Smart city initiatives put Gitex Technology Week 2014 at biggest size ever

Andrew Pert, exhibitions director at Dubai World Trade Centre, says overall exhibitor numbers have grown 5 per cent. Jeffrey Biteng / The National

Demand from governments looking to showcase their smart city initiatives will make this year’s Gitex Technology Week the biggest ever as exhibitors have taken up nearly all available space, according to the organisers.

“It is the biggest Gitex ever,” said Andrew Pert, exhibitions director at Dubai World Trade Centre. “Overall exhibitor numbers have grown 5 per cent and we are now at maximum capacity.”

Most of the growth has come from the smart city government entities. The sector has grown by 60 per cent from last year, as 120 new exhibitors are now participating.

The exhibition and conferences, which take place from October 12- 16 in Dubai, will involve 3,700 exhibitors from 61 countries and more than 100,000 visitors from the IT sector.

The region’s information communication and technology (ICT) sector is set to grow from US$15 billion this year to $20bn by 2020, according to data from International Data Corporation (IDC), led mostly by investment in smart city technology.

“Dubai is set to transform into a smart city by harnessing technology to create better living conditions and new forms of developments for all people in Dubai and the UAE,” said Helal Almarri, the director general of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing and the chief executive of DWTC.

The Abu Dhabi government will also be out in force at Gitex Technology. Twenty-two entities will showcase IT solutions, product apps and software offerings, many of which have been designed to strengthen customer service and enhance customer experience.

Meanwhile, Etisalat will have the biggest stand this year, where it will showcase its latest ICT developments for smart homes and businesses.

“ICT has become a fundamental of everything. Our world is dependent on it,” said Abdulla Hashim, the senior vice president of digital services at Etisalat. “Our vision is to align with the government and enterprise’s vision to move in the journey of digitisation.”

DWTC, where the event is being held, has relaunched the Gitex mobile app, which will help visitors to navigate around the exhibition, communicate with other visitors and see what talks are on at the conferences that run parallel to the exhibition.

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