energy fell, the oil and gas industry had a tough year, too.

Mr Garnry says the biggest story this year was the “absolute crunch” in so-called value stocks, companies that trade at low valuations compared to their earnings and growth potential.

He says they are “heavily tilted towards financials, miners, energy, utilities and industrials, which have all been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic”. “The last year saw these cheap stocks become cheaper and expensive stocks have become more expensive.”

This has triggered excited talk about the “great value rotation” but Mr Garnry remains sceptical. “We need to see a breakout of interest rates combined with higher inflation before we join the crowd.”

Always remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Last year’s winners often turn out to be this year’s losers, and vice-versa.