A data-driven future for the MENA region isn’t without challenges, but is fast approaching

Three key goals for today’s businesses are to be more innovative, to deliver superior customer experiences, and to be able to attract and retain talent. These are important objectives for enterprises globally, even if some parts of the world are at different stages of achieving this. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region may have been a few steps behind in previous stages, but has bold ambitions to accelerate into Industry 4.0.

To achieve this, enterprises will need an intelligent and integrated suite of business applications – one that enables data and insights to be shared across business functions, as well as enable workers to be able to perform their day-to-day functions more efficiently.

They also need data management capabilities, operating in cloud platforms, to be able to make sense of exponentially growing volumes of business and customer data, for decision making and as the foundation for intelligent technologies, like AI, machine learning and IoT.

Enterprises need to be able to leverage the agility of cloud and the wealth of data to generate new revenue streams, cuts costs, personalize services and improve efficiency. They need to be able to extract, transform, store, visualize and experiment with different types of data to support new business processes, discover trends and make predictions.

But there is still a journey for MENA to undertake…

Bumps in the road to transformation

Digital transformation is picking up speed in the Middle East. Earlier in the year, Oracle enhanced its Cloud capability in the UAE with the launch of its first data center, in the Middle East in Abu Dhabi. The Abu Dhabi data centre will support the rapid adoption of Oracle Cloud in the UAE and act as a key catalyst for the implementation of UAE’s strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, aimed at building the country’s leadership in education and advanced technology, including artificial intelligence, robotics and genomic medicine.

This was an important step towards supporting the digital transformation journey of our customers in the MENA region, but still there are other challenges more prevalent here than other parts of the world, that could be holding back the adoption of a more data-driven approach to business.

Take the regulatory environment, for example. While some MENA region regulations have similarities to the EU’s GDPR and Data Protection Directive, there is no overarching and unified data protection law. Considering that the region’s financial and energy sectors are particularly attractive to cyber attacks, compliance and security needs to be top of the agenda.

What’s in a name?

And, at a practical level, data protection and compliance might not be as straightforward as you think. This can be very significant for AML and financial crime issues.

Consider know-your-customer (KYC) checks. With traditional Arabic names containing up to five elements, a fluidity of spellings and commonality of names, the potential for duplication and the likelihood of false positive alerts is a huge challenge for compliance checks. When you factor in that DOB records aren’t always common practice and the use of PO box numbers is widespread, this can make persons even more difficult to verify.

Bridging the ICT skills gap

Then, of course, we have to consider the MENA IT skills gap, and the ability to keep up with development and proliferation of emerging technologies. A recent World Economic Forum Human Capital Index, found that the MENA region captures 62% of its full human capital potential, compared to a global average of 65%. However, with one of the youngest populations in the world, I think this means a great deal of dynamic talent that can be leveraged.

In fact, I am confident that these challenges are ones that the region is confidently taking charge of, with a number of forward-looking strategies. The Emirates Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution is working to develop policy frameworks and advance collaborations that accelerate the benefits of science and technology, shaping governance and data protocols across the region. At the same time, government programs like the UAE Economic Vision 2030 have made developing skilled workforces a priority, while initiatives like the UAE AI Strategy 2031 and Dubai Future Foundation aim to drive capabilities and competitiveness.

With strong ambitions to develop the people and infrastructure needed for a data-driven future, MENA has entered an era of opportunity. I’m excited to see how the latest in cloud services, data platforms and intelligent technologies will enable us to realize them.