Key Takeaways and Observations from GITEX Global 2022

Unquestionably, this was one the biggest events to take place in Dubai since the pandemic, in fact globally. For me, this was certainly the case having attended many tech events such as: #MWC, #NAB, #IFA, #IBC and #DTW throughout 2022. The venue was buzzing from the get-go, with a flurry of people keen to arrive early even before the doors had opened.

While the pre-show estimates suggested 100k visitors, no one could have predicted the strong interest which saw more than 138,000 people attend the five-day event. More than 5,000 companies were exhibiting in the 26 halls (3 temporary hall structures added additional 25% capacity). The event displayed a broad range of technologies, which sprawled across 2 million sq. ft. with 5,000+ exhibiting companies from 100+ countries including: #5G, artificial intelligence (AI), #blockchain, #cloud, cyber security, data analytics, #FinTech, smart cities and more.

It clearly highlights the best of Dubai with a drive to make sure it is the ‘hub’ for all things tech. A vision underlined by the UAE Government pavilions, highlighting the journey towards an immersive future with everything in the cloud powered by a combination of these technologies. Given the success of the show, expect investment in the region to proliferate significantly. Also due to the UAE Government and various departments keen to be early adopters. This was best demonstrated by the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority. The federal telecommunications regulator in the UAE highlighted several projects and work into future technologies. A benchmark for other telecom regulators who tend not to showcase their work in the same way.

There were no shortage of demonstrations, concept cars and announcements on driverless vehicles; a major theme at GITEX GLOBAL. All eyes were on the eVTOL XPENG X2 which the company touts as a ‘flying car’. The fifth generation flying vehicle developed and manufactured by XPENG AEROHT public had its first public flight in Dubai which represents a milestone for the company.

Key officials from the Dubai Government have been working closely with the Chinese manufacturer to help fulfil its vision of a driverless future, which will in turn create new revenue opportunities. The vehicle (without wheels) works well for low-attitude city flights and short-distance city commutes, including sightseeing and medical transportation. However, there are still numerous challenges to overcome in this market including regulatory and of course consumer acceptance. #XPENG expects vehicles to become commercially available in 2025. With a top speed of 81mph, it can fly for up to 35 minutes and reach a height of 3,200ft.

While there has been a lot of hype with new technologies and previous bold claims, it does feel like driverless vehicles are fast becoming a commercial reality, certainly in the UAE (and in selected locations around the world).

The Roads and Transport Authority in Dubai plans to introduce a driverless taxi by the end of this year. In partnership with Cruise, the Chevrolet Bolt electronic platform will be commercially available in 2023. For now, there is a plan to have 4,000 driverless taxis by 2030. Cruise’s fleet of self-driving vehicles are already operational in San Francisco with plans to expand further next year.

Next month, the Abu Dhabi Government Media Office will introduce an automated driverless minibus for the #AbuDhabi #F1 #GP. It will be free to use and support up to seven people seated and four standing. The service will stop at nine locations on Yas Island with a safety officer on board.

Over on the e& pavilion, the company unveiled the InnerSpace concept; fruits of a partnership with Cadillac to bring a driverless, two passenger electric vehicle to market! Part of ambitious plan to have 25% of transportation in Dubai autonomous by 2030.

Also on display, a novel approach by TUC.technology with the TUCnest, uniquely positioning itself as the USB of Mobility. A modular canvas synthesizing all combination of spaces & proportions to define the vehicles of the future, which will allow the plug and play of small home appliances into the vehicle. On display was a Lavazza coffee making machine hooked up to the vehicle, (can’t go without my daily espresso)!

Robotics was another prominent theme. Steady progress continues to be made which has become a regular feature at numerous technology focussed shows. There were no shortage of all types of robots on the show floor. Most are still designed for a specific purpose in mind, whether that be for health and safety, surveillance as well as heavy duty laborious tasks.

From a 5G warehouse powered robot on the du stand to a robot dog by Unitree Robotics, to many others which included serving food, storing food in a fridge compartment, providing companion and information. Other noteworthy robots on display included those for medical use in complex procedures. The event also featured Ameca the humanoid robot on the e& pavilion designed specifically as a platform for development into future #robotics technology; powered by #AI.

Metaverse was everywhere on the show floor and heavily debated during conference sessions. Fundamentally this is part of the Dubai’s government vision and a roadmap to becoming one of top ten cities globally in the #metaverse economy. In line with driverless cars, with no shortage of announcements everyone is pushing their products and services into the metaverse to provide users with an immersive experience irrespective of location. With this in mind, solution providers focussed their attention on their cloud and artificial intelligence capabilities to help drive this strategy. Coinciding with the event was a dedicated hall to Metaverse, XVERSE.

Overall, these early use cases are focussed on a different way of communicating and interacting with users. The concept of virtual and augmented reality is not a new one, as this is still at an early stage and has some way to go before it reaches mass market and becomes widely accepted. People are not racing out of their seats to buy a VR headset or even to watch 360-degree videos. While cultural behaviour needs to change in order to accept this new world, it feels that the metaverse is being fast tracked into markets such as the UAE. Some of these early use cases highlight the infancy:

• Medcare, a healthcare provider in Dubai and Sharjah, is planning a rollout of their hospitals on Web 3.0. using the metaverse in their medical tourism initiatives. Allowing patients a chance to have an immersive visual experience of the hospital facility in order to gain trust and transparency.
• The Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority launched Sharjahverse, a metaverse tourism platform with Multiverse Labs.
• Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s launched the ‘DEWAVerse’ platform on the metaverse to provide its services to customers, employees and so forth.
• Dubai Airport Freezone, part of Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority, launched METADAFZ. The project aims to provide the free zone’s clients with a smooth digital experience in the metaverse.
• Du highlighted a new immersive way for businesses to get set up in the metaverse via gestures. A simplified process combining numerous technologies to improve the customer journey
• Realistic simple use case by Avaya combining the Metaverse and the real world as a communications channel between contact centre agents and customers.

The e& pavilion was among one of the most impressive I’ve seen in years. The group should be applauded for bringing together its growing capabilities in tech, along with its new brand to epitomise the country’s vision; with driverless car concepts, robots, connected home, future retail experiences, health tech, intelligent inventory NFTs, 5G live broadcast, even an EV 3D printed motorcycle. The group now consists of four key pillars: international, life, enterprise, capital.

It was interesting listening to Etisalat UAE CEO Masood M. Sharif Mahmood discussing the telco challenges and opportunities ahead who stated, “We are going through major changes and new brand represents vision. Telecom is now one pillar as part of e&”. He added, “We will no longer be talking about subscribers signing up to something!” A striking statement as the company rethinks its approach towards solutions and experiences. A completely new mindset as the company moves towards a TechCo. The vision is transparent, “We want to be a connectivity orchestrator!”

The group uniquely highlighted the opportunities ahead to power new experiences for other telcos and is willing to support them on this journey, akin to Indian telco Reliance Jio (through its Jio Platforms Limited (JPL) business). With this new approach as a #TechCo (a key area of focus for many telcos including #ServCo, #NetCo), the group is pursuing all options including ambitious expansion plans and growth into new areas. A good example is the recent Vodafone deal. There will now be opportunities for both e& and Vodafone to work more closely to bring greater efficiencies and launch new products in more products globally. It represented the first significant move by e& to expand into Europe; I firmly predict there will be more moves in this area.

The significant push into the metaverse is in part driven with the launch of a new $250 million venture capital fund. This aims to support start-up companies through its newly created investment unit, e& capital and adds to the slew of VC funds focused on the Middle East which it hopes will raise its profile.

Overall, the event clearly reflected the future technology ambitions of the UAE and the region. The scale of this event was immense. It uniquely highlights all the challenges and opportunities facing all companies and users towards a more immersive future. The region is accelerating its efforts towards the metaverse which is enabled by a set of technologies which are all closely intertwined bridging the physical and digital worlds.

It will drive all forms of interaction and allowing users to interconnect in virtual worlds. Others will be watching developments closely. However, security and trust will continue to grow in importance. Building trust and gaining credibility in this new virtual economy towards a digital future will be paramount. As part of this process, users should have some degree of freedom of how their private information should be stored and used.

Arguably, greater focus should be placed on improving the experience for users rather than trying to reinvent something new. In fact, millions of people are already partipcating in the virtual world in some shape or form (playing games, watching content, buying items and more).

The hype is slowly moving to reality in some cases. All of this underlines the shift towards a future blending the physical and virtual worlds people, places, and processes that will require huge processing power. Ultimately, expect more demands on capacity and bandwidth for even robust and reliable connectivity.